Watertown, MA– Veteran Dave Lightbody’s two run homer in the bottom of the sixth inning erased a 3-2 Wakefield Merchants lead and propelled Alibrandis to a 4-3 series clinching victory on Friday night at Victory Field.

Alibrandis wins the series 2-1 and will now move on to their first ICL Championship Series. That best of five series will begin at Morelli Field on Monday night at 7:45 PM against the defending champion Lexington Blue Sox.

Chris Butler had given the Merchants a 3-2 lead with a two RBI double in the top of the sixth inning.

The Merchants took a 1-0 advantage in the top of the first inning on Mike Sorrentino’s RBI single.

Alibrandis came back with two runs and took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the third on RBI’s from Mike Maguire and Teddy Dziuba.

Ryan Corriveau, who was 6-1 in the regular season, worked the first six innings for Alibrandis to get the win. 2018 ICL Pitcher of the Year Matt Horan retired the Merchants’ side in order in the top of the seventh to record the save.

Greg Johnson went the route and took the loss despite some brilliant pitching.

The Merchants, who were looking to return to the ICL finals for the first time since 1994, conclude the 2019 campaign with an overall 17-14 mark. Alibrandis was dominant in the Yawkey League for two decades and joined the ICL in 2018.

Malden – What a difference a day makes!

In a game that was the opposite of the first game’s pitcher’s duel, Lexington outslugged Andre for the 9-6 win and a sweep of their semifinal series at Pine Banks Park Thursday night and advance to the finals.
Ross Curley’s grand slam in the top of third gave the Blue Sox the lead for good at 5-2. The first Blue Sox run in the inning came after a walk to Taylor Ferguson and a single by John Puttress put runners on the corners with no outs. Aaron Barbosa followed with a single up the middle that scored Ferguson and it was 2-1. Kyle Adie reached on a fielder’s choice and the bases were loaded for Curley. He quickly cleared them with a drive that went well over the leftfield fence.
Last night a lone run won the game. In game two that number was eclipsed in the bottom of the second when the Chiefs finally put a crooked number on the scoreboard.
With one out Matt Maloney walked and was followed by singles by Nick Leva and Mike Burgoyne to load the bases. Tony Serino singled for his second of three hits on the night, and was 1-0 Chiefs. Mike Gedman walked with the bases loaded to force in a run for a 2-0 lead.
Though Andre’s Zach Kirby lasted until the sixth, neither starting pitcher was as good as in the first game.
After his teammates gave him a 5-2 lead, Lexington starter Junior Pena could not shut down the Chiefs who cut the lead to 5-3. The Chiefs also suffered a loss in the inning. Maloney, who hit a line drive into center for what appeared to be a single, and that drove in Nate Witkowski (double). Unfortunately Maloney had collapsed at home plate and was eventually tagged out by Sox catcher Puttress. Maloney left the game with a knee injury.
Sox reliever Jake Vesling had come in in the third and struck out Leva to end the threat. He started the fourth by getting Mike Burgoyne on a fly ball to right. The next five Chiefs batters reached base on three singles and two walks to close to within 7-6. Ben Waldrip’s RBI single brought in the first run and Kyle Dembrowski closed out the scoring for Andre with a two-run single.
Bill Christopher entered the game for Lexington after Dembrowski’s single and got a strikeout and ground out to end the fourth. He retired the Chiefs in the fifth, despite giving up two walks and was the first Sox pitcher to not give up a run.
Borja Jones-Berasaluce had a 1-2-3 sixth with two strikeouts and Lexington was three outs from a sweep.
Lexington closer Manny Delcarmen entered the game in the seventh and gave up a two-out single to Burgoyne before getting Serino looking for the final out and the Blue Sox were on the way to the championship round.
Curley was 4-for-4 with three runs and four RBI to lead Lexington. Richie Burgos added a two-run single in the fourth. Number nine hitter Puttress had two hits and scored twice.
Serino had three hits and scored and drove in a run for Andre. Waldrip scored and drove in a run for the Chiefs.
Lexington awaits the winner of the Alibrandis – Wakefield series which Wakefield knotted at 1-1 with a 2-1 win in 12 innings Thursday night. The third and final game will be at Victory Field Friday night starting at 7:30.
The finals will for the held at Melrose’s Morelli Field for the sixth consecutive season.

By Bruce Hack, Lexington Director of Media Relations

Lexington – Lexington scored the only run of the game in the fifth and held on for a 1-0 win over the Andre Chiefs Wednesday night. The victory gives the Blue Sox a 1-0 lead in the best of three semifinal series.
Mitch Schroeder started the rally with a one-out opposite-field single to right. Morgan Brown followed with an infield single putting runners at first and second. Dom Zaher grounded out to second to move the runners up. Aaron Barbosa beat out a ground ball in the hole at shortstop and Schroeder crossed home with what would be the sole run of the game.
The game was a classic pitcher’s duel as starting pitchers Mike Geannelis for the Sox and Tim Dunphy for the Chiefs matched zeroes.
Geannelis retired the last 12 batters he faced and the first five. His only rough spot was in the second when the Chiefs loaded the bases after two outs. He induced an infield popup from Mike Burgoyne to end the threat. In his six innings of work, Geannelis threw 66 pitches, 49 for strikes. He also threw a first-pitch strike to 20 of the 22 batters he faced.
Dunphy was also efficient facing two batters over the minimum through four innings. He retired nine of ten batters before the fifth inning rally by the Sox.
The Chiefs rallied in the seventh against Lexington closer Manny Delcarmen. Kyle Dembrowski and Andrew Caulfield each reached on infield singles to put runners on first and second with no outs. Both runners moved up when an attempted pickoff of pinch-runner Evan Reynolds failed. Delcarmen then struck out the next three Chiefs on 10 pitches to close out the game.
The teams play game two of the series Thursday night at Pine Banks Park in Malden. Game time is scheduled for 7:45.

Bruce Hack Lexington Director of Media Relations

The Wakefield Merchants and Andre Chiefs both won on Monday night and will now move on to the best of three semi-finals which began on Wednesday night.

The Merchants rode the strong pitching of James McNamara to beat the #6 Malden Maddogs 4-1 at Morelli Field. The Merchants got a homer and double from Bobby Lossano and two hits and an RBI from Dillon Koster to pace their offense.

McNamara allowed just four hits in his complete game effort. Zak Levine took the loss for the Maddogs.

The #3 Merchants will now play #2 Alibrandis. Game one of that series is scheduled to begin Wednesday night at Victory Field in Watertown at 7:30 PM.

At Maplewood, Evan Walsh held the #4 Reading Bulldogs hitless over the first five innings, and ended up with a three-hitter, in the Chiefs 6-1 win. Ben Waldrip led the Chiefs’ offense with a three for four night, that included two doubles and an RBI, and Nick Leva chipped in with two hits and an RBI.

Walsh struck out 12 and allowed only an unearned run in the top of the seventh when Matt Debenedetto scored on a throwing error after doubling. Anthony Sapienza gave up just four hits in 3.2 innings but took the loss.

The #5 Chiefs will now take on the #1 Lexington Blue Sox. Game one of that series is scheduled to begin Wednesday night at Lexington High at 7:45 PM.