Author Archives: admin

The boys from the Yawkey League will attempt to take back the EMass Tourney crown this upcoming Sunday, July 12, 2015 at Campanelli Stadium in Brockton, MA, home of the Brockton Rox (1 Feinberg Way, Brockton, MA 02301).

The YBL will take the field in the first game at 1:30pm against the Cranberry League All Stars, a rematch of the 2014 championship game. The winner will play in the Championship game at 7:00pm (against the winner of second game, played at 4:30pm between the Boston Park League and the Intercity Baseball League). Eric Bellavia will ‘Man the Woodwind’ for the YBL team again this year, and he has chosen the following support staff to help put the YBL back on top:

John Griffith (Brighton Black Sox) #26
Branden Eaton (East Boston Knights) #7
Colucci & Son (Stoneham Sabers) – Angelo #13 and Stefano #36

Between the chalk, the YBL will field the following starters for game 1, as determined by league manager voting:

C – Marty Dunlap (East Boston Knights) #13
1B – Billy Uberti (Brighton Braves) #6
2B – Dylan Wicks (South Boston Saints) #5
SS – Stefan Botarelli (Stoneham Sabers) #5
3B – James Katsiroubas (Al Thomas Athletics) #16
OF – Julian Alvarez (South End Atros) #25
OF – Freddi Carrera (Al Thomas Athletics) #4
OF – Matt Lavanchy (McKay Club Beacons) #21
DH – Bobby Foote (Reevere Rockies) #32
SP – TBD

Reserves, chosen by the YBL All-Star Committee:

C – Kyle Rufo (Revere Rockies) #13
C – Geoffrey Lopes (Malden Maddogs) #5
1B – Kent Graham (South Boston Saints) #18
2B – Mike Oliveira (East Boston Knights) #11
1B/3B – Jeff Cady (Savin Hill Dodgers) #23
3B – Kenny Polanco (East Boston Knights) #24
OF – Steve Lambert (Al Thomas Athletics) #24
OF – Lionel Danielson (McKay Club Beacons) #6
OF/C – Anthony Perry (Somerville Alibrandis) #10
OF/P – Alex Wong (Revere Rockies) #24
OF – Chris Santosuosso (Revere Rockies) #77
P – Jeff Allison (East Boston Knights) #45
P – John Tangherlini (East Boston Knights) #17
P – Mike Baryski (McKay Club Beacons) #7
P – Greg Dubela (Stoneham Sabers) #25
P – Jeff Croteau (Malden Maddogs) #10
P – Brian Tanguy (Somerville Alibrandis) #21
P – JT Ross (Brighton Black Sox) #22
P – Vlady Camacho (South End Astros) #12
P – David Montiverdi (Stoneham Sabers) #41
P – Brady Furdon (McKay Club Beacons) #14

And rounding out the roster are the manager’s selections:

P – Max Ockner (East Boston Knights) #18
SS – Jose Paulino (East Boston Knights) #3
P – Chris Dion (Stoneham Sabers) #31
1B/DH – Nate Laliberte (Revere Rockies) #3

A great ballpark, hopefully a beautiful day, and almost 10 hours of quality baseball. Concessions will be open, so come down and support the team!!

ALL PLAYERS:
Please report to Campanelli Stadium for 12:00 (please, no later than 12:30). Go to the front entrance where there should be ticket-takers, and they will point players in the appropriate direction). As there are no changing facilities made available for this event, players have been asked to be close to fully-dressed in playing gear upon arrival (throw on spikes and jerseys when there, but please have pants on already).

**This is the roster as of 7.9.15 at 7:50am. Any changes to the roster will be updated on this page.**

Al Thomas Baseball Club Athletics

2014 record: 22-10

Carl Yastrzemski Division Champs

YBL Championship runners up

2014 Season Review:

ATBC came into 2014 hungry after a disappointing 2013 campaign that ended with being knocked out in the first round of the playoffs. The 2014 season brought new challenges as the Al Thomas squad transitioned into their new organization structure, promoting Joe O’Hara to President/GM and John Kostas to Manager. The boys banded together and responded by winning the division and making their first finals appearance since 2004. Though this deep trip into the playoffs was a good first step, the boys are getting that old familiar feeling as we kick off the 2015 campaign.

