2025 Intercity League Champions – Lexington Blue Sox
Blue Sox Sweep Bulldogs to Take 2025 Championship
INTERCITY LEAGUE NEWS & NOTES
Reading & Somerville Take Opening First Round Games
The Reading Bulldogs and the Somerville Royals both took a 1-0 lead in their respective best of three series on Thursday night. The Bulldogs got a strong effort from Jack Burke to beat the Watertown Reds 6-2 at Victory Field. Burke allowed just four hits and struck out seven in six innings as the Bulldogs jumped out to 6-0 fourth inning lead. Kevin Marciano drove in two of the Reading runs and Zac Talis, Darren Hartwell, and Rosario Missiti also had RBI’s. Dan Chassion and Logan Gillis drove in the Watertown runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. The Royals scored three runs in the top of the 11th inning to beat the Wakefield Merchants 5-2 in a marathon at Lexington High. Brian Campbell, John Collette, and Sean Harrington each had a couple of hits for the Royals. Soren Hanson got the win with three innings of work in relief of Chuck Gibson. Joseph Maguire went the first nine innings for Wakefield and allowed just two runs. Paul McGunigle and Ryan Collins drove in the Merchants’ runs. Both series continue on Friday night. The Bulldogs and Reds meet at Lexington High and the Merchants and Royals will tangle at Morelli Field in Melrose. Both games will start at 8:00 PM.
Chiefs Win Twice in Lexington to Take Regular Season Pennant
The Andre Chiefs won the conclusion of a suspended game 4-2, then took the nightcap 5-2 on Wednesday night in Lexington to edge out the Blue Sox and win the 2017 Regular Season pennant. The Chiefs now earn the #1 seed and the Blue Sox will be the #2 seed in the upcoming ICL Playoffs. Mitchell Clegg had a hand in both games. The lefty worked a scoreless inning to get the save for Anthony Sullivan (1-0) in the opener. Clegg then threw a complete game three-hitter to get his 4th win of the year in game two. Johnny Welch hit a first inning grand slam, his 6th homer of the year, to give the Chiefs a 4-0 lead. Dan Graham and Thomas Russo drove in the Lexington runs in the second game. Drew Leenhouts (3-1) took the loss despite only allowing five hits in his six innings of work. The Chiefs finish the regular season at 22-6 (44 points) while the Blue Sox ended up at 20-7-1 (41 points).
Royals Get #5 Seed, Chiefs & Blue Sox Win, Meet Tonight to Determine Top Seed
The Somerville Royals clinched the fifth seed in the upcoming ICL Playoffs with darkness shortened 6-4 win over the Arlington Trojans at Summer Street Field. Toby Stern (2-0) allowed just three hits. Wagner Gomez went 3-3 with three RBI’s and Sean Harrington added two hits for the Royals. In Melrose, Jared Freni (7-2) scattered two hits and struck out ten in 6.2 innings when the Chiefs beat the Americans 8-0 at Morelli Field. Peter Copa hit a grand slam and Johnny Welch had a solo homer for the Chiefs who scored seven times in the top of seventh to break open a 1-0 game. Zeke Berg (0-3) pitched a strong six innings for the Americans. The Lexington Blue Sox won their 11th straight game with a 4-1 victory over the Wakefield Merchants. Kevin Scanlon (1-0) went four innings to get the win as the Blue Sox got homers from Ross Curley and Dan Graham. Andrew Auld (1-2) look the loss. The regular season will conclude tonight when the Chiefs and Blue Sox meet in Lexington starting at 7:30 PM. The teams will first finish a suspended game with the Chiefs leading 4-2 in the bottom of the seventh inning. Following that game, the regularly scheduled game will be played. The results of these two games will determine who will get the top playoff seed.
Bulldogs Secure Playoff Spot, Chiefs & Blue Sox Clinch First-Round Byes
The Reading Bulldogs clinched a playoff spot with two wins at Endicott College on Monday night. The Bulldogs beat the Arlington Trojans 7-3 to complete a suspended game, and then got a homer from Mike Taylor and went on to win the second game 10-2. At Pine Banks, Josh Desai went to 6-0, and threw his third straight shutout, when he out-dueled Chris Mitchell (4-4) as the Chiefs beat the Americans 1-0 to clinch a first-round playoff bye. Matt Nuzzo supplied the game’s only run with a solo homer in the first inning. In Lexington, the Blue Sox used a two-run sixth inning homer from Dan Graham to tie the game, then got a walk-off seventh inning single from Julian Alvarez, to come from behind to edge the Watertown Reds 3-2. Chris Law (2-1) got the win in relief as the Blue Sox also clinched a first-round bye. Justin Forman’s solo homer and Dan Chaisson’s single gave the Reds a 2-0 third inning lead. Bill Sullivan (3-1) struck out 10 despite taking the loss. There are three games on tonight’s ICL schedule. The Somerville Royals visit the Trojans at Summer Street Field at 6:15 PM, the Chiefs visit the Americans at Morelli Field in Melrose at 7:30 PM, and the Wakefield Merchants and Blue Sox tangle in Lexington at 8:00 PM. Prior to the Chiefs-Americans game at Morelli Field, former Chiefs’ Bench Coach Steve Calabresi’s number will be retired. “Coach Cal” passed away suddenly in April after spending nearly thirty years with the Chiefs’ organization.