DILLON KOSTER and the Merchants will be the home team at Trum Field in Somerville tonight when they take on the Watertown Reds in game one of the ICL semifinals. (Dan Pawlowski Photo)

Published in the August 14, 2018 edition.

By DAN PAWLOWSKI

SOMERVILLE — The Wakefield Merchants, owners of a 17-10 regular season record, a second place finish a bye in the first round, will meet the No. 3 Watertown Reds in the semifinals scheduled to start tonight at Trum Field in Somerville.

The No. 1 Lexington Blue Sox will host No. 4 Alibrandis tonight at Lexington High.

The Merchants won their final three games to storm past the Reds who lost two of their last three to lose the two seed by just one point.

The Reds beat the Andre Chiefs 2-0 in the first round of the playoffs. They won game one 6-3 last Tuesday and game two 10-3 on Sunday. The Reds were powered by their top three hitters: Kyle LaVigne, Ben Johnston and Will Brennan who combined for 13 RBIs in the two games. LaVigne went a combined 4-for-7 with three RBIs and a double. Johnston went 3-for-7 five RBIs and a double and Brennan went 2-for-7 including a two-RBI triple in game one and a three-run home run in game two.

The Reds pitching staff had the league’s second lowest combined earned run average (2.81) while the Merchants were 7th with a 3.64. During the regular season, the Reds scored 146 runs and allowed 93 while the Merchants scored 140 and allowed 120.

The Reds had the best pitcher in the ICL this year in Matt Horan who was 8-0 with a 1.27 ERA in 60 innings pitched with 67 strikeouts to 12 walks. The 6-5 righty did not pitch in the Reds’ first round matchup against the Chiefs. It is to be determined whether he will be available for the series against the Merchants.

Joe Maguire was also one of the league’s best starting pitchers. The Merchants’ ace won six games and was third in the league with a 2.03 ERA in 51.2 innings pitched with 34 strikeouts to only eight walks. He is expected to start game one against the high-powered Reds.

The Merchants had the top two hitters in the league in regards to batting average as Bobby Losanno (.432) finished as the hits leader once again with 41 and Dillon Koster (.427) finished third with 35. The Reds might not have anyone with those types of numbers but they are very deep, with four batters hitting .300 or higher. Logan Gillis (23) and Brennan (21) also finished second and third in the league in RBIs.

The Reds won the season series against the Merchants 3-1. Watertown won the first game 8-4 on June 19. The two teams split a double header at Walsh Field on July 1, 3-2 Reds in game one and 7-6 Merchants in game two. Watertown won the final matchup 8-2 on July 24 at their home field at Bentley University.

Game two of the best-of-five series is scheduled for tomorrow, 7:30 p.m. at Victory Field in Watertown. The location and time of Friday’s game three is to be determined as the Merchants wait to see the condition of Walsh Field after the rain.