Lexington wins its 15th Intercity League Title

By Bruce Hack

Lexington Media Relations Director

 

Melrose – John Puttress’ clutch two-out, two-run single in the top of the fourth gave Lexington a 3-2 lead. A lead the Blue Sox would hold on to and come home with their 15^th Intercity League Championship.

 

The title was the 11^th in the past 13 seasons for Lexington and fifth straight.

The final pitch of the game was a Manny Delcarmen breaking ball that was a called third strike on Juan Parra and the Blue Sox began the celebration.

All of the scoring came within the span of the third and top of the fourth innings.

The winning rally started with two outs and no Blue Sox on base. Richie Burgos received a four pitch walk to initiate the rally. Dom Zaher drove a line drive into center for a single and the Sox had two runners on. Morgan Brown then sent a pitch through the left side of the infield and the bases were loaded. Puttress wasted no time and lined the first pitch into left to drive in Burgos with the tying run and Zaher with the go-ahead run.

This game started off differently than the first three games as neither team scored in the first inning. The Blue Sox had runners on the corners with one out, but a 4-6-3 double play got Alibrandis starter Ryan Corriveau out of trouble. Lexington starter Mike Geannelis pitched a 1-2-3 first inning with two strike outs.

Geannelis had another 1-2-3 inning in the second. In his second inning, Corriveau was again bailed out by a double play, this one with one on and no outs.

In the third the Sox finally got to Corriveau. Brown reached on a bunt single and took second on the throwing error. Puttress sacrificed him to third. A walk to Aaron Barbosa put Sox on the corners with one out. Taylor Ferguson beat out the throw to first as Alibrandis attempted to pull off their third double play and Brown came home with the first run of the game and a 1-0 lead for Lexington.

The Alibrandis came right back in the bottom of the third with their own two-out rally. Number nine hitter Mark Addesa walked to be the first Alibrandis base runner and snap Geannelis’ streak at eight straight outs. Parra walked to put runners on first and second. Michael Maguire and Teddy Dziuba then delivered RBI singles and it was 2-1 Alibrandis.

Corriveau, 1-1, pitched six innings for Alibrandis. After the Puttress single he retired five straight and seven of the last eight batters he faced. For the night he gave up seven hits, walked three, struck out five.

For Geannelis, who improved to 3-0 in the playoffs, it was much of the same. He left a runner stranded at second in the fourth and sixth innings. A 6-4-3 double play ended the fifth inning. His night ended with six innings pitched, four hits, two walks, and five strikeouts.

The Alibrandis Baseball Club joined the Intercity League in 2018, coming over from the Yawkey League. The team had won eight consecutive YBL titles and 17 overall. Last season they reached the semifinals where they were knocked out by Lexington in five games. In 2019 they finished second and received a first-round bye. The team beat Wakefield two games to one in the semifinals to advance to the finals.

Another Intercity League season has come to a close. It was a season in which ICL fans witnessed some outstanding amateur baseball. They saw young players beginning their ICL career and veteran players showing they were naught ready to hang up their cleats. So as the lights go off at Morelli Field for the final time the teams and players of the ICL thank the fans for their support and look forward to seeing everyone in the 2020 season.