Andre Chiefs

Somerville, MA- Paul Yanakopulos lined a bases loaded single two RBI single in the top of the eighth inning to complete the Chiefs’ second comeback in as many nights in a 4-1 win over the Somerville Thunder at Trum Field.

The Chiefs trailed for most of the game had their hands full with the expansion Thunder on this night, and in particular lefty Jonathan Richard, who took a perfect game into the fifth inning and worked into the eighth inning, before giving way to Nick Ahern.

Richard was matched by Matt DiCato, who went the first five innings for the Chiefs.

The Thunder took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Mike Kinch drew a leadoff walk and Justin Knight bunted him to second. After Jake Cintola grounded out to Ryan Sonberg for the second out, the Thunder got an unearned run when Devan Jones’ fly ball into a swirling wind was misplayed by Adam Lucey in shallow left.

It was the DiCato & Richard show for the next four innings. DiCato allowed only a single to James McConville with one out in the fourth. Richard was on cruise control and faced the minimum of 12 batters until Peter Copa broke up the streak when he lined a single to left leading off the Chiefs’ fifth. Mike Andre sacrificed Copa to second but that was as far as he got as Richard got Sonberg to pop up and Barbati to fly to right, keeping the Thunder in front 1-0.

Knight reached on a bad hop error by Sonberg with one out in the bottom of the fifth and proceeded to steal second. DiCato ended the threat, and kept it a one run game, when he struck out Cintola and Jones in succession to end the inning.

The Chiefs finally broke through and tied the game in the top of the sixth. Rookie Danny DiMare pinch hit for Lucey and dropped a single into short right field. Nick Leva attempted to sacrifice to him to second, but Richard bounced off the mound and fired a strike to force DiMare. Mike DiCato came on to pinch run for Leva, read Richard’s motion, and stole second. Richard then got Tony Serino to ground out to Jones at second, with DiCato moving to third. Mike Burgoyne stayed hot at the plate and followed with a line single to left, scoring DiCato, to tie things up at 1-1. Yanakopulos then singled to center pushing Burgoyne to third. Richard kept it a tie game when he got Copa on a fly to center.

Nate Witkowski came out of the bullpen to start the bottom of the sixth on the mound for the Chiefs. The former Bentley and Malden Catholic standout got a groundout and a strike out before McConville doubled to left. Witkowski ended the Thunder sixth when Adam Johnson lined to Burgoyne in right to send the game to the seventh at one apiece.

Richard retired the Chiefs in order in the top of the seventh and Burgoyne turned in the defensive gem of the night in the bottom of the frame. Rob Caggiano grounded to Sonberg for the first out before Kinch drilled a hard grounder by the diving Copa and into the right-field corner. Burgoyne fired to Sonberg, who made a nice pick while covering second, to erase Kinch trying to stretch the hit to a double. Witkowski struck out Knight looking to end the inning and send the game into a bonus baseball mode.

DiMare got things underway when he led off the Chiefs’ eighth with his second straight single to right. After a couple of unsuccessful bunt attempts, the Chiefs got the desired result anyway when DiCato eventually grounded out with DiMare moving to second on the play. Serino then drew a walk and Ahern was summoned from the Thunder bullpen to face the right-handed hitting Burgoyne. Burgoyne greeted him with a soft single to center, that DiMare had to hold up on, to load the bases. Yanakopulos followed and elivered the game winner with a crisp line single to right-center, scoring DiMare and Serino, giving the Chiefs their first lead of the game at 3-1. Copa then grounded out to first, with Burgoyne scoring, to make it 4-1. Andre followed with another single, sending Yanakopulos to third, but Sonberg lined out to center to end the inning.

Witkowski teamed up with Barbati, who had a hand in all three outs, to get the Thunder side in order in the bottom of the eighth. Two infield pop ups and then a grounder to the second baseman finally ended the game.

Witkowski (1-0), picked up the win in his first mound appearance of the year. He allowed two hits and struck a couple in his three innings of work. DiCato surrendered an unearned run, two hits, and struck out five in five innings.

After his perfect five inning string, Richard (0-4), ended up being charged with all four runs. He gave up five hits and struck out six in 7.1 innings. Ahern allowed the other three Chiefs’ hits.

Chiefs Notebook…… The team will host the Reading Bulldogs at Maplewood on Wednesday at 8:15 PM……Nate Witkowski’s last mound appearance for the Chiefs was a one inning stint back on June 30, 2014, against the Melrose Americans. Tuesday’s mound appearance was the fifth in his four year Chiefs’ career. He has not allowed a run in a total of eight innings, all out of the bullpen. Witkowski once pitched back to back no-hitters for Malden Catholic in 2009. He also pitched a bit for Bentley University, where he was the starting third baseman, from 2012-2014. The right-hander chalked up his first collegiate pitching win against Assumption in a game played at Rollins College on March 6, 2011…..Mike Andre had a couple of reasons to smile on Tuesday. Not only did he see the Chiefs rally for a win, but he also saw his old Merrimack College roommate Ryan O’Rourke make his major league debut with the Minnesota Twins. O’Rourke, who was called up by the Twins yesterday, recorded his first major league strikeout and retired the side in order in the ninth inning of an 8-3 Minnesota win over the Baltimore Orioles. The big lefty was a teammate of Andre and former Chief Jeff Bercume at Merrimack for three seasons. He pitched for the Chiefs during the 2010 pre-season before being selected in the 13th round of the MLB Draft on June 7, 2010…..