Yawkey Baseball League

The 2017 Yawkey League Championship series is set to begin on Friday August 25. The number one seeded Somerville Alibrandis face the number two seeded Brighton Braves.

To reach the finals Somerville defeated the Stoneham Sabers in five games. The Braves defeated Al Thomas in four games to earn their spot in the finals.

The best of seven series is set to begin at St. Peter’s Field in Cambridge on Friday August 25 at 7:30pm.

#1 Somerville vs #2 Brighton Braves
Game 1 – Fri 8/25 St. Peter’s (Cambridge) 7:30pm
Game 2 – Sun 8/27 Maplewood Park, 8:00pm
Game 3 – Mon 8/28 at Rogers Park, 7:30pm
Game 4 – Tue 8/29 at Rogers Park, 7:30pm
Game 5 – Wed 8/30 at Rogers Park, 7:30pm
Game 6 – Thu 8/31 at Morelli Field, 8:00pm
Game 7 – Fri 9/1 at St. Peter’s (Cambridge) 7:30pm

For updates please check the league schedule here

The matchups for the semifinal round of the 2017 Yawkey League playoffs are now set. Somerville (31-1-1, 3-0) faces off against Stoneham (21-11, 3-2) while Brighton Braves (23-8-1, 3-1) takes on Al Thomas (21-11, 3-1).

UPDATE: Both best of five series are set to being on Saturday 8/19. The updated schedule for each series is as follows.

#1 Somerville vs #4 Stoneham
Game 1 – Sat 8/19 at Maplewood, 8:00pm
Game 2 – Sun 8/20 at St Peters, 7:30pm
Game 3 – Mon 8/21 at Peabody HS, 8:00pm
Game 4 – Tue 8/22 at Peabody HS, 8:00pm
Game 5 – Wed 8/18 at Trum, 8:00pm

#2 Brighton Braves vs #3 Al Thomas
Game 1 – Sat 8/19 at Rogers, 4:00 pm
Game 2 – Sun 8/20 at Cunningham Park, 4:00pm
Game 3 – Mon 8/21 at Rogers, 7:30 pm
Game 4 – Tue 8/22 at Braintree HS, 7:30pm
Game 5 – Wed 8/18 at Rogers, 7:30pm

The 2017 Yawkey League Playoffs are set to get underway Saturday August 12 with the following first round match ups.

#1 Somerville (30-1-1) vs #8 McKay Club (14-18)
#2 Braves (23-8-1) vs #7 East Boston (15-17)
#3 Al Thomas (21-11) vs #6 South Boston (16-14-1)
#4 Stoneham (21-11) vs #5 Revere (21-11)

Good luck to all teams.

With victories over the Park League and Cranberry League, the YBL claimed its second Eastern Mass Classic Title.

In their first game the Yawkey League defeated the Park League 5-0 in 8 innings. After seven innings the game was tied 0-0 as both teams battled through the rain. In the top of the 8th the Yawkey League would score 5 runs to defeat the Park League and move on to the championship game.

In the finals, the Yawkey League defeated the Cranberry League 4-3. The Yawkey League jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead scoring two runs in both the first and second innings.   The Cranberry League scored three runs in the fourth. The Yawkey League would hold on from there to bring home the trophy.

Congratulations to Nate Laliberte of the Revere Rockies and all of the Yawkey League All Stars for an outstanding performance.

On Saturday, July 8, 2017, the Yawkey Baseball League All Stars will be taking on their counterparts from the Boston Park, Cranberry and InterCity Leagues at Monan Park in Boston, MA. The YBL will be playing the Park League at 4:15, the winner of which moves on to the Finals to face the winner of the Cranberry and InterCity game to be played at 1pm.

Listed below are the players and coaches chosen to represent the YBL and take back the trophy. Good luck!

SPChris SandiniRevere Rockies

Coaching Staff:

Nate Laliberte – Manager (Revere Rockies)

John Kostas – Bench Coach (Al Thomas A’s)

Ted Tracy – 1st Base Coach (Brighton Braves)

John Griffith – 3rd Base Coach (Brighton Black Sox)

Stu Sklaver will be providing some media content for the Yawkey Baseball League’s webpage in 2017, and he begins with Pitchers and Players from the first 31 days of the season. Look for pitcher and player awards every other week moving forward, as well as some player profiles and league recaps. From Stu:

PITCHERS OF THE MONTH

Sam Cummings – Stoneham Sabers #23

Sam Cummings is pitching amazing baseball for the Stoneham Sabers. In three starts, he has allowed zero, yes zero, earned runs. That’s in thirteen full innings pitched. He actually lost a game in which three unearned were scored. But he is 2-1 on the season. If he continued to pitch at this pace, there would be no doubt who’d be the Cy Young award winner.

Chris Sandini – Revere Rockies #16

Chris Sandini had three wins and one loss and was a workhorse for the Rockies over the first month. He each co-led the league with thirty-two strikeouts against nine walks. Chris sports an ERA of 2.03 and a WHIP at 1.065.

PLAYERS OF THE MONTH

Alex Wong – Revere Rockies #5

Alex has had five multi-hit games already this year, topped off by a 3 for 4 performance against Savin Hill in their big win. Thus far Wong is 15 for 32 with a .469 batting average, he elevhas scored twelve runs in ten games, driven in 9 runs, has 3 doubles and a triple. He’s also stolen a pair of bases. Wong can do it all. He pitches for the Rockies as well. He’s clearly one of the main reasons that Revere among the top of the Yawkey League Standings at 8-4.

Skylar Beckerman – East Boston Knights #25

Skylar is a second year player in the YBL and the youngster has started this season like he ended last season, flying. Sky went 4-4 against the South Boston Saints with 4 RBI on May 24….but he’s continued his strong play throughout the team’s first eight games. He’s at 10-22, which comes out to .455, he’s scored 5 runs, driven in 7, hit for 2 doubles, walked nine times and the key to his season thus far, only struck out twice. He also gets on base a whole lot (.625 OBP) 4-4 in steals. He is also a key cog to East Boston return to excellence at 6-2.