By STEPHEN MARTELLUCCI
MELROSE — Kevin Burgoyne is back for his 30th year as the manager of the Melrose Americans Intercity League baseball team (18 and over league with wood bats) this summer.
Last season, the Americans went 12-12-1 in the regular season. They ended up losing to the Lexington Blue Sox two games to one in the semifinals of the playoffs.
Nearly everybody is back on the roster this summer for the team as they opened up their season back on June 7th. Again, the Americans will play 25 regular-season games with the playoffs starting in early August.
Their have been a couple of small changes to the league as the Reading Bulldogs have moved to Lexington and the Middlesex Expos are now the Sabertooth Expos as there are still six teams in the league with the top four qualifying for the playoffs.
Four of the Americans are Melrose residents. Those four players are Mike Peters (pitcher), Cory Bright (utiltity), Ian Libby (first base- outfielder) and Ryan Dolan (pitcher).
Peters is in his tenth-year with the team while Bright is in his third season. Libby is in his second year as he missed last summer after playing in 2021 and Dolan is in his rookie year.
The other American from Melrose is assistant coach Barry Bell.
Heading into this week, the American’s record is 7-6 as they are in third place behind the Expos (11-3) and the Andre Chiefs (10-5).
“We have been up-and-down so far,” said Burgoyne. “Our pitching and hitting is starting to catch up.
John Jennings leads the team in batting average heading into this week at .432. Pat Costigan is second at .400.
Aidan Barry leads the Americans in runs batted in with nine while Costigan has eight. Costigan also leads the team in walks with nine while Barry and Jack Beverly both have six.
Mike Nestor is the team’s top pitcher as he headed into this week at 2-0 with an earned-run average of 2.56. Nick Colucci, who is 1-1, hes a team-low ERA of 1.70 in 12.1 innings pitched.
The next game for the Americans is home at Morelli Field on Sunday (July 16th) as they host the Chiefs at 4 pm. Two days later they play the Lexington Blue Sox at 8 pm at Lexington High.
Melrose then host the Expos on July 19th at 7:30 pm.
“We would love for everybody to come out to the games,” stated Burgoyne, as admission to Morelli is free. “We used to have some good crowds come out for us.”