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Melrose defeats Watertown 10-0 (April 25)
Melrose defeats Stoneham 11-0 (April 23)
Published April 25, 2025
By CORY THOMAS
MELROSE—Melrose High varsity baseball enters school vacation week red hot, winners of four straight games, and are sporting a record of 5-3, to the delight of Melrose varsity head coach Scott Searles.
“We’re playing well right now and we’re staying away from the costly mistakes that give our opponents free bases and opportunities for big innings. We’re playing much cleaner baseball right now,” said coach Searles.
Melrose had a tough test on Monday, April 21 against Division 1 Peabody High at Morelli Field in Melrose. These two ball clubs played a tight game last year in Peabody in which the Tanners prevailed in a one run victory. This year, Melrose would provide a little more breathing room thanks to a recipe for winning baseball: strong pitching and timely hitting. The result was a 9-1 Melrose victory.
Junior pitcher Brian Capodilupo was a solid starter once again for Melrose, holding a solid Peabody team scoreless through the first three innings, until Melrose’s offense got going, behind a two RBI hit from senior Dylan Harrington. Junior Cadel McKeown & senior Reid Heidebrecht each added hits as Melrose built a 4-0 lead. Senior Brendan Doyle would knock in two RBI’s of his own with a single to left to increase Melrose’s lead to 6-0. “This team is coming together well, and our bats are alive,” proclaimed senior first baseman Reid Heidebrecht. The lanky lefty hitter for Melrose is right, as Melrose is now averaging almost 6.5 runs per game offensively through 8 games.
Heidebrecht, McKeown and Harrington each had two hits against Peabody to pace the Melrose offense. Searles spoke of the balance in the line up thanks to the hitting of McKeown and Capodilupo, “Cadel & Cap have really evolved offensively to solidify the middle of the order and they’re not letting any opportunities for big hits, slip by.”
Conversely, the starting pitching has been a strength of the team, Melrose is averaging less than four runs allowed per game through eight this year. That is due in large part to the talent of starters, Capodilupo, Jaiden Aquino, and Harrington. But it is also due to the game plan set by the coaches and executed by the pitchers and senior catcher Brendan Doyle. “We [the coaches, pitchers and catchers] have great communication. We talk about our game plan before the game and we make adjustments as the game goes on so we know what pitches to throw and when to throw them,” admits Doyle.
The game plans have been working well during this four game winning streak, which has seen Melrose improve from 1-3 to 5-3 as the midpoint of the varsity baseball season approaches.
Melrose was able to close the door on the Peabody Tanners, as freshman Max Hoag made his varsity pitching debut in relief of Capodilupo who went six strong innings, allowing only one run. Hoag closed out Peabody to earn the 9-1 victory for Melrose.
Melrose has two more games during vacation week as they take on Middlesex League Freedom Division foes Stoneham on April 23 at Morelli and they travel to Watertown on April 25 as they battle the Raiders at Victory Field (post deadline).