Boy am I Lazy

Life is busy. We all work for a living, or at least for the summer, those of us in college. Mix work with playing baseball, enjoying life and acting like a college student, and you've got yourself a schedule busier than Bono's.

The point here is that I haven't been holding up my end of the bargain. How are you supposed to enjoy and laugh at my writing when it's not there? My point exactly.






Now that everything is relatively calm, I can dedicate some time to musing about the Yawkey League, our heart and soul (and cause of cerebral hemorrhaging sometimes, too). I mean, we're almost a month into the season and I have made an effort similar to that of Mark Blount after he signed his 6 year, $38.5 million contract a few years back. Kind of hard to do.

What's going to happen is that each week a Committee of One (me) will determine a hitter and pitcher of the week. These are stat-driven and win-related awards so don't expect one if you go 4.1 innings on a gimpy calf or you hit a home run with a sprained left pinky finger. And of course, if you help propel your team to victory, that's a plus.

Winning is the point, after all.

Awards for the week of May 26 - June 1.

The Yawkey League is now officially hot. As the temps creep, so do pitcher's ERAs. And that means offensive production. Seven different games this past week saw one team put up a baker's dozen or more, so that means lots of RBIs and extra-base hits for those of you holding the sticks.

It was a tightly contested race for Hitter of the Week this week, as multiple guys helped mash their respective teams to victory. But when it came down to it, I had to go with a certain high-number wearing New Hampshire-native from Dorchester's own McKay Club Beacons.

From one Beacons uniform (UMass Boston's) to another, Connor Reinfurt has been hitting the ball extremely hard since he came into the Yawkey League two weeks ago. The first baseman/DH had himself a week for the ages.

The majority of the damage off of Renifurt's absurdly large bat came against West Roxbury on May 28, when he launched a grand slam at Ronan Park that cleared the left-centerfield fence by a considerable margin to break open the game.

Renifurt finished the game with two singles, a double, the grand slam and five RBIs. He himself crossed the plate twice too. Number 99 finished the week going 7-for-11 in three games with three runs scored, three extra-base hits and 9 RBIs.

While at UMass Boston this past spring, the 6' 2" 215 pound Reinfurt hit only .206 in 30 games, but led his team with five home runs while driving in 15 runs.







Four starting pitchers eclipsed the 10 strikeout plateau this past week, but only one pitcher K'ed 12 hitters en route to a complete game shutout for his team.

Greg Potts, a rookie in the YBL and a freshman at Bridgewater State, went the distance for the Al Thomas Athletics against the Chelsea Cyclones. The win, his first ever as a Yawkey Leaguer, came at a perfect time, as the Athletics' offense (.247 BA) hasn't been able to pick up much of the slack.

Potts gave up hits over the seven innings, walked two and blew away 12 Cyclones to dominate in his team's 4-0 victory.

The start was important in the big picture too, because Al Thomas had allowed 30 runs the previous two games and the complete game (I'm guessing) gave the A's staff much needed rest.

Potts, a Milton resident, made eight starts for Bridgewater State this past spring, posting a 4-2 record and a 4.85 ERA.

Apparently, he also loves to smile




If you disagree with my assessments of players or teams, feel free to rant and rave below.

Bulldogs Squat on Rockies

And in the process, beat Revere, 12-3 behind a bevy of walks and a hefty nine-run first inning at Maplewood Park in Malden.

After missing the playoffs by three points in 2007 (even though they won 9 out of their last 10 games), the Bulldogs are off to a quick 2-0 start in 2008, outscoring Revere and the Brighton Black Sox a combined 15-2.

"I think we have the best offense in the league," veteran outfielder Chris Deane said after his Bulldogs beat the Rockies, last season's number-two seed in the Yawkey League playoffs.

Malden worked eight walks in the victory, with second baseman Troy Ingemi leading the way with three while driving in two runs for the Bulldogs. Ingemi led Malden last season with a .473 on base percentage in 28 games.

Mike Barthel, a member of the McKay Club Beacons in 2007, pitched the final three innings of the game to pick up his first win of the season. Barthel allowed two hits, walked two and struck out two.

How important was this game to Malden? "It's huge," Deane said. "That's the kind of team that will be in our way in the end of the season."

Deane, who spent more than a dozen years with the McKay Club, has added leadership, some offensive pop and a good glove to an already deep Malden team this season.

Youth Movement, Anybody?

The Beacons started off 2008 with an under-aged Nick O'Keefe throwing slow curves, "nasty" knuckle balls, according to catcher Andy "Deuce" McAllister and a well-spotted fastball. The Anna Maria College freshman, who was 2-2 with a 4.33 ERA in six games this season for the AmCats, fanned 10 in his Yawkey League debut.

