Somerville beats up on Malden, takes series lead

Malden, MA - The Somerville offense came to life as they scored 13 runs on 15 hits as they went onto beat the Malden Bulldogs, 13-3 in game one of the Yawkey Baseball League Semi-Final Series.

Somerville got to Malden starter Patrick Shanahan, who allowed ten earned runs while walking nine. The Alibrandis put up one in the first, three in the second, three in the fourth and three in the fifth before Shanahan was removed.

For Malden, Jonathan Pollard laced a two double that scored Joey Eugenio and Evan Tardugno in the third inning. Brad Tardugno then followed with his own double that plated Pollard to account for all of the offense for the Bulldogs.

Game Two of this best of five series will take place on Friday (8/20) night. Game time is set for 8 pm at Maplewood Park.

Malden takes a 2-0 series lead!

Malden, MA - The top seeded Malden Bulldogs took a 2 games to none series lead over the eighth seeded Brighton Black Sox tonight behind a dominant pitching performance from Brian Duplissie.

In just his second start of the 2010 season, Duplissie held the Black Sox to just one hit in his six innings of work. Duplissie struck out seven and walked six as he earned the win. Jon Shepard tossed a perfect seventh to finish the game.

The Bulldogs got on the board right away as MVP candidate, Brad Tardugno, singled home his little brother Evan to make it 1-0 in the first.

Malden extended thier lead to 4-0 in the third. Anthony Perry began the frame reaching base on a hit by pitch. After Jonathan Pollard flew out to left, Perry stole second and then scored on Brad Tardugno's RBI double to right center. Tom Englehardt then singled to center before Duplissie singled home Brad Tardugno. Chris Deane added an RBI base hit, which plated Englehardt, to account for the scoring in the third.

Duplissie's no hit bid ended in the fifth. With two outs, Bill Reichmann walked which allowed Andrew Dewing to bat. Dewing laced a single that fell in front of the left fielder. Duplissie then got Steve Tramantozzi to ground into a fielder's choice to end the frame.

The Bulldogs added three more runs in the sixth, this time off of reliever Jared Rooney. With the bases loaded, Perry hit a ground ball to the left side. The third baseman, Andy Kurzon made a diving stop and threw Perry out at first. That allowed Joey Eugenio, who reached on an error, to score. Pollard would double home Mike Terrio and Evan Tardugno to make it a 7-0 Bulldog lead, which was the final score.

Englehardt finished the night going 3-for-4 while both Brad Tardugno and Brian Duplissie had 2-for-4 nights. Brad Tardugno and Pollard each collected two RBIs while Perry, Duplissie and Deane each had one. Evan Tardugno was 2-for-3 with two runs scored and three stolen bases from the leadoff spot in the order.

With a 2-0 series lead, Malden will send Jason Paul (2010 Regualr Season: 6-0, 0.70 ERA) to the hill on Sunday afternoon for the sweep. The Black Sox are expected to throw Matt Nicholson (2010 Regular Season: 6-4, 1.83 ERA). Game time is set for 1 pm at Rogers Park in Brighton, MA.

Malden captures the #1 spot with a 9-2 win

YBL MVP candidate Brad Tardugno (above) went
2-for-3 with a HR, 2 RBI

Brighton, MA - The Malden Bulldogs took care of business as they beat the Brighton Minutemen, 9-2. With the victory, the Bulldog franchise won their third consecutive Yawkey Baseball League Division Title and more importantly earned home field advantage through out the 2010 YBL playoffs.

The Bulldogs scored in the top of the first inning courtesy of Brad Tardugno. The Yawkey Baseball League Player of the Year candidate, belted his sixth home run of 2010 that plated Mike Terrio to give Malden a quick 2-0 lead.

Malden doubled their lead in the fourth when Chris Deane scored Tom Englehardt on a double to deep left-center. Deane would come around to make 4-0 on Luis Lara's single.

The Bulldogs broke it open as they scored a run in the fifth followed by two runs in both the sixth and seventh innings.

A two-out, two RBI base hit in the fourth inning by Joey O'Neill cut the Minutemen deficit in half, 4-2. That would be all the Brighton could score off of Malden starter Patrick Shanahan. The dominant left-hander struck out seven and walked zero in his 3.2 innings of work. Rob Mondello relieved Shanahan and picked up his third win as he threw 2.1 hit-less innings. Jon Shepard pitched a 1-2-3 seventh to finish the game.

