Published July 24, 2020
THE ATHLETICS’ Nick Berry hit two home runs vs. the Dodgers at Conant Field on July 13. (Courtesy Photo)
Majors
Athletics 9 Dodgers 4
Monday July 13, Conant Field
The Athletics’ Nick Berry crushed two 3-run homers out of Conant and added a ground rule double leading the Athletics to a 9-4 victory over the Dodgers on July 13.
Brody MacMaster pitched and helped field the team to victory, while Jack Thompson closed it out for the save. Joseph Fauci lined an RBI single to center to score Nathan Sullivan from third to add an insurance run late. The Athletics relied on great defense by Dylan Mestjian, Cadel McKeown, Jay Dennison and Nick Picariello to thwart any Dodger attempts at scoring during the game. The A’s strong defensive effort in the infield erased a number of Dodger attempts at aggressive baserunning.
The Dodgers were led by a strong lineup one through nine. Josh Bird started the game with a single and scored in the first and added another single in the 5th. Sam Federico finished the game out on the mound for the Dodgers. Ian McKeown and Reon Anderson both pitched well to keep the Dodgers in the game. Michael Schein reached based three times and helped the team start a rally in the 5th. Cole Nault was solid behind the plate – holding the Athletics to only a few free bases. Chris Beaudet singled, walked, and made some strong defensive plays in the field, both in right field and at third base. Jameson Cunningham contributed from the bottom of the Dodgers’ batting order.
It was an overall great night of baseball at Conant featuring strong pitching, fielding, and pyrotechnics courtesy of Nick Berry from the middle of the Athletics lineup.
Red Sox 5 Dodgers 4
Friday July 17, Conant Field
The Red Sox Justin Santoriello drove in Anthony Kiatos in the bottom of the 8th inning with a single to beat the Dodgers 5-4 in an extra inning game at Conant Field. Anthony Kiatos lead off the inning with a triple.
The Dodgers scored two runs in the 1st inning as Cole Nault doubled to knock in Josh Bird and Reon Anderson. The Red Sox answered with two in the bottom of the 1st with Kiatos reaching base on a single and scoring on a double off the bat of Cole Mathews. Mathews scored on a sacrifice fly by Justin Santoriello.
The Dodgers would score two more in the 3rd with Bird and Anderson again leading the charge with a single by Bird and walk by Anderson. Both would score with heads-up baserunning on a single passed ball. Red Sox starter Cavan O’Leary wiggled out of a bases loaded jam after Nault singled followed by walks to Bryson Penrose and Chris Beaudet.
The Red Sox scored single runs in the 4th and 5th inning to tie the game. In the 4th, O’Leary led off with single and scored on a double by Thomas Santoriello. In the 5th, Amato Finocchiaro led off with a double to right-center field and scored on a double by Kiatos.
The game featured great pitching and defense for both teams. For the Dodgers, Bird and Michael Schein combined to pitch eight innings with 14 strikeouts. On defense, it was a team effort with Ian McKeown, Jamison Cunningham and Seth Levine all making plays in the field for the Dodgers.
For the Red Sox, after O’Leary left after three strong innings Brendan Sestito pitched three shutout innings allowing only one hit with no walks and five strikeouts. In the 5th, Kiatos, who was catching, made a great catch on pop foul directly behind him right up against the backstop. Thomas Santoriello closed it out with two shutout innings of hitless baseball, yielding only one walk and striking out four. On defense, Wes Cunningham, Marcus Ruelle and Ricky Teixeira made plays in the field for the Red Sox to help preserve the win.
Minors
Tigers 0, Rockies 0
Thursday July 16, at Conant Field
It was a pitcher’s dual in the Melrose Little League Minor League Division, Thursday, July 16 at Conant Field, as the Tigers and Rockies ended with a 0-0 tie after six innings. Koji Bachner and Bryce Phillips combined for a two-hit, 16-strikeout effort on the mound for the Tigers. The Rockies went with Christian Fogerty for 5.2 innings recording 14 strikeouts, while Max Ryan came in relief to get the final out with a strikeout.
Sam Gentile, Parker Sarata, and Koji Bachner all had a hit for the Tigers, who also had additional baserunning from walks by Connor Adamovich and Christopher Rowe. Dhewa Tenzin put in some good work behind the plate in the later innings and Kevin Liu and Oliver Swanson also showed great hustle.
The Rockies had hits from Max Ryan and Thomas Keefe. Evan Sumares and Christian Fogarty reached base on walks, while John Selam and Patrick Bentley put the ball in play. The Rockies defense saved a possible run in the 4th inning with a great tag out at the plate by Thomas Keefe. They also had great enthusiasm in the field by Grace Doyle, Luke Bowles, Molly Harrington, and Nate Bowles.
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The July 14 edition of Little League International’s Email Update to parents and League Officials featured the Melrose Little League 2020 Scholarship winners. The feature consisted of a group photo of the three winners and included the individual essays by Katie Tarpey, Liam McCall and Cole Lepler.
