BULLDOGS WIN FIRST EVER ICL CHAMPIONSHIP
INTERCITY LEAGUE NEWS & NOTES
Reds & Alibrandis Move on to Semi-Finals with Sunday Wins
The #3 Watertown Reds and #4 Alibrandis took series ending Sunday night wins and will now move on to the ICL’s final four. The Reds beat the #6 Andre Chiefs 10-3 and will now meet the #2 Wakefield Merchants with game one of that series scheduled for Trum Field in Somerville on Tuesday night at 8:15 PM. Alibrandis took the rubber game of their series with the #5 Reading Bulldogs 7-3. They will meet the #1 Blue Sox in game one in Lexington on Tuesday at 8:00 PM. At Maplewood, the Reds came back from a 3-1 fourth inning deficit to eliminate the Chiefs in two games. Will Brennan had a homer and three RBI’s and Ben Johnston a double and three RBI’s to lead the way. Dan Chaisson, Sean Callahan-Montague and Josh Miller all added doubles, and Kyle LaVigne had two hits for the Reds. Nate Espelin tossed four scoreless innings in relief of Nate Beck to record the win. Evan Walsh took the loss for the Chiefs. Matt Nuzzo’s first inning solo homer gave the Chiefs the early lead. Alibrandis got a complete game five-hitter from Sean Sullivan to lead them to the 7-3 win in a game played at Victory Field in Watertown. Dave Lightbody and Bobby Barrett both launched two-run doubles, and Teddt Dziuba had a two RBI single, for Alibrandis. Zac Talis drove in two of the three Reading runs with a double. Sullivan struck out two and walked just one. Cam Lanzilli took the loss for the Bulldogs.
Barrett Slam Gets Alibrandis Even with Bulldogs, Both Series Resume on Sunday at 8
Bobby Barrett (pictured) hit a grand slam in the top of the eighth inning, to break a 1-1 tie, and then Alibrandis held on to beat the Reading Bulldogs 5-2 at Morelli Field. With the win, Alibrandis tied the series up at one game each. Tyler Cedeno drove in Mason Campbell in the bottom of the sixth inning to tie the game up for the Bulldogs. Lew Jensen and James Cramphin combined to get the win for Alibrandis. Jack Theriault took the loss in the eighth inning in relief of Ben Gottesman. Gottesman allowed only four hits in his seven innings. The deciding game three of the Reading-Alibrandis series will be now played at Victory Field in Watertown on Sunday at 7:00 PM. It was originally scheduled at Morelli Field but has been moved to the artificial surface at Victory due to wet grounds in Melrose. Game two of the Andre Chiefs-Watertown Reds series will also be played on Sunday at Maplewood/Malden Catholic at 8:00 PM. If a third game is needed, it would be played in Watertown on Monday night. The Reds lead that series 1-0. The #1 seeded Lexington Blue Sox and #2 seeded Wakefield Merchants await their opponents in the best of five semi-finals which are scheduled to begin on Tuesday. The Blue Sox will host game one at Lexington High at 8:00 PM while the Merchants will play at Trum Field in Somerville at 8:15 PM.
Bulldogs & Reds Take First Round Series Leads
The Reading Bulldogs got a complete game five-hitter from Jack Burke and shutout Alibrnadis 6-0 to take a 1-0 series lead on Thursday night at Morelli Field. Jeff Roy had three hits, including two doubles, and Zac Talis drove in two runs to lead the Reading offense. Tyler Cedeno, Joey Hodapp and Johnny Hayes drove in the other Reading runs. Burke struck out six and didn’t issue a walk. Brian Tanguy look the loss for Alibrandis. In Watertown, the Reds scored three times in each of the third and fourth innings, erasing a 1-0 Andre Chiefs lead, and went on to a 6-3 series opening win at Victory Field. Worth Walrod went 6.1 innings to get the win with help from Dan Haverty in the seventh inning. Ben Johnston had two hits and two RBI’s, Kyle LaVigne a triple among his two hits and two RBI, and Will Brennan a two RBI triple, to lead the Reds’ at the plate. Johhny Welch had three hits and two RBI for the Chiefs. Mitchell Clegg went four innings and suffered the loss, despite striking out six. Game two of the Reading-Alibrandis series will be played on Friday night at Morelli Field at 8:00 PM. The second game of the Chiefs-Reds series will be on Sunday at 8:00 PM at Maplewood/Malden Catholic.
Chiefs Beat Americans in Play-In Game 12-3, First Round Begins on Thursday
The Andre Chiefs spotted the Melrose Americans a 3-0 first inning lead, then scored 12 unanswered runs, on the way to a 12-3 play-in game win at soggy Maplewood Park on Wednesday night. With the win the Chiefs advance to the first round of the ICL’s playoffs against the Watertown Reds. Game one of that best of three series will be played on Thursday night at Victory Field at 7:30 PM. The Reading Bulldogs-Albrandis series will also begin on Thursday night. The first game will be played at Morelli Field in Melrose at 8:00 PM. The Americans-Chiefs game was twice delayed by rain and lightning. The game started on time at 8:00 PM, was halted twice in the top of the first inning, and finally resumed at 9:50 PM. The Chiefs got a three-run first inning homer and seven RBI’s from Ben Waldrip, who went 4-4, to lead the win. Tim Dunphy took over for Jared Freni after the the second rain delay and proceeded to throw 6.1 innings of shutout ball. Tony Serino and Matt Nuzzo had two hits each for the Chiefs while Johnny Welch (single, sac fly) and Leivi Ventura (double) each had two RBI’s. The Americans took a 3-0 lead in the extended first inning on singles from Malcolm Nachmanoff, John Jennings, Dave Center and Charlie Huegi. 2018 INTERCITY LEAGUE PLAYOFF SEEDS 1-Lexington Blue Sox 2-Wakefield Merchants 3-Watertown Reds 4-Alibrandis 5-Reading Bulldogs 6-Andre Chiefs