Coach Aram Manoukian has been devotedly coaching baseball in Watertown for a very long time. He played the game, he knows the game, he loves to teach the game. The 2026 season has been all about teaching, with a roster that includes five freshman and 11 sophomores. He knew from the start of pre-season that there would be bumps along the way. He knew the Middlesex League was loaded with good baseball teams. What he didn’t necessarily know was how big the bumps would be, and as it turns out, they were huge. The final home game of 2026 was yet another bump, as the Raiders lost to Melrose 11-2 on Senior Night.
The only two Seniors on the Raisers roster are Kingston Omolade and Aidan Kanode. They were recognized in pre-game festivities. Kingston was the second baseman in Coach Manoukian’s starting lineup, and Aidan was the DH. Congratulations to both for their efforts on behalf of Raiders Baseball and Watertown Athletics!
Tuesday’s game was delayed by weather, as in summer-like rain and wind and thunder and lighting — at the end of a summer-like day which in realty is still spring. Temperatures were in the 90’s all day, but by 5:30 p.m. storm clouds were ready to play. When it was all said and done, and safe to hit the field, both teams took their warm-ups and first pitch was 45 minutes late. Julian Boas, arguably the team’s ace as a sophomore, was on the mound for the Raiders. Melrose entered the game 8-9; one of those wins was against Watertown at Melrose on April 27th by a score of 14-1.
Boas was sharp through three innings. Not vintage-sharp, but he had only allowed one hit and struck out two. The Raiders offense has been probably the major storylines of 2026. The Raiders just haven’t been able to consistently string together hits, especially with runners on base. That said, they manufactured a run in the second, thanks to junior Peter Pavlidis getting hit by a pitch, stealing second and third, and scoring when Jordan Muraca, who worked a two-out walk, stole second and Melrose chose to throw through but didn’t get Muraca out. Pavlidis scored due to Melrose’s lack of execution.
Up 1-0 in the fourth inning, Watertown allowed an ugly inning, their other big problem in 2026. Boas retired the first batter, but then issued a walk. Melrose’s five-hitter sent a shot to left that was catchable, but leftfielder Muraca, who looked to have a beat on the ball, misjudged it and it went over his head for a triple. Tied at 1, Boas suddenly lost his control, and to be honest, he seemed a bit disheartened. He hit two, gave up a single and another triple, and suddenly it was 5-1 Melrose and Boas’s night was done.
Two more runs scored in the fourth as Melrose sent 12 batters to the plate. The Raiders got their only hit of the night in the bottom of the fourth, down 7-1. Pavlidis, who reached base all three at bats and scored both of Watertown’s runs, hit a flare over the second baseman’s head. But, he was left stranded at first. The Raiders did score again in the sixth to make 7-2, but Melrose added four more in the top of the seventh. Final score, Melrose 11 and Watertown 2.
The Raiders have the makings of a good baseball team. Coach Manoukian is convinced of this, and a lot can happen between now and next April. Twenty-one baseball players will return in 2027, and those who play and practice and get stronger and faster and develop on the field will determine Watertown’s fate next season. This season was difficult. It’s not fun to lose, and unfortunately Watertown lost 16 of 19 games played. But they practiced hard according to the coaching staff, and showed signs of improvement all season long — they just couldn’t take practice results and duplicate them in Middlesex League play.
On to next season, and surely, better results! And nothing but praise for these young men, who always played hard and stuck together through the losing. That should not be lost on anyone – they wore the uniform with pride!
———————————————————
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 – F H
Melrose 0 0 0 7 0 0 4 – 11 7
Watertown 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 – 2 1