Dolaher throws a beauty in 11-0 victory

Published in the May 11, 2018 edition

By JENNIFER GENTILE

MELROSE—For most of their spring season, the Melrose Red Raider baseball team had struggled to connect at the plate, but that wasn’t a problem on Tuesday, May 9 when Melrose blanked Watertown, 11-0, on a sunlit day at Morelli Field in Melrose. 

Senior hurler Will Dolaher earned a shutout for Melrose, fanning over five batters and giving up just a few hits, while hot bats by Liam Crovo (3-3, 3 RBIs), Mike Koytikh (2-2 1RBI) and Charlie Staton (2-2 1RBI)  helped overwhelm Watertown’s pitching staff. 

WILL DOLAHER and the Red Raider baseball team shutout Watertown at home on Tuesday, 11-0. (Donna Larsson photo)

The effort was a perfect blend of solid defense, pitching and an explosion of hits that started early in the game when Will Dolaher (retiring the side with 2 Ks to open the game) hit a single to left that scored senior Mike Fennell that gave Melrose an early 1-0 lead. The Red Raiders were even more productive in the second, when Liam Crovo knocked in two with a bases-load double, and Charlie Stanton scored Crovo on a double that resulted in a highlight-reel dive at home by Crovo, who hurled himself over the mitt of Watertown’s catcher to reach home plate safely by hand. It gave Melrose a 4-0 lead that increased to 6-0 when senior Jack Sullivan scored Stanton on a single to left and a pass ball advanced Dolaher home. That took Watertown pitcher Chris Iannetta out of the game. 

In the third inning, Melrose’s Joe Stanton hit a double and was knocked in with a Liam Crovo double, while Charlie Stanton made it an 8-0 game when he scored Crovo with a single. In the fourth, Koytikh cracked a double and Mike Muscarella scored him with a single that widened Melrose’s lead to 9-0. Mike Fennell knocked in Joe Stanton and Crovo hit Charlie Staton in to make it an 11-0 game. That would be the final score between the two Raider teams. 

Melrose will hope to keep their bats hot when they play  back-to-back ML Freedom games on Friday, May 11 and Saturday, May 12. Melrose will travel to Stoneham on Friday to take on the Spartans before hosting Wakefield (4-4) on Saturday at Morelli Field for a 2:30 p.m. bout. 

Middlesex League Standings

               League   Overall

Burlington      6-4      6-4 

Melrose         5-5      5-5

Wakefield      4-4      4-4 

Wilmington    4-6      4-6 

Watertown     1-7      3-7 

Stoneham      0-6      0-7