Andre Chiefs

Malden, MA- The Chiefs broke open a 3-1 game with a dozen fifth inning runs to wallop the two time defending Central New England Baseball Association champions Westford Willows 19-2 at O’Donnell Field on the campus of Malden Catholic on Sunday afternoon. 

Heavy overnight and early morning rains forced the game to be moved from Playstead Park to the artificial surface of O’Donnell Field late Saturday night. 

Merrimack College right-hander Ryan McNeill of Lynnfield, MA, went the first five innings to pick up the victory. UMass-Amherst teammates and former Malden Catholic stars Rob Machado and Mike DiCato each worked two innings to preserve the win. 

After McNeill retired the side in the top of the first the Chiefs grabbed a quick 3-0 lead. Brendan Pyburn led off with a single to center and rookie Dario Pizzano doubled into the left field corner. All-East selection Jeff Bercume then roped a single to right scoring both Pyburn and Pizzano to make it 2-0. Veteran Justin Crisafulli followed with a RBI single to left making it 3-0 Chiefs.  

The Willows scored an unearned run in the top of the second when Assumption College star Derek Migrants led off with a long double to left center. Migrants stole third and scored when the throw from his Assumption teammate Eddie McDonald skipped into left field. 

After giving up the three runs and four hits in the first, Westford starter George Migrants from Fitchburg State settled down and retired the next twelve Chiefs in a row. McNeill was just as effective preserving the 3-1 Chiefs lead heading into the bottom of the fifth when the Chiefs exploded for twelve runs off three Westford pitchers to take a 15-1 lead. A Crisafulli bases clearing triple, Pizzano’s second double of the day and a Nick Leva single were the key hits in the big inning. 

Machado came on to make his first appearance in relief of McNeill to throw a scoreless sixth and seventh innings allowing just a single to Merrimack's Ray Walker while striking out two.

DiCato worked a scoreless eighth before the Chiefs put up four more runs in the bottom of the inning. Singles from Pyburn, Pizzano, Crisafulli and pinch hitter Bill Cataldo, sandwiched around a Bercume two RBI double, ran the Chiefs margin to 19-1. 

The Willows picked up an unearned run in the top of the ninth off DiCato on a double from SNHU’s Chris O’Neil, an infield error and a RBI single from Brandeis’ Terry Deshler. 

McNeil, an all NE-10 selection this past spring, gave up just three hits and struck out three in his first start in a Chiefs uniform. Machado was very sharp allowing just one hit and DiCato gave up two hits as both struck out a couple of batters each. Crisafulli led the Chiefs hit parade with three hits and five RBI and Pizzano had three hits and two RBI. Pyburn and Bercume, who had four RBI’s, chipped in with two hits each.