Published in the August 11, 2017 edition
CONGRATULATIONS to the Melrose 10-year-old District 12 Jimmy Fund champions! Melrose beat Somerville 10-0 on Sunday in the championship game. Pictured front row left to right: Brandon Ward, Charlie Keefe, Nicholas Hitchman, John Burke, Michael Thomas, Dylan Harrington, Quinn Haggerty, Matthew Palmer, Brendan Doyle, and Quinn Fogarty. Second row left to right: manager Cory Thomas, John Arens, Jaiden Aquino, Quinn Mathews, Daniel Ferris, Colin Walsh, Matthew Fuccione, and coach Dan Harrington. Back row left to right coach Dan Ferris & coach Chris Walsh
MELROSE — On a perfect August morning for baseball, the Melrose Little League 10 year old’s defeated Somerville to capture the District 12 Jimmy Fund Championship by a final score of 10-0.
With the championship game victory, Melrose capped a perfect three week run through the tournament with an impressive 9-0 record, outscoring their opponents 113-30 along the way. Melrose used great pitching, timely hitting, aggressive base running and solid defense.
Melrose advanced to the finals by way of a 10-0 victory over Brookline Little League on Thursday, August 3. Melrose got plenty of offensive support against Brookline from Dylan Harrington (triple, RBI), Brandon Ward (two hits, run), Daniel Ferris (double, RBI, run) and Quinn Fogarty (hit, run, RBI).
The defense was led by starting pitcher Michael Thomas. Thomas pitched four shut-out innings against Brookline, limiting a potent lineup to just two hits, to help send Melrose to the finals against Somerville.
After one top pitching performance Thursday, Melrose would see an even better pitching performance on Sunday by starting pitcher Colin Walsh against Somerville. Walsh set the tone early, recording five of the first six outs via strikeouts. Walsh was in command all day long, keeping Somerville’s bats silent with an overpowering fastball and a timely changeup to keep the opposing team off balance.
Melrose was led by a balanced offensive attack, scoring runs in every inning against Somerville in support of Walsh’s top pitching efforts. Nicholas Hitchman (two runs) brought aggressive base running to spark the Melrose offense. Brendan Doyle bashed a line-drive triple to left center field, driving in two runs. Doyle would also add a third RBI in his next at bat. Quinn Fogarty, John Burke, Quinn Haggerty and Matthew Palmer all added key hits and runs scored as part of the offensive output. Charlie Keefe and Matthew Fuccione both scored runs, while John Arens and Brandon Ward both added hits to the attack.
Colin Walsh helped his own cause by driving in a run in the first inning. First baseman Daniel Ferris, scored a run and added superb defense, including a diving stab of a line drive that was the defensive highlight of the tournament. Catchers Jaiden Aquino and Dylan Harrington rotated behind the plate all summer long, both providing stability and leadership. Harrington also added to the offensive output on Sunday with two hits, a run scored and an RBI. Michael Thomas had two hits as well, driving in two runs, and scoring twice.
The story on this day however was the pitching of Colin Walsh. Walsh finished off Somerville in memorable fashion, striking out 11 while pitching a complete game no hitter to seal the championship for Melrose!
What a great way to end a great year of baseball for these hard working, talented young ball players. These 10-year-old ball players are not only working hard on the field, but also off the field as well, as they raise money and awareness for Dana-Farber and the Jimmy Fund.
