The 2007 Curt's Pitch for ALS Post-Season Reception was held on November 3rd at the Longwharf Marriot in downtown Boston. Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling and his wife Shonda hosted the event to thank all who donated to their organization to help aid the fight against ALS, more commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Kevin Beliveau and Dan Field of the MABL Boston Tigers each received a plaque for their fundraising efforts in this year's 100-inning event. Beliveau was the top fundraiser in the event, raising $2,920 in donations while Field was the top manager with a team total of $6,339 in donations. Chief of umpires, Walter Bentson, was also honored for his outstanding fundraising efforts while he himself fights this horrible disease.

Beliveau and Field receive award from the Schilling's.

Beliveau and Field show off autographed plaques.

10/28/07: The Boston Wolfpack competed in the 20th MSBL World Series. The 'Pack went 4-2 in pool play and were defeated in the semi-finals by the RI Salty Dogs, 10-7 in the 45+ Wood Bat Division. The Pack was joined by Dennis "Oil Can" Boyd who was a member of the 1986 Boston Red Sox World Series team. The Can pitched 18 innings, giving up one run and earning a win and a no-decision. Rich Erwin, Rick Myers, and Dave Joseph picked up the other wins.

The Rhode Island Cardinals were also in attendance, playing in the Father/Son Tourney, where Steve and Dave Joseph of the BMBL led the Cards to a championship victory over The Athletics, 5-1.

2007 Rhode Island Cardinals Father/Son Champions.

Oil Can Boyd pitching for the 'Pack.

The MABL held their End-of-Year Banquet to a packed house at The Greatest Bar in Boston from 7:00 p.m. The event coincided to Game 1 of the World Series where the Red Sox crushed the Rockies. Team and individual awards were also distributed.

2007 Award Winners: Pina, Field, Deeb & Pollard.

Anthony Bucciarelli cheers to the World Series.

The Ben's Dream Columbus Day tourney brought awareness to the Ben's Dream Foundation. Funds raised will aid the mission to find a cure for Sanfilippo Syndrome, a rare and fatal inherited genetic disorder. Boston Parks & Recreation donated the weekend's fields. Walter Bentson, citywide umpire coordinator, arranged for more than 20 umpires to donate their game fees directly to Ben's Dream. Reebok donated shoes to the Starting 9 players on the J-Squad All-Stars, since they had the highest fundraising total. And appropriately, the Ben's Dream White Sox won the Cup, defeating the Central Mass Stars, 7-1, in the Championship Game.

Rockstar Ari Hest, also a celebrity tourney player for the White Sox, put on a sold-out BENefit at Harper's Ferry Saturday evening to raise even more money, bringing the grand total raised to $10,525.

Games were played at Moakley Park in South Boston on Saturday & Sunday: FINALS: Ben's Dream White Sox 7, Central Mass Stars 1 SEMIFINALS: Ben's Dream White Sox 4, Boston Tigers 0 SEMIFINALS: Central Mass Stars 8, J-Squad All-Stars 6 Central Mass Stars 15, Boston Commons 7 J-Squad All-Stars 8, Erie Pub Athletics, 5 Ben's Dream White Sox 10, Boston Tigers, 0 Central Mass Stars 8, Erie Pub Athletics, 4 Boston Tigers 14, J-Squad All-Stars, 12 Ben's Dream White Sox 9, Boston Commons, 7 Read the Ben's Dream Press Release. Learn about the BMBL & Ben's Dream.

Ben Siedman presented with signed bat.		Ben's Dream White Sox win their tourney.

• 3rd Annual Central Mass 40+ Fall Classic in Fitchburg, Massachusetts
  From the BMBL: Quincy Grays, Mass Minutemen
  
  Minutemen go 3-0 in pool play, then beat Springfield in the semifinal 19-4 powered by a grand slam and 3 doubles by Izzy Rodriguez and 4 hits from Paul Grammar. In the finals, the Minutemen defeated the Central Mass Cost 45's by a score of 5-4 for the Title. Izzy homered in bottom of 6th to obtain the lead and also came in relief to get the win. Izzy Rodriguez was tournament MVP as he hit .833 with 2 HRs, 3 doubles, 11 RBI and was winning pitcher in championship. Paul Grammar was a close 2nd as he hit .667 and led team in hits and runs scored.
  
  
  2007 Central MA 40+ Champs: Mass Minutemen.


• 1st Annual Seacoast Wood Bat Invitational in Rochester, New Hampshire
  From the BMBL: Medford Mets
  
  The NH 38 club defeated fellow Seacoast NH MSBL players in the finals. Karl Douglas was the winning pitcher going the distance for the 38 club. NH 38 run by Rob Garland went a perfect 4-0. The Medford Mets played well, but injuries took their toll. Winchester Pirates' Paul Marshall pitched 19 consecutive innings in 2 and 1/3 consecutive games for Medford.


