Announcement
Chiefs Head to ICL Playoffs with 6-3 Win in Woburn
Woburn, MA- When a team loses just once in their last fourteen games good things usually result.
One of those good things happened to the Chiefs on Saturday night in Woburn as they punched their ticket to the ICL playoffs. It will be the 44th time in 46 seasons that the Chiefs will be part of the postseason party.
After 43 straight seasons of qualifying for the playoffs, the Chiefs took a two year break from play in 2004 & 2005 before returning to the ICL at the start of the 2006 season. As a virtual expansion team, with only veterans Justin Crisafulli and Dave Marsters left from the glory days of the 1990's and early 2000's, the Chiefs fielded their youngest team ever. They struggled mightily in 2006, posting a franshise worst 7-20-1 record and missing the ICL playoffs for the first time since 1958. Although the club showed marked improvement last season, a late season tailspin knocked them out of contention in late July and they finished with a less than stellar 9-18-5 mark.
Keith Forbes personally put an end to the postseason drought on Saturday when he dominated in the playoff clinching win at Ferullo Field. Forbes allowed just four hits against the Tanners and raised his league leading strikeout total to 95 with 14 more K's.
The Chiefs staked their ace to a 4-0 lead in the second inning on singles from Matt Lawlor, Phil Costello, Brendan Pyburn and Nate Leva and productive fielder's choices by Mike Barbati and Mike Andre.
It remained a 4-0 game until the Tanners got an unearned run in the third inning as a result of two Chiefs errors. Tanners starter Nick Ruocco settled down and held the Chiefs scoreless in the third, fourth and fifth innings. The Tanners made things very interesting when they got to Forbes for two runs in the bottom of the fifth on two walks and a two out, two RBI single, by Ryan Doyle which cut the lead to 4-3.
The Chiefs lead went to 5-3 in the top of the sixth when Costello walked and scored on a Barbati double into the left field corner. Forbes allowed a leadoff single by Joe Smith in the sixth but struck out the next three batters in succession to send the game to the top of the seventh.
Crisafulli upped the Chiefs lead to 6-3 when he launched his 86th career homer to left field.
Forbes struck out the first batter of the seventh, got Bryan Watkins to ground out to Leva for the second out, and sent the Chiefs to the post season when he struck out Derek Dettore to end the game.
With the win, Forbes goes to 6-1-1 on the year, with an ERA of 1.61. His 95 strikeouts have come in just 65.1 innings of work. Since the start of last season, the former San Diego Padres righty has struck out 174 batters in 109 innings.