At the dish, 2014 was punctuated with a formidable offense that produced from top to bottom. Leading the charge was Carrera (.474, 50 hits), Katsiroubas (.389, 35 hits), and Lambert (.305, 32 hits). They continued their torrid regular seasons into the playoffs, coming up with many clutch hits and home runs, including the often-overlooked grand slam by Katzy in game 5 of the Division championship series against Revere. Elsewhere in the lineup, the addition of the “Three-headed-Matt” (Jacobs, Rodriguez, Levasseur) proved to be one of the catalysts that had eluded the club for so long, and it paid dividends in spades as the three of them bolstered the lineup (.303, .292, .280, respectively).

With the pill in 2014, Willie Archibald led the pitching staff with a 7-1 record, posting 57.1 innings pitched and a 1.59 era. Willie pitched in many roles throughout the summer and led by example to the younger guys on what it takes to be a go-to pitcher. He is a leader through his work ethic and every bit of that showed as he brought home the Cy Young award. Not many YBLers are running poles after their appearance like Willie, and it seems to rub off on the rest of the Athletics. Notable contributions from the bump were made by rookies Bobby Freeman, Trevor Derochea and Mike Musto, and veterans Dan Gaughan and Bill Clang. Archibald and Freeman also tossed no-hitters during the 2014 campaign.

As a special aside, the ATBC is thankful for the 2014 addition of Milton native, Matt Levasseur, and look forward to great things from this young player. The Iron Man shortstop played in every inning of Al Thomas’ 40+ game summer. While at it, chipping in solid defense and some much needed energy out of the nine spot.

Key Losses:

Chris McDonough (1B), Matt Jacobs (CF), Kevin White (C)

Key Additions:

Mike Hicks (2B), Ryan McGeown (c), Wes Kroniger (P), Duncan Finigan (P), Dane Dudman (P)

Season Outlook:

As we look forward to 2015, Al Thomas has its sights set on unseating the perennial championship incumbents and finishing what they started last year in the YBL Championship series. Obviously this will be a tough row to hoe, as the Yawkey League has more and more parity every year, but the Athletics remain resolute in their goal. Al Thomas is returning 6 field starters and the bulk of its pitching staff. As always the ATBC will put together another formidable lineup at the plate, one that will be ready to support the young arms that we have added to the staff. There is still plenty of work to do before game 1, but the boys are anxious to work hard and win. And as always, the team is eternally grateful for the support and friendship of the man at the top of the organization, Mr. Al Thomas!

South Boston Saints

2014 Record: 19-11-1

Carl Yastrzemski Division 3^rd place

The 2014 Saints team finished the year exactly like the previous years squad, dropping a winner goes on/loser goes home game 5 to the Revere Rockies at St. Peters field. The 2014 squad started out as one of the hottest teams in the league but slumped a little after top of the rotation starters Dylan Joyce and Rob Cahill moved to NYC during the season. The team finished up at 19-11-1, a two game improvement from the year before.

In 2015 the Saints will bring back much the same team as they had last year. Their biggest loss will be losing David Lightbody to free agency. Lights has decided to takes his talents north of the city to join the Somerville Allibrandis.

Reports from Saints spring training (Extra Innings, Watertown) say the team’s leading hitter Kent Graham is in the proverbial “best shape of his life” and looking to have a monster year after injuries limited him to 21 games in 2014. The Babson triplets, Jeff Wojnar, Trevor Boyce and Bryan Evans, along with team rbi leader Jim McLaughlin will provide punch in the middle of the Saints order.

Pete McCauliffe returns at SS and will be joined in the middle infield by newcomer Dylan Katz-Wicks (Union 2014). Johnny Hayes returns in his quest to play all 9 positions in a game and then crush karaoke at the Banshee the same night.

Pitching – The team that threw 4 combined pitchers in a 5 game series remains a bit thin in the rotation. Rubber armed veterans Steve Hueston and Lucas Gheoghegan will head up the rotation, with Chris Dupay filling the “one start every 10 days” role. New faces Matt Bertuch (Swarthmore 2014) and Ben Oliva (Williams 2012) should provide depth. The Saints are also hoping their veteran pitchers Jon Miarecki and Jon Tenney can provide some quality innings on the hill as both deal with the same arm injury (old)