Published July 31, 2020

Majors:

Athletics 12 Marlins 2

Wednesday July 22, Lewis Monk Field

Cadel McKeown and Michael Martin combined to pitch the Major League Athletics to a 12-2 victory over the Marlins at Lewis-Monk Field on Wednesday night. This victory extends the Athletics win streak to four games.

All nine Athletics had at least one hit and eight of the nine scored a run. Jay Dennison and Michael Martin played all-around great games. The A’s defense turned two double plays and held most Marlins baserunners to singles on any ball that reached the outfield.

Brody MacMaster, Nick Picariello, Jack Thompson, Nathan Sullivan, Dylan Mestjian, and Minors call-up Charlie Recinito all contributed to the win with strong plate appearances, aggressive baserunning, and air-tight defense. Charlie robbed his brother John of extra bases with a tough catch in right field and added a couple of hits at the plate, with an RBI and two runs scored. Charlie also initiated the game ending double play from right.

For the Marlins Ronan Sanzone, Robert Pino, Matty Beshel, and Brian Fogerty all threw from the hill, striking out six Athletics and getting a 1-2-3 top of the 6th. John Recinito hit the ball hard multiple times, but unfortunately right at the strong A’s defense before singling in the bottom of the 6th. Gabe Klapman, Peyton Oreste, and Sanzone all made some noise in the bottom of the 5th with clutch hitting as the Marlins started to mount a comeback. Cam Doyle threatened to score in the second inning and Jayden Jangro played fundamental baseball, advancing the runners on a ball hit to the right side of the infield.

Overall, a great night of baseball at Lewis-Monk with some family fireworks thrown in for good measure.

Cardinals 9 Dodgers 5

Wednesday July 22, Conant Field

Conant Park provided the backdrop to a great battle between two strong Melrose Little League teams. The game was a pitching duel for most of the game. Ian McKeown started the game for Dodgers only allowing three earned runs through three innings before Bryson Penrose relieved him in the 4th, only allowing one earned run through the final three innings. Michael Schein was stellar behind the dish for the Dodgers keeping Cardinal base runners honest with his strong arm. Josh Bird and Sam Federico registered hits for the Dodgers and Cole Nault went 3-for-3 demonstrating his power with a clutch double. Reon Anderson, Jameson Cunningham, Derek Falasca and Seth Levine all contributed defensively while Chris Beaudet was locked in playing a solid 3rd base for the boys in blue.

Cardinal starting pitcher, Nate Geer, settled in after allowing three runs in the 1st. Nothing but “rock and fire” after the 1st inning, allowing zero earned runs until Chris Repici jogged out of the bullpen to close the door over the last two innings. Overall the Cardinals bats were quiet but timely hits from Brady Yee, Ben Dugan, Jack Sarazen, John Strong and Nolan Clark moved runners and pushed teammates across the plate.

Brayden Pesce led the Cardinals vaunted defense, playing flawlessly at first base.  Alec Truesdale and Cameron Orlandella patrolled the outfield getting each ball back to the cutoff man quickly, keeping Dodgers runners from advancing.

In the end, one tough 2nd inning where a couple bad bounces equaled six Cardinal runs proved enough to allow the boys in red to hang on for the 9-5 win moving them to 4-0.

Cardinals 4 Red Sox 3

Friday July 24, Conant Field

Brayden Pesce pitched a gem for the red birds while his counterpart Anthony Kiatos was on a mission pitching for the Red Sox. The game was highly contested from the first pitch to the final out.

The Cardinals continued to flash the leather playing solid team defense, allowing a league low of 13 runs in four games.  Three earned runs in the home half of the 2nd inning was all the Red Sox could muster.

The Red Sox got key hits from Jack Casey, Cavan O’Leary and Kiatos. Red Sox Minor League call up, Dylan Smith stepped up in his first major league at bat lacing a single to left-center field. Defensively, Casey was fantastic behind the plate while O’Leary was a vacuum at shortstop. Cole Matthews and Marcus Ruelle played solid infield defense for the Red Sox, and Tanner Kovacs, Ricky Texeira and Max Lanciani caught everything hit to them in the outfield.

Hits were hard to come by for the Cardinals until Chris Repici smacked a double for his second hit of the game and Cardinals first RBI.  Nate Geer got his bat going with a single and frozen rope double to the opposite field.  Cam Orlandella came up big, putting the ball in play in the 4th inning getting the RBI to bring the Cardinals within one run of the Red Sox.

Brady Yee and Brayden Pesce continue to provide leadership with timely hits and 100% effort wherever they play. Jack Sarazen and Nolan Clark played great infield defense, and Cameron Orlandella, Jed Drogan and Alec Truesdale played solid outfield defense.

Down one run in the top of the 6th inning, Alec Truesdale crushed a double over the right fielder’s head.  Nolan Clark singled and stole second. Jed Drogan knocked in both Truesdale and Clark to put the Cards up by one run. Chris Repici came in to shut down the Red Sox in the bottom of the 6th to save the game and improve the Cardinals record to 5-0 for the season.

Minors:

Tigers 16, Cubs 2

Tuesday July 21, at Lewis Monk Field

The Tigers topped the Cubs 16-2 in a Melrose Little League Minor League game played on Tuesday, July 21 at Lewis Monk Field.

The Cubs had a great combined pitching effort from Cooper Anderson, William Codreanu, Zac Zaino, and Simon O’Carroll with a total of 10 strikeouts. The Cubs offense was led by Cooper Anderson with two doubles, an RBI, and a run scored. Simon O’Carroll added the second run, Matthew Firicano had two hits and an RBI, Zac Zaino added a single, and Lincoln Schuyler and Ben Winkler also reached base. Tristan Frees, Colin Slocum, Ben Thompson, and Parker Brown also showed great hustle throughout the game.

The Tigers platooned Dylan Smith, Koji Bachner, Dhewa Tenzin, and Bryce Phillips on the mound for a combined 13 strikeouts and the win. The Tigers had good offensive production by having all players reach base at least once and having runs scored by Dhewa Tenzin (4), Parker Sarata (2), Bryce Phillips (2), Dylan Smith (2), Koji Bachner (2), Kevin Liu, Christopher Rowe, Sam Gentile, and Oliver Swanson, while Connor Adamovich also added an RBI to the mix.

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