2002 - MASS OPEN BASEBALL TOURNAMENT

MABL Braves Dodgers Diamondbacks Reds Red Sox Royals Yankees White Sox

MSBL Plymouth Tide Boston Cubs Brockton Indians Medfield Mets E. Bridgewater Jays Clev. Circle Indians Sci/Dux Mariners N. Andover Thunder

2002 marks the inaugural year for the Mass Open, a Boston Baseball League tournament where teams from the MABL and MSBL can battle each other to determine the best overall team. Plus, as a pre-season tournament, it gives all participating teams an opportunity to prepare for the regular season.

For this event, the games will be 7 innings and MSBL rules will be in place. The only exception is that teams wishing to use metal bats may do so if they declare themselves a metal team prior to the tournament beginning. Umpires will be supplied for each game, but teams are responsible for bringing their own baseballs.

Each team will play 3 games of round-robin over 2 weekends. The schedule is as follows:

April 14

Round Robin Group 1
Braves 5, Plymouth Tide 4
Braves' pitchers contributed in the win giving up only 6 hits with 10 K's and Jesse Kennedy was 2 for 3. Mike Knell and Chris O'Sullivan each knocked in 2 runs in the effort.

T's Pub Dodgers 11, Boston Cubs 3
Both teams pitched five different pitchers, but the game was decided when the Dodgers broke open a 1-run game with a barrage of hits in the fifth inning.

Round Robin Group 2
Brockton 29, Diamondbacks 9
Leading Brockton's attack was Jim Venuto (3 hits, 2 doubles, 3 walks, 6 runs scored, 7 RBI). On the hill, Steve Mineo, Derrick Lavange, Mike Lucini, Joe Dryscolla and RFK combined for the win.

Medfield 16, Reds 8

Round Robin Group 3
Royals 11, East Bridgewater 10
Ariel Martinez (2 for 3, HR, 3 RBI) and Matt O'Hara (2 for 3) led the charge at the plate. In a bizarre occurrence, Sam Elsner picked up the win and the save by pitching 2 and 1/3 scoreless, hitless innings. He pitched the 3rd and 4th innings, and left with a 6-5 lead. Then, with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 7th, Elsner came on again to retire the last batter of the game.

Yankees 5, Cleveland Circle 0
Bryan Gauvin, Ken Kilduff and Jeff McHuge combined on the shutout.

Round Robin Group 4
Red Sox 10, SCI/DUX 6

White Sox 16, North Andover 2
Six White Sox pitchers combined to allow just 4 hits while striking out 12, led by Eddie Barber who struck out 5 and Jarrett Fay who struck out 4, both in two innings of work. Offensively, the Sox piled up 19 hits led by Jeff Burns (homerun, triple, single), Josh Gordon (triple, 2 singles) and Aarron Hutchins (triple, 2 singles).

April 21

Round Robin Group 1
Braves 8, Boston Cubs 5

T's Pub Dodgers 2, Plymouth Tide 1
Garrett Fisher pitched 4 no-hit innings to pick-up the win as both teams got great pitching and played clean defense. Kevin Beliveau and Scott Gilefsky both tripled for the Dodgers and reached base twice. Beliveu's RBI single scored Josue Feliciano with what would become the game-winning run.

Plymouth Tide 6, Boston Cubs 2

Round Robin Group 2
Medfield 17, Diamondbacks 4

Reds 10, Brockton 0
Ryan Chase threw a seven inning 1 hit shutout. Chris Chase went 4 for 5 with 3 RBIs. Zack Wells also scattered 3 hits scoring twice and driving in 1.

Brockton 3, Medfield 1

Reds 18, Diamondbacks 15
Drew Blicharz threw 6 innings for the win. Joe Dunne went 3 for 4 with 2 RBIs and 2 runs. Tony Avezzie had a clutch double late in the game followed by a 2 RBI triple by Rob Chase.

Round Robin Group 3
East Bridgewater 11, Cleveland Circle 5

Yankees 7, East Bridgewater 5
Ken Kilduff, Jon Mugar, Bryan Gauvin and Jamie Mathews combined for the victory. Jeff McHugh (2 hits, 3 RBI), Paul Szumita (2 hits, 2B, 2 RBI) and Mugar (HR, 2 RBI) lead the offense. Mathews also had 2 hits.

Round Robin Group 4
Royals 7, North Andover 2

Red Sox 13, White Sox 4

White Sox 6, Royals 3
Rob Gnoinski, Sam Voolich and Mike Lembo combined for the victory allowing 7 scattered hits and striking out 10. Jon Mead (2B), Jim Baldayga, Dan Field (two 2B) and Jon Banchick all had multiple hits. Baldyga had 4 hits on the day between both games.

Red Sox 10, North Andover 3
Three first inning homeruns by Jeff Farrar, Andy Herbine and Cesar Cabral (2 HRs on the day) set the pace as the Red Sox went on to win the game and become the only Mass Open team to win all 3 games.