Mariners 5 Beverly 4

The Manchester/Essex Mariners advanced to the ITL Finals after outlasting the Beverly Giants on Monday, squeaking out a 5-4 win in Beverly.

Beverly jumped ahead 1 to 0 in the bottom of the first on a single by Brian Chirco.

The Mariners answered back in the 2nd on a RBI sac fly by Alex Ray.

Beverly took a 3 to 1 lead in the 3rd on a 2-out two run double by Luke McDonald.

In the bottom of the 5th Beverly scored another run on an error to increase their lead to 4-1.

Manchester/Essex rallied to score 3 runs in the top of the 6th on four walks and a clutch 2 run single by Cole Josselyn.

With the game tied 4 to 4 in the top of the 7th, the Mariners finally managed to grab the lead. A suicide squeeze by Rory Gentile scored Alex Ray to put the Mariners up 5 to 4.

Mike Gibbon shut the door in the 7th by striking out the side and earning the save.