By STEPHEN MARTELLUCCI
MELROSE — Last Saturday, the Melrose 12-year old Williamsport Tournament All-Stars improved to 2-0 in District 12 play as they blanked South Boston, 10-0, at Lewis Monk Park.
Although the game was in town, Melrose was the visiting team and batted first.
This game went only four innings as the 10-run mercy-rule came into play.
Calvin Hoag was the winning pitcher going all four innings. He gave up only one hit, walked one and struck out 11.
“He was overpowering,” said Melrose head coach Jay Recinito. “He threw the ball great.”
Melrose’s offense scored six times in the top of the first inning and four more in the top of the third.
“We put the ball in play and took advantage of their mistakes,” said Recinito, as the tean capitalized on several South Boston errors.
Overall, Melrose had six hits with six different players getting one hit each
Mason McLean was 1 for 2 with a two-run triple in the first. Bryce Phillips added an RBI triple in the third while Cooper Andersen had a sacrifice fly in the third.
Melrose opened the tournament with a 9-4 win over Somerville on June 29. That game was also at Lewis Monk Park and Melrose was the visiting team in this one as well.
“They played us much closer than the score would indicate,” said Recinito. “They played us tough.”
Somerville took a 1-0 lead on a homer in the bottom of the first. However, Melrose then scored the game’s next nine runs.
They scored once in the third, twice in the fourth and fifth innings and four more in the top of the sixth. Somerville did not fold their tents scoring three times in the bottom of the sixth before the locals were able to end the game.
Declan Flaherty was the winning pitcher going five strong innings. He gave up just one hit on the home run did not allow a walk and fanned 14.
The Melrose offense had nine hits with two multiple hitters. Anderson was 2 for 3 with a pair of doubles and had one RBI. Rocco Motroni was also 2 for 3 and had an RBI single in the fourth inning.
In the sixth, Brendan Burke and Lincoln Schuyler had back-to-back RBI singles.
The next game for the team will be on July 7 at 5:45 p.m. back at Hurd Park as they take on Swampscott.