Announcement
Medford, MA- It was one of those games where you just had the feeling that whatever team batted last would win.
Fortunately for the Chiefs the game was played at their Tufts University home and in their last at bat, they did indeed come away with a hard fought 7-6 win over the Reading Bulldogs on Wednesday evening.
The Chiefs’ Mike DiCato (3-2) pitched in and out of trouble all evening, but was just good enough to pick up his third straight win.
The Chiefs jumped out to a 1-0 first inning lead when Jesse Bruinsma walked, stole second, and scored on Justin Crisafulii’s RBI single.
They clung to the one run lead until the Reading fourth when DiCato victimized himself. He threw a sure inning ending doubleplay ball into center field, hit a batter with the bases loaded, issued a walk, a bunt single, and two-out, two strike, two RBI single to Doug Dellorfon, that opened the door for the Bulldogs to take a 3-1 lead.
The Chiefs stormed right back to re-take the lead at 4-3,when they scored three times in the bottom of the fourth on Tony Deshler’s RBI double and Mike Barbati’s two RBI single.
The Bulldogs responded again to knot the game at 4-4 in their half of the fifth inning on singles from Billy Cataldo and Trevor Manzi and an Alex Fischer sacrifice fly.
It was the Chiefs turn assume the lead in the bottom of the fifth inning when Vinny Pennell singled home Bruinsma, giving them a 5-4 lead.
DiCato and Reading starter Sean Boyle tossed zeros in the sixth inning setting the stage for the dramatic finish.
In the top of the seventh, things started quietly enough for DiCato when Billy Cataldo flew out to Deshler in center for the first out. Zac Talis began the Reading rally when he singled sharply up the middle. Trevor Manzi followed and he drilled a long double into the left-center field gap, scoring Talis all the way from first to tie the game at 5-5. Things went from bad to worse for the locals when the throw home to get Talis went to the backstop allowing Manzi to go to third, representing the go ahead run. With the Chiefs’ infield drawn in, Fischer lined a bullet single off the diving Mike Baillargeon’s glove at shortstop, scoring Manzi and giving the Bulldogs the lead once again at 6-5.
Paul Yanakopoulos put the Chiefs immediately back in business when he led off the bottom of seventh with a huge double into the right-centerfield gap. Bruinsma followed and after two failed bunt attempts, he reached on an infield chopper single behind the mound sending Yanakopulos to third. A botched wind aided pop up off the bat of Baillargeon then loaded the bases with nobody out. The Chiefs caught their second break of the inning when Boyle uncorked a wild pitch, allowing Yanakopulos to scamper across the plate with the tying run and sending Baillargeon and Bruinsma to second and third respectively. Pennell completed the comeback when he hit a fly ball to medium right that was just deep enough to allow the rapid Bruinsma to tag and score the winning run.
DiCato went the distance and allowed seven hits and struck out five. Boyle (1-2) surrendered eight hits and struck out six.
The 13-7-1 Chiefs are right back in action on Thursday evening at Tufts University when they host the Testa Corp. Bombers at 6:00 PM.
