By Bruce Hack Lexington Blue Sox Team Historian Melrose – The Battle of Lexington was brought to an end Monday night when the Blue Sox defeated the Bulldogs 6-3 and won the 2025 Intercity League Championship. This was the 17th title for the Blue Sox since they entered the league in 1995. It was the franchise’s 13th title since 2006 and the first since 2021. Monday night, it was a come-from-behind victory, the first in this playoff run. Emilio Berndt started the third-inning rally with a double to right. A single through the left side by Jay Voica and a walk to Mike Sibert loaded the bases with no outs. A balk was called on Sox starter Chris Wanat, bringing  Berndt home with the first Bulldogs run. Voica was out at home on a nice play by third baseman Erick Ramirez to catcher Luke Maltacea for the first out. Brett Stone lofted a fly ball into shallow center that shortstop Luis Antiles caught, but Sibert was able to score on the sacrifice fly for the 2-0 lead. The Blue Sox wasted no time in getting back into the game. They loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom half of the third. Owen McKiernan walked, Maltacea singled, and Brendan Jones walked to out a Sox runner on every base. Bulldogs’ starter Alec Peruzzi retired the next two batters and appeared to be a batter away from getting out of the inning. Julian Alvarez lined a single into left, and McKiernan came home, cutting the lead to 2-1. Antiles walked on a contested 3-2 pitch to bring in Maltacea with the tying run. Both Voica and Peruzzi thought the pitch to Antiles was strike three, but an appeal to the first base umpire resulted in a ball four call, and the Blue Sox runner was crossing the plate while the Bulldogs were trying to understand what had happened. Still with two outs, the Bulldogs thought they had ended the rally when Anderson Jimenez struck out, but the pitch got away from Voica, and his throw to first to get Jimenez for the third out sailed into right field. This allowed Brendan Jones to score the go-ahead run and Alvarez to come all the way around from second to make it 4-2 Sox. Patrick Casserly stepped up to the plate and doubled down the leftfield line, scoring Antiles, and it was 5-2 Blue Sox. Sox starter Wanat came out after five innings of work. He had two 1-2-3 innings, the second and fourth. He gave up four hits, walked two, and struck out three in earning his second win of the playoffs. Peruzzi pitched 4.1 innings for the Bulldogs. He gave up six hits, six runs, walked five, and struck out three as his playoff record fell to 1-1. The Bulldogs started the seventh with walks to pinch-hitter John Nordman and Shane Costello. Josh Becker came in from the bullpen for the Sox in relief of Luke Marshall. He struck out Voica, but a single through the right side by Sibert scored Nordtman, and it was 6-3. Becker induced a ground ball off the bat of Jaden Velis, which the Sox turned into a game-ending 4-6-3, Jimenez to Antiles to Casserly double play, and clinched the title. The two hottest teams in the league reached the finals. The Bulldogs won their last five regular-season games and eight of their last ten. The Blue Sox ended the season on a team-record-setting streak, 16-0-1 over their final 17 games, the longest streak without a loss by the team since 2006 Now, for another year, the Intercity League season has come to a close. The lights went out at Morelli Field for the final time this summer, bringing to an end another season for the league, its players, and fans. The coaches and players of the Intercity League would like to thank all the fans for their attendance and support at games this season. They look forward to seeing everyone in 2026.      

Melrose – In the battle of Lexington, the first skirmish went to the Blue Sox as they earned an 8-7 walk-off win over their Center 1 Field co-occupants, the Bulldogs, Friday night at Morelli Field. Will Norris started the bottom of the eighth with a walk. He moved to second on a passed ball and then to third on Luke Maltaceas’ sacrifice bunt. Bryan Acosta was sent in to pinch-hit and delivered the game-winner when he singled up the middle, scoring Norris for the win. The teams reached this point thanks to the Bulldogs’ Nick Favazzo. Down 7-3, Favazzo turned on a 1-0 fastball and drove it over the left field fence for a game-tying grand slam. With one out, the Bulldogs loaded the bases on a hit batter, a single, and a walk. A walk to Seamus Condon brought in a run to cut the lead to 7-3. Matt Draper came in from the Sox bullpen, replacing Luke Marshall, and gave up the home run to Favazzo, his second of the playoffs. Draper retired the next two Bulldog batters to end the inning. The Blue Sox stranded runners on second and third in the bottom of the seventh, and into extra innings the game went. Julian Alvarez put the Blue Sox on the board in the third with a 2-run home run to left, which also scored Jake McElroy. It was his fourth career playoff home run with the Sox. The Bulldogs’ first two runs were set up the same way. Nick Favazzo walked in the fourth and sixth innings. He stole second in both innings and took third on a throwing error by Sox catcher Luke Maltacea. In the fourth, Favazzo scored on Shane Costello’s RBI single. In the sixth, he came home on Emilio Berndt’s single. The Blue Sox blew the game open in the fifth, taking a 7-1 lead, and looked to be on their way to a win. With two outs and no runners on, Luis Antiles walked to start the rally. He stole second base. With a 3-1 count on Alvarez, he was intentionally walked. Antiles stole third and came home on a throwing error by Bulldogs hurler Graham Seed as he attempted to nab Antiles at third. A walk to Anderson Jimenez loaded the bases. Owen McKiernan cleared them with a triple to right, and the Blue Sox had a 7-1 lead with two innings left. The teams each started a left-hander on the mound. For the Sox, it was Michael O’Brien, coming off his save in game two against Melrose on Tuesday. The Bulldogs had Jack Sadowski on the hill, facing the Sox for the first time this season. Sadowski pitched four innings,  gave up five hits, three runs, walked two, and struck out seven. O’Brien pitched five innings, surrendering three hits, one run, walking four, and striking out a regular-season and playoff career-high eight. The two starters combined for 12 Ks through the first three innings. Draper earned the win in relief, his second career playoff win. He set down the side in the eighth on 10 pitches, all three on strikeouts. Nigel Cross took the loss, pitching 1.1 innings. He gave up two hits, a run, walked two, and struck out one. This was the second straight extra-inning game for the Blue Sox. They went nine innings in their 6-4 win over Melrose on Tuesday night. Both teams came into the finals with 2-0 postseason records, having swept their semifinal rounds. This is the first time since 2023 that both teams entered the finals without a loss. That season, the Chiefs were 2-0, and so were the Expos. Teams also accomplished the feat in 2012 and 2010. In 2012, Andre and the Blue Sox were 3-0. In 2010, it was Watertown at 5-0 and the Blue Sox at 3-0.   By Bruce Hack Lexington Blue Sox Team Historian