O'Keefe walked only one and scattered six hits over six innings before giving way to the cookie monster, Tom Prykucki. Prykucki allowed an unearned run and struck out one to end the game and give the Beacons their first win with their new, younger, more energetic nucleus of players in place.

The offense was led by Dan "I didn't get enough playing time at UMass Boston, so I'm gonna take it out on the Yawkey League" Ciocca. The third baseman had two hits, two RBIs and two runs scored to pace the offense.

The McKay Club Beacons are Officially Fun to Watch

Well then, back to business as usual. Memorial Day has come and gone. And what a Memorial Day it was. In Boston, we saw weather with timing as impeccable as the Boston Red Sox offense. And speaking of those Red Sox, they just keep sweeping right along as the New York Yankees keep getting swept away.

I’m sure that McKay Club outfielder Dana Levensaler won’t be too happy about the Yankees, but he has a team closer to his heart than those hapless Bronx Bombers. And that team would be our McKay Club Beacons. Dana has been a great example of how this team has already seemed to have come together more cohesively this season that at any point during all of last season.

This past Friday night proved to be a prime example of how this team sticks together and, above all else, just wants to win and have a great time doing it. I mean, how many times do you see a team get three runners gunned down, at home plate have you, and still end up pulling out the win, 8-4? If you were thinking ‘not too often,’ then you were right.

I digress. Dana is an old man. It had to be said. Now for the good part. He is an old man who can swing one hell of a bat, even under the weather. Suffering from a neck injury that, earlier in the day had limited him from scoping women on Newbury Street in Boston, came through with three hits in our 8-4 come-from-behind victory. Two of the three hits Dana delivered were a few of the hottest, hardest scorched balls I have seen in my two years in the Yawkey League.

That’s just one of the many finer points from Friday night that I believe solidified our team and put into our minds that, much like the 2007 Red Sox team, this team can come from behind, score runs and win games with ability and with timely hitting. This year, more hits seem to be falling and the stats are showing it.

Through six games, the Beacons’ offense has been putting out like a, um, well you guys know here I’m going with that one. I’ll just leave it at that. The team is currently ranked fifth or better in team batting average, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, OPS (ob-base-plus-slugging for those of you who might not know) doubles, hits and runs scored. Now, some of these stats may have been inflated by the eight-run, 17 hit performance on Friday night at Towne Field, but I can say this much. This team, as constituted, is much more gifted offensively than last year, and I don’t mean gifted in a special-ed kind of way either.

Last season, I looked at Dan Ciocca as a pitcher first, and an offensive player second. This season, not so much. Ciocca has absolutely been hitting the cover off of the ball, spraying hits to all gaps and fields so far this season. His biggest hit of the young season by far occurred after an intentional walk of Chris Deane to load the bases. Fearing the Yawkey League power threat, Savin Hill chose to pitch to Dan Ciocca instead of Deane and he made them pay for it big time. That was the biggest hit of the season so far for the team, as it gave us a 5-4 lead that would not be relinquished.

What allowed us to come from behind, and what will allow us to come from behind again and again is the pitching. Adam Kuils, Friday’s starter, didn’t get the win that he deserved, but he pitched well enough for it and that’s what has happened for the most part this season. Good pitching performances by the group I am officially deeming The Four Horsemen have allowed us to rank seventh in the Yawkey League in ERA while allowing only 10 earned runs while striking out 40 in 41 innings. The Four Horseman are as follows: Sean Sullivan, Adam Kulis, Dan Ciocca and Ryan Thomas. With three consistent starters and one very reliable bullpen arm, this team is poised to shut down opposing offenses and win ball games.

The only troublesome area, the one that may have cost us a game or two already, is the defense. In particular the infield. Now i’m not pointing fingers, but the infielders have allowed all 11 errors so far this season, leading to our rank of 13^th in the Yawkey League in fielding percentage. What can be done to fix this? A longer infield practice before games, or games of pepper to strengthen muscle memory and reflexes? Sure, whatever works. Maybe the kinks are out and more ground balls will start finding gloves. I’m an optimist, what can I say?

With a 3-3 record, a top-five offense and solid pitching, I can’t bitch about much. Yes, the defense needs a little bit of work. That will come. The important part is that, as of now, we know how to win and we believe that we can win no matter what. Three run deficit in the seventh? Big deal. With Chris Deane, Rob Linn, Dana Levensaler and Dan Ciocca in the middle of the line-up, bring on your closer. Or your starter after six innings. I know we can win and my team mates know we can win. Come to the games and watch, drink with us afterwards at Tom English’s Pub and enjoy the ride.