THE MHS baseball team is looking to earn some wins to help qualify for a post season. (photo by Raj Das edphotos.com)
After press time:
Melrose falls to Reading 3-1 (May 20)
Melrose defeats Watertown 11-1 (May 19)
Melrose defeats Stoneham 4-3 (May 14)
Melrose defeats Wilmington 1-0 on Senior Night (May 9)
By JENNIFER GENTILE
MELROSE—As the Melrose High baseball team heads towards the last few weeks of their regular season, they’re searching to get back in the win column, despite solid efforts against challenging opponents of late.
Last week, the boys fell to Peabody, Lexington Wakefield and Masconomet, with Peabody and Lexington proving to be the closest games. The team is currently holding a 5-9 record, with lots of season left to straighten things out.
On May 2, Melrose faced a very tough Wakefield team who, at 10-2, likely has an extended playoff journey ahead of them. Mother Nature proved to be a challenge and offered Melrose little chance of a comeback in a 9-1 loss called early from rain at home.
“To Wakefield’s credit, they didn’t try to do to much and they took what we gave them,” says Melrose head coach Scott Searles. “Just hit a bunch of singles and went with where it was pitched.”
Melrose was down 9-1 at the start of the 6th but had faced earlier deficits of 6-0 after the third, and scored their sole run on a wild pitch in the 4th.
Melrose pitcher Brian Capodilupo got the ball that day.
“ ‘Cap’ actually pitched pretty well as far as pounding the strike zone. The issue for the day was that he just left to many pitches over the plate,” says his coach.
Melrose was much more competitive against Peabody who they traveled to on April 29. It was a strong outing for Melrose lead pitcher Ben Cassavoy, despite the outcome, a 6-5 loss. Of the six runs scored, only three were earned. “Peabody was a great game to watch, a little back and forth. Cass pitched great. Made 2 or 3 mistakes over the plate and they capitalized,” says Searles. “We didn’t give him a lot of help. He battled through it and still put us in a position to strike. They were the best lineup top to bottom that we’ve seen.”
Offensively, Melrose’s Jaiden Aquino and Dylan Harrington both had two hits. Aquino, Capodilupo and Tyler Garipay drove in runs.
“Harrington has been strong all year,” says his coach. “Cass has really come along throughout the season. Doyle has had some big key hits and Jaiden Aquino has been an on-base machine.”
Perhaps Melrose’s best effort in recent games has been their road loss to Lexington on April 24. Says the coach, “It was a heartbreaker. We finally put together a solid game against a tough team.” Melrose went up 2-0 in the 1st and 3rd on two wild pitches. They gave up three runs in the bottom of the 4th on a series of singles. But they tied it in the 5th when Brendan Doyle doubled in a run. Lexington then took the lead in the 5th on a walk, passed ball and single.
Melrose then fell to Masconomet on Monday, up against a strong Chieftains team who is 13th in Div. 2 rankings. “This was a really solid chance to improve our ranking. ‘Cass’ [on the mound] was excellent. Gave up two hits and we lose. Their guy had the same approach all day and we just didn’t make an adjustment.”
Masco had just 1 earned run, and benefitted from a couple passed balls and other mistakes. Melrose had just one hit from Cassavoy.
As they cruise past the midway point of the season, coach Searles has expressed his faith in Ben Cassavoy on the mound. “He’s been excellent all year. It’s fair to say we’ve let him down a few times this year. We still have to grind out at bats and make the plays.”
He was equally as admiring for the younger pitcher, Capodilupo. “Really like what we’ve seen from ‘Cap’ in some of his stats. We’re happy with what we’ve seen out of him, when he locks in. He’s got a bright future.”
Their schedule has been against tough teams and they have a chance for automatic playoff qualification if they win approximately 60% of their future games. Power rankings currently finds them just slightly outside the bubble at #38.
“If we can cut out the mistakes we’ll be in a better situation,” says coach Searles. “Offensively, we’ve got to adjust better in games.”
