Intercity League Baseball Recognizes Top Talent
Medford’s Charlie Pagliarulo, who recently signed a pro ball contract, was the ICL’s top hitter.
Pete Frates of the champion Lexington Blue Sox headed the list as the MVP when the Intercity League announced their individual award winners for the recently concluded 2010 season.
The individual recipients were selected on a point basis with players receiving five points for a first place vote, three points for a second place vote and one point for a third place vote. Each of the league’s nine franchises participated in the balloting.
Frates, a former Boston College star, hit .375 during the regular season to go along with 13 RBI and 12 stolen bases in 31 games for the champs. He was also widely considered as the ICL’s top defensive outfielder. Frates edged out Testa Corp. Bombers slugger Mike Addesa who had a monster year at the plate hitting .385 (39-101) with a league leading 25 RBI’s. The former Salem State star from Revere, MA, also hit a couple of homers.
Charlie Pagliarulo of the Americans was chosen as the top hitter on the circuit batting a lofty .374 with a league leading six homers. The Medford, MA, infielder also added 21 RBI and seven doubles. Pagliarulo, who was an all-Northeast 10 at Bentley this spring, signed briefly with the Laredo Broncos following the conclusion of the Americans season. Adessa was the runner-up in this category as well with Testa Corp. teammate Pete John, who led all hitters with a .392 average and five homers, checking in third.
For the first time in league history the top pitching award voting ended up in a tie between Brian Casey of the Watertown Reds and Matt Karis of the Lexington Blue Sox. Casey went 6-1 for the Reds during the regular season and saved four more games. The former Tufts University right-hander posted a 1.13 ERA and led the league in strikeouts with 84 K’s in just 62 innings of work. Casey also posted three more wins during the playoffs for the Reds. Karis is no stranger to this award having won it in 2009. The Blue Sox ace enjoyed an 8-0 regular season with an ERA of 0.83. Karis won two more games for Lexington in the post season to finish up a perfect 10-0. The Gettysburg College righty has posted an amazing 19-0-1 record in his twenty ICL career decisions over the last two years. Dylan Eliis (6-2, 1.06 ERA) and Jared Freni (4-2, 0.72 ERA, 68 K’s) of the Chiefs, along with Darren Bisso (6-2, 1.15 ERA) of the Merchants finished third, fourth and fifth respectively in the balloting.
The 2010 Rookie of the Year is Sam Sager of the Reds. Sager hit .333 during the regular season including a team leading 18 RBI. Sager began his junior year at Tufts University this fall. The Cranston, Rhode Island, product hit .373 for the Jumbos this past spring while starting all 41 games. Sager narrowly beat out his Tufts’ teammate David Orlowitz of the Wakefield Merchants for the rookie honors. Orlowitz had a big year for the Merchants banging ICL pitching around to a tune of .353 with a league leading 40 hits, including nine for extra bases. Mike Griffin (.352, 2 HR, 15 RBI) of the Arlington Trojans ended up third with Bill Catlado (.356) of the Reading Bulldogs and Mark O’Flynn (.315) of the Testa Corp. Bombers finishing in a tie for fourth.
Glen Misho of the Bombers received the highest point total of all players, running away with the Rookie Pitcher of the Year honors. Misho compiled a 4-1 record for the East Boston based club while posting an ERA of 1.00. The Quincy, MA, native and Catholic Memorial product returns to UMass-Amherst this fall and will again pitch for the Minutemen in 2011. Jeff Rowan, also of the Bombers, finished second to his teammate in the voting. The right-hander from Rochester ended his initial ICL campaign at 4-3 with an ERA of 1.96 while leading the Bombers staff with 50 innings pitched. Colin McGinn (4-3, 2.18 ERA) of the Bulldogs and Charlie DeFrancesco (3-1, 2.30 ERA, 13 APP) of the Reds rounded out the top five.
Blue Sox catcher Eric Poling was the overwhelming choice for the 2010 ICL Playoff MVP. The veteran backstop had a stellar post season hitting .529 with seven RBI’s while leading the Sox to a perfect 6-0 mark in the playoffs. Poling, who is from Pinckneyville, Illinois, played his college ball at Greenville College.
Chiefs veteran Justin Crisafulli is the recipient of the 2010 ICL Sportsmanship Award that was selected by the league’s umpires and announced by Umpire in Chief Joe Cacciatore. Crisafulli began his Chiefs’ career in 1994 and has amassed 88 homers, 390 RBI’s and 509 hits in his long ICL career.
All of the individual winners, along with the 2010 league champion Blue Sox, will be recognized at the ICL’s first “Hall of Fame, Awards and Reunion Dinner†that will be held on Friday evening, November 12th at the Montvale Plaza in Stoneham, MA starting at 6:00 PM.
Contact Event Coordinator Orazio Azzarello at (617) 839-1488 or email ICLHallofFame@yahoo.com for ticket information.
– Information from www.intercityleaguebaseball.com