Published in the July 6, 2018 edition
MELROSE — It took two days and extra innings for the Padres to win the Melrose Little League Kid Pitch City Championship.
The title game featured the top two seeded teams as the Rangers and Padres met on Monday, June 19.
The first two innings were a pitcher’s duel as the Rangers’ Max Ryan fanned five Padres and held them scoreless through two innings with some defensive assistance from Adriana Santoriello, Ryan Downs, Jackson Lenard and Ryder Sorice. Dylan Smith was cruising on the mound for the Padres, holding the dangerous Rangers offense scoreless after three innings with defensive plays by Kevin Liu and Andrew Boissonnault.
THE PADRES are the 2018 Melrose Little League Kid Pitch City Champs. (Courtesy Photo)
The Padres made some noise in the 3rd inning with Seth Levin scoring the first run of the game followed by two more runs off an RBI hit from Cooper Kovacs. The Rangers answered in the top of the 4th with hits by Will Dardani that eventually lead to the Rangers knotting the game at 3 runs a side. The Rangers had speed on the base paths with Christian Fogarty, Liam Eckler, Ben O’Donoghue and Henry Solano concerning the Padres defense. The damage could have been worse if not for the run saving put out catch by Padre Logan Bradley at shortstop.
The 5th inning brought thunder and lightning from the sky and not at the plate forcing the game to be suspended. The game resumed on Tuesday evening and again pitching was the story.
The Rangers Wyatt Bach was a steady presence behind the plate as Jed Drogan pitched two scoreless innings and Declan Flaherty made several put outs at first base.
The Padres Jack Skinner had a total of 5 K’s on the hill backed by Sawyer Terranova behind the plate. Ryan Philbin who had the go-ahead RBI for the Padres in the semifinal round played all over the diamond in the championship game.
The game was still tied at 3 after six regulation innings, and the Rangers were retired quickly in the top of the 7th with assistance of Russell Hoskins plugging up the middle of the infield. With the Padres at the plate, Liam Nevitt and Seth Levine fought their way onto base and Ben Winkler put the ball in play to move the runners into scoring position. With two outs, Charlie Recinito slapped a ball to the left side of the infield, scoring Nevitt from 3rd base to win the league title, 4-3.