• NABA World Series in Phoenix, Arizona
  The Boston Rockies went 2-3 in pool play, defeating the Colarado Reds 4-2, and the Phoenix Falcons 23-0. The Rockies snuck into the playoffs where the San Diego Stars defeated them, 8-1.


• MIBL Tourney -- This tourney was played in memory of Brockton's Lori Dragonetti who passed away since the Mother's Day Boston Cup tourney that was played on her behalf to raise money for breast cancer.

The Scituate Tides defeated the Natick Knights 2 games to 1 to take home their second championship in three years. Larry Cibotti and Rob Monti combine on the hill for the win. LC battled through the first 6 1/3, to be relieved by Monti, who notched the save. Brian Cassidy announces he can now hang up his cleats for good, while Tommy Keefe won his 1st championship in 14 years in the league. See Past MSBL Champions.

2007 BMBL 30+ NL Champion Scituate Tides.

As the Boston Red Sox were winning their first division in 12 years, the Metro Red Sox were winning the 40+ Masters Division Championship two games to one over the Duxbury Blue Jays. Glenn Watson earned the win scattering 7 hits and giving up one earned run as the Sox won the third and deciding game, 7-4. Paul Rousseau hit a 2-run triple and Bill Carlezon stroked a 2-run double to lead the Sox. Dominic Sestito and Gregg Phieffer had 2 hits a piece. Brian Cassidy pitched well on 3-days rest for Duxbury who made it to the finals for the ninth straight year. See Past Masters Champions.

2007 BMBL 40+ Masters Champion Metro Red Sox.

The Newton Red Sox won the MSBL 30+ American League Championship for the third year in a row defeating the Milton Breakers two games to one. Both the Sox wins came in their last at bat. In the deciding game, the Newton came back from a 5-3 deficit. Scott Ostrow went 3 for 3 and knocked in two runs along with setting up the winning run with a double to lead off the 7th. Bobby Boermeester came in in the 7th after a leadoff double and struck out the #2 hitter, then caught the final out of the inning in centerfield. Then with a man on 3rd in the bottom of the 7th, Boermeester delivered the game winning hit. Milton battled to the final out, led by Steve Leonard who had 2 hits, 3 RBI's and at least two big inning saving catches in right field. See Past MSBL Champions.

2007 BMBL 30+ AL Champion Newton Red Sox.

It took the full 5 games, but the Cutters defeated the Tigers for the Boston Men's Baseball League 18+ Title. The Cutters had jumped out to a substantial 7-0 lead, but the Tigers fought back. Down 7-5 with two men in scoring position in the bottom of the 7th inning, Cutters reliever Jay Wisner shut the door to save the Cutters their first league championship -- the fourth for skipper Jeff Coveney. Get more details on the 2007 BMBL Championships.

2007 BMBL 18+ Champion Cutters.

Jay Wisner soaks skipper Jeff Coveney.

The Best of the MABL have been recognized, as voted for by the managers:

• Most Valuable player -- Tigers' slugger Jonathan Pollard edged his teammate, Josue Feliciano.
• Cy Young -- With 48 career wins, Indians' ace Daryl Pina finally gets the nod for a perfect season.
• Rookie of the Year -- Sox sensation Matt Deeb has an inaugural season to remember.
• Manager of the Year -- Dan Field of the Tigers assembles a band of brothers worthy of a title.

See complete balloting and where your favorite players finished: 2007 MABL Award Winners. The MABL Banquet will be held on Wednesday, October 24 at The Greatest Bar from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Food and beer is included.

The Cutters and the Tigers each made their first trip to the Championship Series, and the Tigers hold a 2-1 advantage in the Best of 5 series. Many of the Cutters remain from the Yankees who made regular trips to the finals in 2000, 2001, 2001 and 2004. At the same time, a large crew from the Tigers made trips to the finals with the White Sox in 2005 while others saw action with the Dodgers in 2003 and 2004. With that kind of experience on both sides, it should be an incredible series. In the Semifinals, the Cutter defeated the White Sox 3 games to 1, while the Tigers defeated the Astros 3 games to 0.

In the Men’s Senior Baseball League Divisions:

• The Newton Red Sox are edging the Milton Breakers, 1 game to 0 -- Best of 3 for American Title.
• Natick Knights and the Scituate Tides square off -- Best of 3 for National Title.
• Metro Red Sox and the Duxbury Blue Jays face off -- Best of 3 for Masters Title.

