Somerville Alibrandis capture second Masters Championship
The 2020 MSBL Masters season was supposed to be a revenge tour for the Somerville Alibrandis, after getting swept in the second round of the 2019 postseason. Then COVID-19 hit and those plans were put in doubt.
Along with the other team managers in the league, Somerville's Manager, Mike Powers, had his work cut out for him. Because of the pandemic, he had to navigate around losing some key players and was also responsible for enforcing new league protocols as he and his team waited to learn if they would have access to their home field or if they would have a season at all.
Powers, last year's Manager of the Year, used his experience to help overcome those obstacles and eventually lead his team to a league-best 7-1 record, earning the No. 1 seed in the playoffs.
The team had a dominant offense during the regular season, lead by five players with an OPS over 1.000, including JP Songin, Chris Dean, John Jones, Dave Mitrou and Mike Navarro. They also lead the league with 65 runs scored. Combine that with a pitching staff who gave up the least amount of runs in the regular season (29), backed by Jon Miarecki (3-0, 3.68 ERA), Dana Levensaler (2-0, 2.00 ERA), and rookie Billy Brooks (1-1, 3.78 ERA). Veteran Dan O'Neill also pitched in, picking up the team's 7th win of the year to close out the regular season at 7-1, securing the No. 1 seed and home field throughout the playoffs.
In the opening round of the 2020 postseason, the No. 1-seeded Somerville was impressive in a 2-game series sweep over the No. 8-seeded South Shore Giants (2-6), by a combined score of 18-6. Brooks and Levensaler picked up the wins in Games 1 and 2 respectively.
In the Semifinals round, the series was pushed to a deciding game 3, where Somerville fought hard and eventually put away a very tough Milton Breakers (4-4) squad with a 12-0 decisive victory. JP Songin picked up the win in Game 1 with a complete game 7-hit shutout, and Levensaler, not to be outdone, had his own dominating performance in Game 3, also going the distance with a 4-hit shutout. Brooks was the tough-luck loser in Game 2, where some misplays did the local nine in. Somerville advanced to the Finals for the second time in their 7-year history, with their last appearance dating back to 2016, when the franchise won their first Masters Title.
The Finals, also a best-of-three series, was a rematch with the defending league Champion Bistro 781 Bulls, who swept the Somerville team 2-0 in the 2019 Semifinals. The Bulls earned the No. 2 seed after producing a 6-2 record in the regular season, fueled by MVP candidate Steve Busby, who led the league with a .625 Batting Average and 1.657 OPS. The Bulls pitching staff posted an ERA under 3.00 and was undefeated heading into the Finals, after sweeping the first two rounds of the 2020 postseason.
In Game 1, the Bulls held a 3-0 lead late, but couldn't hang on as the Somerville offense rallied to a 5-3 win. Somerville's Chris Deane and David Mitrou each added a pair of hits and SS Mike Navarro had a huge 2-run double in the bottom of the 6th to put Somerville in the lead for good. Brooks (Win) and Songin (Save) combined for the win.
Game 2 was a different story, as Somerville scored five runs in the first 4 innings, including 2 monstrous HR's, one by 1B John Jones (2-run shot) in the 3rd and the other by LF Steve Walsh (solo shot) in the 4th, to take a 6-0 lead that they would not relinquish. Somerville would win Game 2 of the series by a final score of 6-1, taking home the 2020 Boston Men's Baseball League Masters Division Championship for a 2nd time (2016, 2020).
Levensaler once again pitched well, going 6 strong and allowing just 1 run, before giving way to Songin who closed the door in the 7th. For their efforts in the Finals, the MVP from Somerville is John Jones and the MVP Pitcher is Dana Levensaler.
I would like to thank the Boston MSBL and the Board (Jeff Coveney, Brett Rudy, Kyle Breidenstine, Scott Isaacs, Tom Dowey) for all of their hard work during the pandemic. Putting the season together and finishing it without incident was incredible and they deserve a ton of credit. Also, a special thank you to the City of Somerville Rec Dept. (Jill Lathan) and DPW crew (Ben Waldrip) for getting the fields prepped for each game.
A tip of the hat to the Bistro 781 Bulls on a great season and their second straight Finals appearance.