Malden finishes the 2010 regular season with a 26-7-0 record. As the overall number one seed, the Bulldogs will host the eighth seeded Brighton Black Sox on Thursday (8/12) night. Game time is set for 8 pm at Maplewood Park in Malden, MA.

Mondello's hit leads Malden past West Roxbury

Mondello (above) had the game winning hit for Malden

West Roxbury, MA - With the season on the line, Rob Mondello delivered a clutch two base hit to score Tom Englehardt as Malden took one giant step closer to locking up home field advantage as they beat rival West Roxbury, 7-6.

It was a back and forth battle between two of the top teams in the YBL. Malden got on the board right away in the first when Brad Tardugno singled home Mike Terrio to give the Bulldogs a quick 1-0 lead. Malden would continue to score in the first off of West Roxbury starter Matt Dannenhoff. Brian Duplissie and Chris Deane added RBI hits while a defensive miscue by the Bluefish led to two more runs crossing the plate to make it 5-0.

The Bluefish would chip away at Malden starter Jason Paul. They managed to score two in the first, two in the second and two in the third. Paul would settle down after the sixth run crossed and keep Malden with in striking distance.

In the fourth, the Bulldogs tied it at six when Brad Tardugno plated Ken Olisky with a base hit past the diving shortstop. That was Brad Tardugno's 45th RBI of 2010, a YBL and Bulldog single season record.

The decisive run came in the top of the seventh. Riding the momentum from Patrick Shanahan's huge strike out of Chris Hartery to end the threat in the sixth, Englehardt crushed a Matt Venzia offering to deep center field for a leadoff triple. After the next two Bulldogs struck out, Mondello battled with an 0-2 count before giving Malden the lead.

Jon Shepard came on for his eighth save in the bottom of the seventh. He struck out the first batter, got the second to ground out to Brad Tardugno at first before walking the third hitter he faced. Shepard then got former college teammate Bobby Foote to ground out to third to end the game.

"This is by far the biggest win in franchise history." said Malden coach Kevin McGovern.

On the night, Mondello finished with a 2-for-4, RBI performance. Brad Tardugno upped his season average to .417 with his 2-for-3, 2 RBI night and Anthony Perry added two hits as he went 2-for-3, including his 10th HBP of the season.

Malden needs a win tonight at the Brighton Minutemen to secure the overall number one seed in the YBL Championship Tournament. A win will also give Malden their third straight YBL division title.

The game against the Minutemen will be on Tuesday night (8/10) at Rogers Park in Brighton, MA. Game time is set for 7:30 pm.

Bad Hop leads South Boston past Malden

Dorchester, MA - Steve Dakota's bad hop triple in the bottom half of the sixth gave the South Boston Saints a 4-3 that they barely held onto as they take down Malden in YBL action.

Evan Tardugno pitched well in defeat as he allowed four runs (three earned) on ten hits in his six innings pitched. Evan Tardugno, also struck out six, walked three and hit a batter.

The dagger came in the sixth when with two runners on, Dakota lined a ball into left field. The ball took a South Boston bounce, up and over the head of Malden left fielder Anthony Perry. That allowed Jon Viola and Pat McClay to score and give the Saints the lead.

Malden would not go down with out a fight. With one out, Perry drew a four pitch walk and proceeded to swipe second on a ball in the dirt. After a Brad Tardugno pop out to third, Tom Englehardt hit a ball up the middle toward center. The South Boston secondbaseman, Brendan Klaes, stopped the ball and threw low to first. The firstbaseman, Rob Stephenson couldn't pick it and Perry tried for home.

The throw from Stephenson was a little wide and it looked as if Perry had tied the game. The home plate umpire saw differently and called Perry out to end the game.

"I was definitely safe." said Perry after the loss. "As I was rounding third I knew that I had to score to tie the game. I saw an opening in between (South Boston Catcher Rob) Linn's legs and tagged the plate before he tagged me. In my opinion, the umpire was in the wrong position. I'm sure if you ask them (South Boston), they know they got away with one tonight."

With the loss, Malden falls to 23-7 on the season and more importantly one point behind West Roxbury for home field advantage in the playoffs. Brad Tardugno added to his YBL leading RBI total as he went 2-for-4 with 2 RBI. He now has 36 on the season.

The Bulldogs will return to action on Thursday night (8/5) as Jason Paul will take hill against Ted Williams Division rival, Medford Maddogs. First pitch is scheduled for 8 pm at Maplewood Park in Malden, MA.