Andre Chiefs

Medford, MA- Veteran Matt Boleski had one of the most productive games of his six year Chiefs’ career, knocking in five runs with a three run homer and a two run double, to lead his team to an 8-2 win over the Medford Americans on Monday evening at Tufts University.

Boleski’s offensive show backed another outstanding outing from Jared Freni, who went the distance to improve his record to 5-0 on the season. The former UMass-Amherst captain and Malden Catholic star allowed five hits and struck out eleven.

The Chiefs gave Freni more than he would need when they scored six times in their first bat against Americans’ starter Ryan McNiff. McNiff hit leadoff man Mike Maguire with a pitch and the former Suffolk University star stole second. Mike Baillargeon drilled the first pitch he saw off the fence in right for a double scoring Maguire and giving the Chiefs a 1-0 lead. Mike Andre moved Baillargeon to third with an infield grounder to the right side and Justin Criasfulli promptly plated him with a line single to center to make it 2-0. The Chiefs took advantage of two Americans’ errors as Tony Deshler and Mike DiCato both reached on infield miscues with Crisafulli scoring the third run. Mike Barbati followed with a single to center but DiCato was thrown out on the play after rounding second as Deshler was held at third. Enter Boleski, (pictured left) who drilled a McNiff offering over the scoreboard in right-field, scoring Deshler and Barbati ahead of him, jumping the Chiefs lead to 6-0.

Freni allowed a two out single to veteran Mike Kalfopoulos in the top of the second and McNiff settled in and retired the Chiefs in order in the bottom of the inning.

The Americans got on the scoreboard in the top of the third inning. Mike Burgoyne got things started when he beat out an infield single to shortstop as Baillargeon’s throw sailed high of first but Burgoyne was unable to advance to second. Danny Gunn then drew Freni’s only walk of the night. Freni struck out Joe Nixon and Jose Polanco in succession before Franklin Pierce bound rookie Dan Gilchrist lined a single to left, scoring Burgoyne.

Deshler’s one out single was all the Chiefs could come up with against McNiff in the bottom of the third and Freni rebounded nicely, striking out the Americans’ side in order in the top of the fourth inning.

McNiff, appearing to get stronger, retired the Chiefs in order again in the bottom of the fourth and the Americans inched a little bit closer when they picked up their second run of the night in the top of the fifth inning. Burgoyne got things started once again, this time with a line single to right. Gunn then fouled out to catcher Nick Leva for the first out and Burgoyne stole second.  Nixon then singled to put runners on the corners. Burgoyne and Nixon then executed a double steal to account for the Americans’ second run of the night. Nixon was stranded in scoring position when Freni got Gilchrist to ground to Andre at third base.

McNiff held the Chiefs scoreless for the fourth straight time in the bottom of the fifth and Freni got the Medford side in order in the top of the sixth.

The Chiefs got their six run lead back in the bottom of the sixth. Deshler led off with a single and DiCato was hit by a McNiff pitch. Pinch hitter Dave Scioli then drew a walk to load the bases with nobody out. Boleski was next and he drilled a double into the right-center field gap, scoring Deshler and DiCato, with the game’s final runs.

Freni retired the side in order for the fourth time in the game in the seventh, including two strikeouts, to give the Chiefs their third win in a row.

For Freni, it was his eleventh career victory. In the process, the hard throwing righty passed Jay Dillon and moved into seventh place on the Chiefs’ all-time strikeout list. Freni now has 146 career K’s in just 116 innings.

The Chiefs, now 12-7-1, are off on Tuesday. They begin a grueling seven games in an eight day stretch on Wednesday when they host the Reading Bulldogs at Tufts University starting at 6:00 PM.