The Alibrandis bullpen is expected to play a major role in another great upcoming season. – Photo by Harry Kane

By Harry Kane

The Somerville Alibrandis Baseball Club has been unstoppable for the past three years. They plan to make it another great season on the baseball diamond with some extra slugging power and pitching speed this year.

The veteran team has gotten an early start with more batting practice and scrimmaging than ever before. The team is looking forward to the upcoming opening game, which is on Friday, May 10 at Trum Field at 8 p.m. The Alibrandis will start their season with a game against the Brighton Black Sox.

There are 16 teams in the Yawkey Baseball League of Boston. The Somerville Alibrandis are part of the Ted Williams Division. They finished the 2012 season with 25 wins and eight losses, plus another championship win over the Malden Bulldogs.

During this offseason the managers picked-up some new players, said Assistant Manager Cameron Lynch. This year’s line-up will be even stronger than in previous years with the new additions to the roster.

One new addition to the line-up is first baseman Mike Cunningham from Suffolk University. “He’ll be hitting in the middle of our line-up with Justin Crisafulli and Marc DesRoches,” said Assistant Manager Lynch. The Alibrandis are pumped to have Cunningham aboard, and are awaiting his arrival, as he finishes-up his final season with the Rams.

Cunningham currently has a .438 batting average in 38 games. He drove in 42 runs and hit nine home runs so far, and is still hitting away for the next couple of weeks. Cunningham “was named conference Player of the Year for 2013,” according to Suffolk University’s official website.

The pitching staff has also received a new addition. A new pitcher from Bentley was drafted. His name: Lamarre Rey from Bentley University. Rey throws from 88-92 miles per hour, said Lynch.

During opening night, Jon Morse and Chris Foundas will probably split the game on opening night, said veteran player and third baseman Marc DesRoches. “They’ve both been staples on the rotation for the past couple of years,” he said. “They are both back, healthy, throwing a couple innings in each scrimmage game so far.”

“The old adage is, you can never have enough pitching,” said DesRoches. “You always look to stock up on young pitching, so that those guys can carry the load, as far as innings.”

DesRoches elaborated about the process for finding new players to add to the team. “We don’t just take anybody on, they have to be a good fit for the team both physically and professionally, going about their business.”

According to DesRoches, the league is getting more competitive. There are a lot of minor league pitchers who are retiring or getting cut from the majors, and they are starting to flock to the Yawkey League. DesRoches said this brings up the entire league, in terms of overall level of talent. “It’s not a high school beer league…where high school hero’s are living out their days. It’s guys that really played somewhere,” he said.

The Alibrandis aren’t short of great ball players and quality coaching. Bernie Driscoll won the manager of the year and Mike Maguire was voted the Carl Yastrzemski most valuable player of 2012.