Andre Chiefs

East Boston, MA- For the better part of this summer, Chiefs right-hander Chris Foundas has been searching for the form that made him the unanimous selection as the Intercity League all-star closer in 2008.

On Thursday night he found it.

His 2.2 innings of no-hit, six strikeout work, allowed the Chiefs to stage a sixth inning rally and come out of East Boston Stadium with a hard earned 3-3 tie, picking up a big point in the ICL standings.

Foundas was overpowering, entering the game in relief of starter Ryan McNeill with two men on base and one out in the bottom of the fifth and Chiefs already trailing 3-1.

The game featured a scoreless pitcher’s duel between McNeill and Testa Corp. Bombers ace Anthony Del Prete for 3 ½ innings before hosts broke through with a run in the bottom of the fourth.

Nick Martinho started things when he beat out an infield single between first and the mound. With Martinho running on a 3-2 pitch, Steve Wadsworth singled into the shortstop hole. Kevin O’Leary then singled to left to load the bases with nobody out. With the Chiefs infield at double play depth, Joe Papa hit an infield grounder that scored Martinho with the game’s first run as O’Leary was forced at second for the first out. McNeill struck out Paul Bonfiglio for the second out of the inning before walking Steve Buitkus to re-load the bases. He got out of the inning when Jay DeFillippo lined to Brian Macrina in left.

The Chiefs scratched out a run in the top of the fifth to tie the game at 1-1. Justin Crisafulli broke up Del Prete’s no-hit bid when he singled up the middle with one out. J.P. Pollard’s infield grounder forced Crisafulli at second for out number two. Hal Landers followed with a perfect bunt single moving Pollard to second. The Chiefs inserted Dario Pizzano as a pinch runner for Pollard and he scored when Brendan Pyburn drilled a RBI single to right. Del Prete got Bob McCarthy to ground out to shortstop to end the inning and keep it a 1-1 game.

The Bombers took a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the inning. Vin Eruzione got things going with a single to center. Josh Klimkiewicz then lined shraply to Jeff Bercume in centerfield for the first out. Martinho then roped a triple into the right-center gap scoring Eruzione to give the Bombers the lead at 2-1. When Wadsworth singled to left scoring Martinho, the Bombers went up 3-1 and were threatening for more. Foundas was summoned from the bullpen and got O’Leary to line to center and then struck out Papa swinging to end the inning and keep the Chiefs in range.

Del Prete got Bercume swinging to start the Chiefs sixth. The Chiefs then caught a break when Papa made a nice play to get to a Peter Copa grounder but threw wide of first allowing him to reach on the throwing error. Macrina followed with a single to right putting runners at first and second with one out. Mike Andre then delivered a clutch RBI single to right scoring Copa that cut the lead to 3-2. Crisafulli was hit by a Del Prete pitch and Pizzano hit a RBI fielder’s choice forcing Crisafulli at second and allowing Macrina to score the tying run. With the go-ahead run at third base, Del Prete got tough and struck out Landers to end the inning.

Foundas set the Bombers down in the bottom of the sixth (including two strikeouts) and Del Prete got the Chiefs 1-2-3 (strikeout of Pyburn, McCarthy & Bercume grounders) in the top of the seventh.

Foundas struck out the heart of the Bombers order (Klimkiewicz, Martinho & Wadsworth) in order in the bottom of the seventh to preserve the tie for the Chiefs.

Chiefs Chatter…With the tie, Chiefs go to 14-10-3 (31 points) and assured themselves of another winning season, their 44^th in 46 years….Mike DiCato (5-2) is the expected starter when the Chiefs host the Lexington Blue Sox at Playstead Park on Friday at 6:00 PM. The Chiefs will use Playstead as their home venue on Friday as Tufts University is playing host to a Top-96 showcase…The Chiefs were to play the Blue Sox again on Saturday but that game has been switched to Sunday at 12:45 PM at Tufts University. The Chiefs will then travel to meet the Americans at Playstead on Sunday at 4:00 PM as part of a two site doubleheader. The Americans will have their traveling shoes on as well, as following the Chiefs game, they head to Ferullo Field in Woburn to meet the Tanners at 8:00 PM in what is shaping up as the final regular season game of the ICL season….The best of three first round of the playoffs is scheduled to begin on Tuesday with Seed 3 hosting Seed 6 and Seed 4 hosting Seed 5….The best of semi-finals are slated to start on Friday, August 14….