The Reading Bulldogs beat the Melrose Americans 3-1 on Friday night at Morelli Field to sweep their best of three first round series and advance to the ICL’s semi-finals.

The Bulldogs got a five inning, three hit, outing from Wayne Lundgren, who got the win. Johnny Hayes drove in two of Reading’s runs while Kyle Devin drove in the third. Mike Taylor had a perfect three for three night at the plate for Reading. Cody Hall went the final two innings, allowing just one hit, to get the save.

Shawn Smeglin (3.0 innings) and Kevin McGlinchy (4.0 innings) worked on the mound for the Americans.

The Bulldogs will now meet the Andre Chiefs in a best of five semi-final series that begins on Sunday night at Maplewood Park (Malden Catholic) at 8:00 PM.

In the other semi-final series, the Lexington Blue Sox and Watertown Reds will also get underway on Sunday. Game One of that series will be played at Victory Field in Watertown starting at 7:30 PM.

Lexington left-hander Alsis Herrera signed with the Cleveland Indians last week. Herrera has pitched for the Blue Sox for the last two seasons and was a two-time ICL all-star.

A native of the Dominican Republic, Herrera appeared in a dozen games ICL games, making his debut on June 13, 2015 against the then Somerville Thunder. He posted a 4-2 record and struck out 69 batters in just 50.1 career innings. He last pitched for the Blue Sox on August 2 against the Chiefs.

Herrera earned second team NAIA All-America honors while pitching for The University of Science & Arts of Oklahoma this past spring where he had an 11-4 record with an ERA of 2.43. He struck out 143 batters in 112 innings.

Herrera was assigned to the Indians’ affiliate in the Arizona Rookie League. He made his professional debut on August 11th when he threw a scoreless inning against the Dodgers.

The Reading Bulldogs and Somerville Royals both took 1-0 leads in their Best of Three First Round Series with wins on Monday night.

READING BULLDOGS 3, MELROSE AMERICANS 1
The Bulldogs got a complete game three-hitter from Jack Burke and beat the Melrose Americans 3-1 at Endicott College in Beverly. Burke outdueled Americans’ righty Zack Kirby, who allowed just six hits. Harry Oringer had a triple and two RBI’s, Mike Taylor a hit and an RBI, and Steve Busby a couple of hits for the Bulldogs.

Kevin Kelley had a double and drove in the Melrose run.

Burke struck out four and walked three while Kirby had eight K’s.

Game Two of this series, will be played at Morelli Field on Wednesday at 8:00 PM.

SOMERVILLE ROYALS 7, LEXINGTON BLUE SOX 2
IMPORTANT UPDATE: GAME TWO OF THIS SERIES, ORIGINALLY SCHEDULED TO BE PLAYED AT MORELLI FIELD, WE NOW BE PLAYED ON TUESDAY AT TRUM FIELD IN SOMERVILLE AT 8:15 PM.

In Lexington, the Royals got a complete game four-hitter from Chuck Gibson, and 13 hits from their offense, to lead them to a 7-2 win over the Blue Sox. Wagner Gomez had two doubles and an RBI, John Collette two singles and an RBI, and George Crowley and Luke Ronchi two RBI’s each to pace the Royals at the plate.

Dan Graham hit a solo homer in the second inning and Dave Ahern had two of Lexington’s hits.

Rob Caggiano and Adam Johnson added two each for the Royals.

Matt Karis (0-1, 3.0 innings), Ryan Filipwoicz (2.2 innings), and Jimmy Hill (1.1 innings), all worked on the mound for the Blue Sox.

Gibson (1-0), struck out seven and walked five in gaining the win.

Game Two of this series will be played on Tuesday at 8:00 PM at Morelli Field in Melrose.

The Watertown Reds clinched second place and a playoff bye with a 9-6 win over the Somerville Royals on Wednesday night at Trum Field. The Reds finished the regular season with a 19-7-2 record. John Collette had three hits, including a homer, and Jake Cintolo three more hits for the Royals. More on the details of this game soon.

In Wakefield, the Lexington Blue Sox got three hits and five RBI’s from veteran Ross Curley on the way to a darkness shortened 13-2 win over the Merchants. Taylor Ferguson, Thomas Russo, Alex Voitik, and Josh Hassell, each added two hits to lead Lexington’s 15 hit offense. Ryan Filipwoicz (2-0) went five innings to get the win. Scott Searles and Dave Ellegood had a couple of hits each for the Merchants.

On Thursday, the Merchants and Andre Chiefs meet at Maplewood at 8:00 PM, the Arlington Trojans and Blue Sox get together in Lexington at 8:00 PM, and the Melrose Americans visit the Royals at Trum Field at 8:15 PM.

Mitchell Clegg (5-3) fired a one-hitter, facing the minimum of 21 batters, when the Andre Chiefs shutout the Watertown Reds 4-0 at Maplewood on Monday night. Clegg had a perfect game through five innings and allowed just two baserunners, a lead-off single by Jon Barber in the sixth, and a walk to Kyle LaVigne in the seventh. Both runners were erased on inning ending doubleplays. The game was scoreless for 4 ½ innings until the Chiefs scored two runs in the fifth and added two more in the sixth. Juan Portes, Peter Copa, and Tony Deshler had the Chiefs RBI’s. Aric Dama (5-2) was outstanding over the first four innings for the Reds.
In Lexington, the Reading Bulldogs came from 3-1 down to beat the Somerville Royals 6-4 in the continuation of a game that began last week at Trum Field in Somerville but was halted due a power failure. Mike DeDonato had two hits and two RBI’s, Harry Oringer two hits, including a double and an RBI, Corey DiLoreto a couple of hits and two RBI’s, and Kyle Devin recorded two singles, to pace the Bulldogs’ 11 hit offense. Jack Burke (6-2) got the win with six innings of work. Wagner Gomez (3 RBI) had three hits, including a double and a homer, and James McConville had two hits to lead the Royals.
On Tuesday, the Wakefield Merchants travel to Morelli Field to meet the Melrose Americans at 7:30 PM and the Lexington Blue Sox host the Andre Chiefs at Lexington High in an 8:00 PM start.