Towne Club building toward big BPL finish
Three years into taking over Towne Club in the Boston Park League, Grant Bowen is among those continuing its legacy.
Bowen, Bill Collins and Mike Stefaniak took over from Harvey Soolman, who passed away earlier this year after being an integral part of the BPL scene for decades. Two years ago, Towne Club won the BPL title, then was second a year ago despite some holes in its lineup. This season, Towne Club (14-10-0) sat in third entering Friday’s play, and is looking for a late season push as it chases ADSL (19-3-1) and Boston Athletics (18-4).
The biggest change in its lineup is in the middle defense, where Bowdoin College’s Connor Lee (hitting .441) has taken over at second base and former Monmouth star Grant Lamberton (.417) has shown a deft glove at shortstop.
The pitching staff has taken some hits, with righties Connor Farrell and James Bussiere both experiencing arm woes, but righty Will Levangie (4-0, 1.68 ERA, 22 strikeouts) has been the anchor on the mound.
“We been throwing different guys out there, really,” said Bowen, who is batting .345 (19of-55 with 25 RBI). “We’re trying to get as many guys out on the mound as we can. I think it may cost us a couple of games early, but what I told the guys before is that I think it helps us later on in the season. It seems every year we start off around .500 and then at the end, we have one of the best records in the league. Between our defense and our hitting, we’ve been able to get the job done.”
Towne Club leads the BPL in team batting with a .354 average, nine home runs, 176 runs scored, 211 hits and 157 RBI.
A pair of keys have been exStonehill standout Chris Hoyt and former WPI star Alex Venditti, who clubbed a pair out of the yard at Kelly Field in Hyde Park recently. Hoyt has been locked in a hot contest for the league batting title with Cannon Club’s
Rosario Missiti. Hoyt began the week hitting an even .500 (28-of56) while Missiti was at .493 (34of-69). Hoyt led the BPL in slugging (.804) and OPS (1.348) and was second in RBI (26) behind
Andrew Elliot (29) of ADSL.
Missiti topped in on-base percentage (.600) and hits (34), one ahead of Nickolas Perkins (33) of Mass Envelope/GM. Missiti, always a threat on the base paths, led with 10 stolen bases.
Towne has also gained support from ex-Colby outfielder Matt Treveloni, back after tearing his PCL to hit .375 (21-of-56).
Cranberry champs
The Cranberry League claimed the 2018 Eastern Mass. Amateur Baseball Classic last weekend, beating the Intercity League 8-2 in the title game after topping the BPL in the opening game. Intercity beat the host Yawkey League, 3-2, at Father Monan Field — on the campus of UMass-Boston — in the other first-round game.
Classic MVP Bryant Salkind
of Rochester and Wheaton College went 2-for-3 with two doubles and a record-tying four RBI as the Cranberries banged out 16 hits.
Cranberry twirlers Dan Southerland (Dartmouth/Wheaton), winning pitcher Connor Birch
(Bellingham/Bridgewater State) and Will Gallagher (Kingston/ Babson) held the ICL without a hit for 42⁄3 innings before Bobby Losano of the Wakefield Merchants broke up the combined no-hit bid with a single to left. Andre Chiefs slugger Matt Nuzzo
clubbed a home run the following inning to cut the deficit to 5-2, but that was as close as ICL would come . . . .
Loose threads
Speaking of the YBL, Matt Costanza of the McKay Club holds a wide lead in the batting title race at .533 (32-of-60). Righthanders Billy Sullivan (4-0, 0.50 ERA) of Charlestown and the Brighton Braves’ Mike Smith (6-0, 0.65) are locked in a tight battle for the ERA crown. Sullivan has fanned 41 in 381⁄3 innings, while Smith has 50 in 43 . . . .
Few sports moments are more exciting than a walkoff home run, and that’s precisely what Intercity fans got the other night when the Alibrandis’ Dave Lightbody smacked a two-run blast to send the Melrose Americans home. Righty Lamarre Rey went the distance, allowing just six hits with a whopping 15 strikeouts . . . .
The week wasn’t a total loss for Melrose, which scored five times in the top of the sixth inning to stun the Somerville Royals, 8-5, at spacious Trum Field.