Somerville Highlander Alumni/Alibrandis Baseball Team

The National Semi Pro Baseball Association has named its Hall of Fame Class for 2014 and three members of the Somerville Highlander Alumni/Alibrandis Baseball Club have been inducted. Team Sponsor Tony Alibrandi, Player/Coach Mike Powers and Infielder Kevin White will be enshrined in the NSPBA Hall of Fame and Museum at a ceremony in Evansville, Indiana this upcoming November. They join David Treska who was part of the inaugural class in 2013. Tony has been the primary sponsor( Alibrandis Barber Shop ) of the team since the 1993 season and in that time the team has gone on to win a record 14 YBL Championships. Mike was the winning pitcher in the teams first game in 1990 and was named to multiple All Star games, and then went on to coach the team to 10 YBL Titles in 11 seasons highlighted by 9 in a row( 1999-2008 ). Kevin white is regarded as the best second baseman in the history of the YBL. He is a 10 time YBL Champion and is the only player in league history to be a regular season, post season and all star game Most Valuable Player. All three are already members of the YBL Hall of Fame. They are also joined by Dave McKay( McKay Club/League Presidnet ) Al Thomas( sponsor AlThomas Club - 5x YBL Champ ) and Walter Bentson( umpire/umpire in chief ) from the Yawkey League who are also being inducted this fall. For full information on the Hall of Fame ceremony, please click on the headline link.

Mike Powers has been a part of the Yawkey Baseball League since 1988 spanning over 25 years and in that time he has one of the most distinguished careers in the leagues history. In recognition of his accomplishments on and off the field, he was part of the 2013 Class of YBL Hall of Famers. Mike was a 5 time All Star Player and a 12 All Star Coach, his playing career started with the Cambridge Bucs and after a season there he joined the Somerville Highlander Alumni Baseball Club in the 1990 season. Mike was the starting and winning pitcher in the team’s first game and was for the early part of the team’s existence their best pitcher and a standout outfielder. Powers was a force in the old fall tournament, the Bill Stewart Memorial Cup leading the teams to 2 titles in 1991 and 1992 – being named the events Most Valuable Player in 1992. In 1993 Mike was the winning pitcher at the very first YBL All Star Game at Fenway Park. Once the Alibrandis Club started to make the playoffs Mike was a mainstay in the middle of the order and had a knack to always come up with big hits, evidenced by his status as the team’s career leader in grand slams and was recognized by his peers winning a Silver Slugger Award in 2001. At the same time Mike began to lead the team off the field as its field manager starting in the 1997 season. In that role Mike set himself apart as the winningest coach in the history of the Yawkey Baseball League posting a 316-79-3 record in the regular season, being named Manager of the Year in 1997, 2000, 2002 and 2003 and was the head coach at Fenway Park 6 times and lead the Yawkey League to our firsts victory against the US Military All Stars in 2008. In these 12 seasons as the manager he won 10 Yawkey Baseball League Championships, posting a record of 106-30 and highlighted by a record 9 titles in row from 1999 to 2007. Since his retirement from his career in uniform, he has worked behind the scenes with the team as general manager of the Alibrandis Club and with the Yawkey League in leading the All Star Committee – highlighted by teams that defeated the US Military All Stars and took home our first EMass All Star Classic Championship both in 2013.

The Lowell Spinners invited the 2012 Somerville Alibrandis Yawkey Baseball Champions to throw out the first pitch prior to their game versus the Vermont Lake Monsters at LeLacheur Stadium. Team President David Treska threw out the pitch and was joined on the field by Team Sponsor Tony Alibrandi, GM Mike Powers, Head Coach Bernie Driscoll, Lamarre Rey, Sean Sullivan, Sal Mendonca, Mike Maguire and Ted Dziuba.

For the 14th time in the teams 24 seasons of play in the Yawkey Baseball League, the Somerville Alibrandis Baseball Club defeated the Revere Rockies 4 games to 1 to win the 2013 Championship. It was a historic season for the team from Somerville as they set YBL records for regular season wins( 30 ) and for the most wins in a regular and post season( 40 ). The 40-4 year maybe a record that will stand for sometime, possibly making this the best team in team and league history. After the 30-3 regular season they swept the first two rounds( Medford 3-0 and the Braves 3-0 ) then defeated the #2 seed Revere in 5 games with a 3-0 shutout in the series clincher.

The Yawkey Baseball League took home the title in the 2nd Annual Eastern Massachusetts Amateur Baseball All Star Classic Tournament by defeating the Intercity League 9-5 in 10 Innings in the opening round and then defeating the Cranberry Baseball League 7-6 at Rockland Stadium.  The team that was made up off All Star from all 16 YBL teams was lead by Eric Bellavia the manager of the East Boston Knights.  The Most Valuable Player of the tournament was the YBL's Luis Rodriquez of the Revere Rockies.