By STEPHEN MARTELLUCCI
MELROSE — Last summer, the Melrose Americans baseball team was eliminated in the semifinals of the Intercity League playoffs as they were swept, 3-0, by the Andre Chiefs in the best-of-five series.
The Americans finished the 2024 campaign with an overall record of 16-10-1 as they came in third place behind the Lexington Blue Sox and the Chiefs, who won the league championship.
This season, Kevin Burgoyne is back for his 32nd year as manager.
The Americans, who play their home games at Morelli Field, opened the season back on May 28 and the final game of the regular season is slated for Aug. 4.
Melrose has gotten off to a very good start in the first month-plus of the season as they are in second place in the league.
On Monday night, they fell, 7-6, to the host Boston Padres at Cleveland Circle. With that defeat, they fell to 11-5-1.
“We made five errors in that game,” pointed out Burgoyne. “The defense is something we have to improve on. Our hitting and pitching has been solid so far.”
Just like last year, the Americans play regular-season games against Yawkey League and Park League teams along with their Intercity League games (each league has its own playoffs)
Five of the Americans players are from Melrose. Ian Libby is a first baseman and left fielder while Ben Cassavoy is a pitcher.
Dylan Harrington plays center field and pitches while Dan Ferris is at first base.
Mike Peters, who is currently injured, is the fifth American from Melrose and he is a pitcher.
Barry Bell, a veteran assistant manager, is also from Melrose.
Heading into this week, catcher Ryan Bourgeois leads the team in batting average .444 and runs batted in (10).
Pat Costigan is second in both categories as he is hitting .429 with 9 RBI. Owen Duggan, who is hitting .387, also has 9 runs batted in and has a team-high 12 hits.
Jake Simpson leads the pitching staff with a 2-0 record. His earned-run average is 0.81 in 8.2 innings pitched.
Alex Parisi is also 2-0 on the hill with a 1.33 ERA. He has one save.
“Our first half of the season went well,” said Burgoyne, who was pleased with what he has seen so far.
Next week, the Americans will play three games in three days. On July 14, they visit the Chiefs at Maplewood Park in Malden at 8 p.m.
Melrose then takes on the Lexington Bulldogs at Lexington High at 7 p.m. on July 15. On the 16th, the Americans host the Malden Maddogs at 7:30 p.m. Admission to all games are free.