Announcement
Medford, MA- Bobby Giarratani twirled a complete game two-hitter and Mike Adessa drilled a two out, two run home run in the sixth inning as the Testa Corp. Bombers knocked off the Chiefs 5-0 at Tufts University on Friday evening.
Giarratani, from Denison College in Ohio, took a no-hitter into the fifth inning before Brendan Pyburn broke up the bid with a single to right field. The Chiefs Dan Lozeau matched Giarratini pitch for pitch for 5.2 innings. Adessa finally broke the scoring drought with a sixth inning line shot over the right field wall scoring Nick Martinho, who had singled, ahead of him.
The Chiefs had several chances to break into the scoring column, leaving runners in scoring position in the second, third, fourth and sixth innings.
In the bottom of the second inning, J.P. Pollard drew a lead off walk and Giarratani got Hal Landers swinging for the first out. A Mike Barbati fielder’s choice moved Pollard to second and the Bombers Mike Navarro kept it a scoreless game when he ran down a deep Mike Andre line drive to straightaway right to end the inning.
The defensive gems continued for the Bombers in the bottom of the third. Catcher Eddie McDonald reached on Testa’s only error of the night on a slow hit ball that was mishandled by shortstop Joe Papa. McDonald went to second on a passed ball but Giarratani got Pyburn to bounce back to him for the first out. Brian Macrina followed with a ten pitch at bat then ended when Giarratani finally got him swinging on a 3-2 pitch. Jeff Bercume looked like he was about to give the Chiefs the lead when he hit a hard one hopper to the right of first baseman Josh Klimkiewicz. The former Harvard star made a nice diving stop and recovered quickly enough to flip to Giarratani covering first to get the fleet Bercume by half a step.
Another Chiefs scoring opportunity went by the boards in the fourth when Landers drew a two out walk, stole second, but couldn’t get any further as Giarratani again got tough and caught Barbati looking at a third strike.
The Chiefs got a defensive gem of their own in the top of the fifth when Brian Macrina made a spectacular diving grab of Steve Buikus line drive with Paul Bonfiglio, who had walked and went to second on a sacrifice bunt, in scoring position.
The Chiefs were poised to take the lead again in the fifth when Pyburn broke up the no-hitter with a two out single and proceeded to steal second. A Macrina fly ball to center ended the inning and the teams went into the sixth at 0-0.
Addesa’s shot in the top of the sixth came with two outs. The inning started well enough for Lozeau when he struck out Navarro swinging. Martinho followed with a single and Lozeau got the dangerous Klimkiewicz to fly to Landers in right. Adessa caught up with a Lozeau fastball and provided instant offense for the Bombers and a 2-0 lead.
Bercume’s chalk raising double down the right field line was all the Chiefs could muster against Giarratani in the sixth and Chris Foundas came on for Lozeau, his former Bryant University teammate, to work the top of seventh.
A throwing error by Copa at third, a hit batsman, two walks, a wild pitch and a Klimkiewicz single, added up to three unearned runs off Foundas and 5-0 Bombers lead heading into the bottom of the seventh.
Giarratani made quick work of the Chiefs in the seventh. He got Matt Boleski, who was pinch hitting for Barbati, to groundout, Andre to fly to center and ended things when he got pinch hitter Phil Costello looking.
Giarratani struck out seven and surrendered three walks on the way to picking up his first win of the year. Lozeau, who suffered his first loss, pitched very well for the Chiefs giving up just three hits and recording a couple of strikeouts.
The Chiefs begin a three game pre-Fourth of July stretch on Sunday at Walsh Field in Wakefield at 3:00 PM. Lefty Dylan Ellis (1-0) is expected to start for the Chiefs.
