Team rebrand leads to MABL title for Havoc

MABL teams may be thinking about changing their name and sporting a new look next season, as a new trend appears to be taking shape in the 18+ division of the Boston Men's Baseball League.

The Boston Havoc (formerly Boston Sox) become the latest franchise to win the MABL championship in their first season since fully rebranding themselves with a new identity and a fresh new look.

This comes just one year after the Middleboro Mocka Rays won the 2020 MABL championship and their first title in the franchise's 13-year history, immediately following a change in their team name and appearance.

Ironically, it was the Boston Sox (now Boston Havoc) they defeated three games to one in last year's best-of-five Championship Series, however, it wouldn't be long before the two rivals would meet again, and the newly branded Havoc would have their chance to exact a little revenge on the defending champions.

In the 2021 MABL regular season, the new-look Havoc assembled a 14-6-2 record, securing the No. 3 seed in the postseason and an automatic bid to the Semifinals. This marked the first time since 2017 the franchise seeded lower than a 2-seed in the playoffs.

The Havoc' offense finished the MABL regular season with the 3rd-highest batting average (.316), sparked by veteran player/manager Omar Ortiz, who produced a team-best .490 average and placed 4th in MVP voting.

The pitching staff ranked 4th in the MABL with a 2.07 ERA, anchored by the staff's ace Jon Shepard, who placed 3rd in Cy Young voting, after composing a 4-1 regular-season record with a 0.66 ERA and 42 strikeouts in 32 innings pitched.

For the second straight year, the Havoc's 2021 postseason began with a best-of-five semifinal matchup versus the No. 2-seeded Waltham Cutters (14-5-3), who they went on to defeat in four games after dropping the series-opener in a thrilling 2-1 extra-innings affair.

Following the Game 1 loss, the Havoc rallied to win the next three games, outscoring the Cutters 16-to-5 in Games 2 through 4. The Havoc held the Cutters to just 7 runs in the series en route to their fourth straight trip to the MABL Finals.

The Havoc would face the winner of another 2020 semifinal rematch between the No. 1-seeded Mocka Rays (19-2-1) and the No. 6-seeded Waltham Athletics (10-10-2).

The A's reached the semifinal round for a third straight season, after defeating the 5th-seeded Grays (8-1) and the 4th-seeded Merrimack Valley Marlins (4-0) in single-elimination Wild Card action.

Feeding off the momentum from their two upset wins in the Wild Card round, the underdogs took a 2-1 series lead over the top-seeded Mocka Rays in the semis, and climbed within one win of their first Finals appearance since 2017.

In what felt like a replay of last year's semifinal series, the Mocka Rays' bats finally came alive in Game 4, behind a two-home run game from last year's MVP, Mike Cahill. The Mocka Rays came back to win Game 4 (12-1) and Game 5 (3-0), securing a second straight trip to the MABL Finals, and a chance to defend their title.

Roughly one year after falling to the Mocka Rays in the 2020 MABL Championship, the Boston Havoc would have another shot at the title, and a chance to avenge last year's Finals loss against the defending champs.

Their redemption tour did not get off to a good start however, as Game 1 fell in favor of their opposition for a second consecutive series. Mocka Rays' Game 1 starter Justin Sylvia (7 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 10 K's) tossed a complete game 2-0 shutout, allowing just 3 hits and no walks to go along with 10 strikeouts.

The Havoc bounced back to win the next two games (6-2, 7-0), on the shoulders of their starting pitchers Jon Shepard (7 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 6 K's) and Nick Powers (7 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 14 K's), while the offense broke out for a combined 13 runs on 15 hits. The Havoc took a 2-1 series lead and climbed within one win of the MABL championship.

Facing elimination heading into the must-win Game 4, the Mocka Rays called upon Game 1 winner Justin Sylvia (7 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 4 K's), who once again came through for his ball club. Sylvia picked up his second complete-game win of the series, as the Mocka Rays narrowly defeated the Havoc 2-1 to stave off elimination and force a series-deciding Game 5.

In the 'winner-take-all' game, the Havoc left nothing to chance, breaking out for 9 runs in the first 3 innings, highlighted by a Nick Powers' 2-RBI double in the 1st and an RBI-single in the 2nd.

Andrew Millard (1.1 IP, 6 H, 7 R, 5 ER, 2 K's) got the starting nod for the Mocka Rays, but was pulled from the game after just 1 ⅓ innings. Millard allowed 5 runs off 6 hits before handing the ball over to his manager.

Sylvia (5.2 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 5 K's) relieved Millard on just four days' rest and was able to slow the bleeding, but the damage was already done.

The nine early runs turned out to be more than enough run support for Jon Shepard (7 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 K's), who tossed a complete-game 2-hit shutout, leading the Havoc to a 9-0 victory and the 2021 MABL Championship.

This came just two weeks after Shepard closed out the deciding game of the 2021 MSBL MetroWest Finals, and helped seal back-to-back MetroWest championships for the Royals, making him the first player in BMBL history to record the final out in both the MABL and MetroWest Finals in the same season.

Congratulations to the Boston Havoc on winning the 2021 MABL 18+ Championship, the franchise's third overall title (2013, 2018, 2021), and hats off to the Mocka Rays on another fine season and their second straight trip to the MABL Finals.