Watertown routed, Stoneham beaten in extra innings
Published May 3, 2019
By JENNIFER GENTILE
MELROSE—With some of the best competition in the division behind them, the Melrose Red Raider baseball team remains 3-3 after 6 games thanks to back-to-back wins over Middlesex Freedom League rivals Stoneham and Watertown last week.
It included an extra-inning victory over a competitive Stoneham team on Thursday, April 25 at Stoneham High School. Senior Dillon Kaliris picked up the win in relief and Cam Gorman smacked Kaliris in with a giant double to lift Melrose 4-3 in the 8th inning. Senior captain Harry Kelley pitched a complete 7 innings for Melrose before relieved by Kaliris.
PAT COEN helped overwhelm Watertown in the Red Raider’s victory on Tuesday. (Donna Larsson photo)
Said Melrose coach Scott Searles after the game, “Dillon really shut the door on them, and Harry pitched an excellent game with some runs that weren’t earned. Pitching has really kept up ahead in our games and remains our strength.”
Overall, he was happy with Melrose’s efforts against the Spartans. “This was our most complete win of the season. Stoneham is a team that has turned around. They have two good pitchers and recently had a strong win over Arlington. So this was a nice win to take.”
Having faced some of the toughest opponents in the ML—Arlington, Lexington and Woburn, teams with top rated pitchers—Melrose has learned to come around at the plate to offer run support. Says Searles, “The Middlesex League is always very tough, and we’ve faced their top pitchers. Now we want to focus on establishing a winning pattern.”
Melrose also found victory in a 17-3 slaughter of Watertown on Monday, April 29 at Morelli Field. Senior Pat Coen got the win in 4 innings of play with reliever Colby Moss getting the save in relief. Both earned credit from their coach. “Pat pitched well and kept us in the game and Colby was excellent in relief.”
SENIOR DILLON Kaliris picked up a win in relief for Melrose in their 4-3 extra inning win over Stoneham on April 25. (courtesy photo)
It was an offensive onslaught thanks to hits from Cole Lepler (2 hits), Pat Coen (2 hits) Liam McCall (2 hits), Zach Maguire and Liam Crovo (triple). Melrose batted around the order for much of the game, glad to take the victory, however lopsided against a struggling Watertown team, who reportedly doesn’t field a junior varsity squad. Thus, it was an effort that saw Melrose use bench players to get in solid playing time.
“What I like about this team is their cohesion,” says Searles. “Even when we pulled our starters, those upperclassmen weren’t resting on the bench. They were standing up, rooting the team along, really invested. They get along well and the support they have for each other is huge. I feel like we’ve turned a corner after 6 games, cleaning up some of the stuff we needed to early in the season to make things happen come the second half.”
Melrose is scheduled to face more Freedom rivals this week, including on the road against Wakefield on Wednesday (post-deadline) and Burlington, whom they are scheduled to host on Friday (weather pending) at 4:00 p.m at Morelli Field.
