ROCKPORT — Something had to give.
That's what Rockport Townies manager Jeremy Spittle had to say following his team's 5-4 series clinching extra-innings win over Hamilton Thursday night at Evan's Field.
The teams traded scoring chances over the first seven innings as they combined to load the bases eight times (Hamilton five, Rockport three) and it wasn't until the bottom of the eighth inning when the Townies took the win and the series when first baseman Dan Greel was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.
"This team just never quits," Spittle said. "We fought to the end, both teams had about a half dozen opportunities to break the game open but the breaks went our way tonight." The Townies and Hamilton battled through all 23 innings of their best-of-three series. Every game was decided by a single run and two of the three games went into extra innings.
With the win the Townies move on to the ITL finals for the third year in a row where they will face off with first place Rowley, who knocked off three-time defending champion Manchester in their playoff series. Game 1 of the finals is Saturday in Rowley (2 p.m.). Game 2 will be played at Evan's Field on Sunday (2 p.m.).
The Townies will be looking to keep the ITL title in Cape Ann for the 11th straight season as the last time a team other than Rockport or Manchester took home the title was 2000 when Ipswich won.
Brett Smith picked up the win for the Townies hurling 4 1/3 innings of scoreless relief of starter Matt Sharon, who was pitching on just one day of rest after pitching a no-hitter in the first outing. Smith was at his best when the stakes were highest as he allowed just a single hit and pitched out of a bases loaded, nobody out jam in the sixth.
The Townies southpaw got the first out by inducing a pop-up. He made a nice defensive play for the second out, throwing a runner out at the plate after fielding a dribbler just off the third base side of the mound. Second baseman Derek Osmond took care of the third out with a nice stab at a hard hit grounder between first and second base.
Rockport almost let the Generals walk away with the game early. Hamilton made it 2-0 in the first inning when Bryan Vitale (three hits) singled in Mark Provost. Jared Stewart (three hits) came in to score one batter later on a Reggie Maidment single.
The Townies, however, got a run back in the bottom of the first when Tom Robertson (two hits) scored on a Brent Currier ground out. Currier was walked in his next four at-bats for his efforts, three of them intentionally.
Hamilton looked to break the game open in the fourth, scoring a pair of runs on RBI hits from Vitale and Maidment. Things went from bad to worse when Sharon was tossed from the game for intentionally beaning a Hamilton batter.
"We almost let the game get away from us early," Spittle said. "But we kept our composure and didn't quit."
The Townies answered back with two runs of their own in the bottom of the fourth when catcher Eric Junker came in to score on a fielding error. Osmond singled in Conor Ressel later in the inning to make it 4-3. Currier scored the tying run the very next inning when he scored on a throwing error after a Ressel infield single.
The score stayed that way until the bottom of the eighth. Spittle drew a walk to start off the inning, and after a pair of intentional walks to Robertson and Currier with a fly out in between, the stage was set for Greel. He fell behind in the count 0-2, but fouled off three pitches and took two balls before taking a fastball off the right arm to end the game and send the Townies to the finals.
