ROWLEY — Things didn’t quite go the way the Rockport Townies had hoped for in Wednesday night’s ITL game against Rowley.
In what went down as a 6-0 road defeat, the third place Townies struggled to get things going offensively against a talented opposing pitcher.
However, heading into the contest the Townies knew they had their work cut out for them against a perennially strong Rams’ program.
“We know it was going to be a competitive and really tight matchup against Rowley, no matter their record,” Rockport’s Keady Segel said of the Rams, who now sport a 7-9 record and are just three points back of the Townies (8-6-1)
Right from the get-go, Rowley made it known why they are capable of being one of the best teams in the league. The Rams opened it up with a two-run first inning and didn’t look back from there. Rockport struggled to put the bat on the ball all day, but even with those struggles, there were a couple glimpses of hope.
In the second following a Zach Morris single, Jack Cahill followed suit by taking one to right field. But the inning ended when Morris was thrown out at third by a laser from Rowley’s right fielder.
The Townies threatened again in the fifth inning when leadoff hitter Jameson Kamm stepped to the plate. He beat out a ground ball in the infield to get things going but was stranded from there.
Rowley pitcher Kyle Greeneler is as tough an opponent as any, and he showed that with a strong performance all around on Wednesday. He racked up 15 strikeouts and went all seven innings.
Rockport countered with two solid outings on the mound from Billy Mueller and Sam McDowell, who combined for five strikeouts and worked every batter that challenged them.
“We had Mueller and McDowell who competed tonight,” said Segel. “They pitched well enough for us to win, but with our offense and a couple errors in the field, that’s just how the game turns out.”
Both pitchers continued to step on the mound and give it their all to attempt to will their team back into this one, but the offense just wasn’t there in this particular clash.
Rockport will look to bounce back as its season continues on Sunday at home against Ipswich (4 p.m.).