The 13th Annual Cape Cod Classic tournament took place this Labor Day Weekend on the fields of the Cape Cod League. Club Franz Rockies repeated as champion, winning 6-2 over the Vermont Blacksox.

The Rockies led 2-0 going into the 8th inning - a true pitcher's duel between their own Mark Nickerson and O'Connor of the Blacksox, when Vermont's John Luter hit a two-out, two-run home run to square things up. Club Franz came storming back in the bottom half of the 8th, scoring 4 runs powered by Robby Linn, Jon Tenney, Eli Munkholm, Ryan Radabaugh & the legendary Franz Strassmann. Nickerson finished it up in the 9th to get the complete game victory, spinning a gem against a Blacksox offense that had previously been averaging over 10 runs a game.

Special thanks to Pete Mastro & Alex Masel of the Thunder for running another great holiday weekend tournament.

2007 Club Franz Rockies - Repeat Champions.

From the BMBL, Club Franz, Middlesex Thunder, Lexington Astros, Situate Tides and Waltham Red Sox all participated.

On Saturday, the Boston Men's Baseball League All-Star Games were played at LeLacheur Park in Lowell, MA -- home of the Lowell Spinners, Single A affiliate to the Boston Red Sox. MSBL All-Star Game: National 12, American 9 In the MSBL game, the National League, led by Steve Wolf and Russ Ward, outlasted the American League, led by Cesar Romero and Kevin Marden. See team pictures.

MABL All-Star Game: Atlantic 5, Bay State 4 (view box score)
Bay State pitchers (Rich Wlodarczyk, Brian Cosentino, Brian Houlding & Mike Vernon) took a no-hitter into the 7th inning until Santi Mazzeo of the A's broke it up with a single. Still, the game remained 4-0 Bay State going into the bottom of the 8th inning. It was then that the Altantic loaded the bases. Santi Mazzeo came to the plate again. This time, he stroked a 3-RBI double into the gap to make the score 4-3. Santi scored from second when a double-play went unturned to tie the game at 4-4. The White Sox' Mike Pollak scored the go-ahead run later that frame on a Chris Plant RBI single to make the score 5-4 Atlantic.

In the 9th inning with the game on the line for the Bay State, the Tigers' Jon Pollard reached and stole second. With two outs, the Astros' Shu Sasaki singled to left. Pollard attempted to score from second, but the Mariners Jeff Rausch hosed JP at the plate on a perfect throw to the White Sox Ivan Clemente to end the game. Jay Wisner of the Cutters picked up the win tossing 2 innings of 1-hit relief. See rosters, team pictures and action photos.

Roxbury Panther's Alicea Fabian strokes the first hit of the game for Atlantic All-Stars.

Ivan Clemente of the White Sox tags out the Tigers JP Pollard at the plate to end game.

For the third straight year, the Brockton Reds went undefeated at the Cooperstown Classic to win the Cup. During this stretch, the Reds, hailing from the Men's Independent Baseball League, have gone 12-0. In 2007, the Reds defeated the Rangers and White Sox in pool play before defeating the Orioles in the semifinals and the White Sox again in the finals.

Teams in the tourney were the Brockton Reds (4-0), White Sox (2-2), Tigers (3-1), Orioles (1-2), Grays (2-1), Senators (1-2), Brockton Dodgers (1-2), Rangers (1-2) and Mariners (0-3). Games were played on historic Doubleday Field at the Baseball Hall of Fame, as well as at Beaver Valley and Wilbur Park.

Brockton Reds 3-Peat at Cooperstown Classic.

White Sox' Chris Falato tossing at Beaver.

The 2007 Tryout for the Boston Men's Baseball League was held yesterday, Saturday, April 7 at Clifford Field.

100 prospects on the nose tried out across the 18+ and 30+ Age Divisions. Congratulations to those drafted, including a special congrats to Steve Hemingway who was the #1 pick overall to the Grays in the 18+ grouping. Hemingway is Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts graduate and former All MASCAC standout pitcher. See 2007 Draftee List.

Today, Zachary Moore, bat boy for the Winthrop Black Sox and son of the Winthrop Black Sox' John "Smokey" Moore, was featured with 9 other kids for the new Boston Red Sox Kid's Nation television commercial at Fenway park with Jonathan Papelbon. Mom and Dad were nice enough to let him miss his 1st day of school all year to be in the commercial. Zack plays ball at St. Mary's Cal Ripken in Revere and also Revere Little League.

Zack Moore, Winthrop Black Sox Bat Boy
with Jonathan Papelbon of the Boston Red Sox.