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The Al Thomas Athletics defeated the Brighton Black Sox in five games to capture the the 2022 YBL Championship.

Jay Gamboa was named the Playoff MVP. Gamboa was 2-0 with a save in the finals. Gamboa also won a game in the semifinals against the Brighton Braves.

Congratulations to Joe O’Hara and the entire Al Thomas organization on a well played finals.

The 2022 Yakwey Baseball League Championship Series is set to begin on Friday 8/5. The Al Thomas A’s will be facing the Brighton Black Sox in a rematch of the 2021 YBL Finals. Al Thomas will be looking to repeat as champions.

Al Thomas entered the playoffs as the #1 seed having won 21 games for the second straight year. In the semifinals Al Thomas faced the #4 seed Brighton Braves in best of five series.

Al Thomas would take Game 1 by a score of 6-2 behind Jay Gamboa’s complete game 18 strike out performance. Game 2 would see both teams exchange leads with the Braves taking a 7-3 lead into the bottom of the fifth. Al Thomas would score 4 runs in the bottom of the fifth to tie the game and win the game 8-7 courtesy of a Jon Chapman walk off. Al Thomas would complete the sweep with a 7-0 four hit shutout by Paul Wydom.

The Brighton Black Sox had a bit of an up and down season before securing the #2 seed. The Black Sox faced the #3 seed McKay Club in their semifinal matchup.

The Black Sox would take Game 1 by a score of 7-0. Shawn Nosky and Brian Koker would combine on a four hit shutout. Game 2 would prove to be a battle. Both teams would exchange leads multiple times before the Black Sox would walk off with a 9-8 victory in the 8th. Game 3 opened with the Black Sox taking a 3-2 lead in the first inning. The game would then settle into a pitching dual between McKay’s Bill Willett and Black Sox Christian Quigley. Both teams would tack on runs in the 7th with the Black Sox holding on to win 5-3 to complete the sweep and move on to the finals.

Game 1 of the Championship Series is scheduled for 8:00 pm Friday 8/5 at East Boston Stadium. (map)

Full schedule details can be found here
Full playoff schedule

As the regular season wraps up, the 2022 playoff picture begins to take shape. The top The playoff format this year will consist of a best of five semifinals. The semifinal matchups will be #2 vs #3 and #1 vs #4. The playoffs will conclude with a best of seven finals.

For the second consecutive year, Al Thomas secured the #1 seed by winning 21 games. The Brighton Black Sox secured the #2 seed by overcoming some midseason struggles to win their last 5 games. The McKay Club secured the #3 seed with a win on Monday night. The Brighton Braves were able to secure the #4 seed.

The Brighton Braves will face Al Thomas in a best of five series that will begin Friday July 29. This game will take place at English HS. First pitch is scheduled for 8pm.

The McKay Club will face the Brighton Black Sox in the other semifinal matchup also set to begin on Friday July 29. This game will be played at Rogers Park in Brighton. First pitch is schedule for 7:30pm.

YBL Playoff Schedule

On a sunny Sunday afternoon at Cunningham Park, the Yawkey League All Stars defeated the All Stars from the Central New England Baseball Association 5-4.

The YBL took an early 1-0 lead on an RBI double by Al Thomas’ Cam Plank. The CNEBA All Stars would come back to take a 4-1 lead. A lead that would hold up until the bottom of the eighth. With two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth, Zach Hatfield of Al Thomas stole home to plate the go ahead run.

On the mound the Yawkey League, Al Thomas’ Jay Gamboa started with two scoreless innings, while Brighton Brave’s pitcher Richie Pignone held CNEBA scoreless in both the 8th and 9th to pick up the win in relief. Offensively for the YBL All Stars, Liam Keblin (Braves), Jake Beane (Al Thomas), Cam Plank (Al Thomas) each had two hits.

For the CNEBA All Stars,Brant Savage of the Shrewsbury Dirt Dogs had two hits and Danny Garcia of the Lunenburg Phillies hit a home run.

The All-Star MVP was Zach Hatfield who had 2 hits, scored 3 runs with 2 stolen bases.

For more outstanding pictures courtesy of Jake Beane and Dacia Marie
YBL All Star Game Photos

The Yawkey Baseball League will play the Central New England Baseball Association (cneba.com) on Sunday July 17.

The game will be played at Cunningham Park in Milton, MA (map). The first pitch of the 9 inning game is scheduled for 2pm.

Bring your chairs and come enjoy some great amateur baseball.

YBL All-Star Roster

The Yawkey Baseball League is holding a drawing for two items of Red Sox memorabilia. The first item is a bat autographed by 2013 World Series Champion Jonny Gomes. The second item is a jersey autographed by Red Sox and MLB Hall of Famer Wade Boggs.

The drawing will be held on September 1 via Facebook Live. Chances to win the drawing are available by making a small donation to the Yakwey Baseball League. Winner of the drawing receives both items.

Register now for your chance to receive these great items
Wade Boggs – Jonny Gomes Drawing