Updates after press time:
Melrose defeats Woburn 6-4 (May 2)
Melrose falls to Arlington 7-1 (April 30)
Melrose falls to Lexington 5-4 (April 28)
Published May 2, 2025
By CORY THOMAS
MELROSE—Since starting the 2025 baseball season a little slowly, out of the gate with one win in their first four contests, Melrose High School baseball has been red hot, reeling off six straight wins that spanned two weeks of the season. The winning streak put a lot of teams in the Middlesex League, and throughout Division 2, on notice.
The first state rankings poll came out on Tuesday, April 29 and the home town nine were ranked 6th in Division 2 state rankings, a lofty ranking to say the least, and due to their solid 7-4 record. But also due to the team’s strong schedule, and the depth of the Middlesex League. Melrose has two strong wins over Division 1 Belmont and Division 1 Peabody, which helped in their high ranking.
Said Melrose head coach Scott Searles, “We tried to schedule tough, non-league games this year and I think our strength of schedule is evident in these early rankings. We have a great opportunity where we are in control of our own destiny, where if we keep playing smart baseball and have clean games where we limit physical and mental errors, we will have a chance to get some important victories in the second half of the season schedule this next month”.
Melrose is also squarely in the mix for a Middlesex League title. Melrose currently is unbeaten in the Middlesex League’s Freedom Division at a perfect 5-0 in their first turn through the league divisional schedule. A Middlesex League title would be the team’s first title since 1991. But there is a lot of baseball to be played between now and then. The team has put itself in great position to contend for a league title for the first time in thirty-four years, and it is in position for a return to the state baseball tournament for the first time in three years (2022).
Melrose continued their winning ways on Wednesday, April 23 at home against Stoneham. Sophomore Thomas Santoriello got the start and pitched well against Stoneham and he received a lot of offensive help from his line-up as Melrose banged out a season high sixteen hits. Senior Reid Heidebrecht led the way with three hits, and two RBI’s. As Santoriello kept the Stoneham bats silent, Melrose continued their hit parade, Junior Cadel McKeown had two hits and two RBI’s including an RBI in the 1st inning to give Melrose an early lead they would never relinquish. Senior catcher Brendan Doyle had two hits and an RBI of his own, as would senior shortstop Michael Thomas, senior left fielder Dylan Harrington and senior center fielder Jaiden Aquino. Melrose would cruise to a five inning 11-0 victory over Stoneham to extend its win streak to five in a row.
On Friday, April 25 Melrose traveled to Watertown to take on their Middlesex Freedom Division foe. Senior Jaiden Aquino got the start and he was staked to an early lead as Melrose jumped out quickly behind hits from Dylan Harrington and Jaiden Aquino. Cadel McKeown added a big two RBI hit and red-hot Reid Heidebrecht added an RBI as Melrose led 3-0 early. As they have throughout their winning streak, Melrose got hits and runs in bunches. With a four run lead, Melrose had a huge top of the fourth inning, behind hits from Heidebrecht, junior Jack Casey and sophomore Nate Geer. Michael Thomas added a two RBI single, Brendan Doyle added an RBI, and Cadel McKeown added an RBI hit of his own to help build the lead to 9-0. Jamie Hickey relieved Aquino and pitched a clean inning. Melrose batted in the 5th inning, knowing another run would initiate the ten-run rule if they could hold Watertown in the home half of the fifth. Senior Dylan Harrington would take the game into his hands as he drilled a line drive into the right center field power alley that the fleet-footed Harrington turned into a home run to increase the lead to 10-0.
Said Harrington after the game, “Everyone has been contributing on offense. That’s the biggest difference between last year and this year. Our offense is balanced and our pitchers have been great all year. It leads to winning baseball.” Nate Geer would relieve Hickey, needing three outs to end the game. Geer did just that and Melrose had their sixth straight victory thanks to their 10-0 win in Watertown.
Melrose hosted Middlesex League rival Lexington on Monday, April 28. Junior Brian Capodilupo got the start for Melrose and again, Melrose started quickly behind leadoff hitter Mikey Thomas, who singled in the bottom of the first and stole 2nd. He quickly scored on an RBI single by fellow Senior Dylan Harrington. Harrington advanced to third on Jaiden Aquino’s ground out to second and Harrington scored on senior catcher Brendan Doyle’s sacrifice fly to right to post Melrose to a quick 2-0 lead after one. Capodilupo battled all day to make that lead hold up, but some uncharacteristic sloppy defense made the job more difficult for Melrose and their pitcher. After Lexington went ahead in the top of the 5th inning 5-3, Melrose battled back in the 6th and 7th but just couldn’t get that big hit to even the score. Nate Geer scored on a passed ball to make the final score 5-4 in favor of Lexington.
After the game, Melrose varsity baseball coach Scott Searles admitted, “We gave Lexington too many extra outs by committing too many errors (7). They played a clean game and we didn’t. Sometimes you have to tip your cap to the other team when they get you. Today was a learning experience for a lot of our players about how we have to maintain focus. We will go over it more in practice this week. I liked how hard our boys battled today, there’s no quit in them”.
Searles like his team’s chances, especially if they keep working hard and grinding out games. “The one thing we (coaches) are trying to stress to the players is that no matter how good your records is, there’s always room for improvement.”
Melrose High School baseball will surely be a team to watch as the season progresses.