Announcement
CLEGG PITCHES CHIEFS TO ICL PENNANT, TAKE TWO IN LEXINGTON 4-2 & 5-2
Posted by Chiefs Baseball on
Aug 09 2017
at
05:00PM PDT
in 2010 Season
Lexington, MA- The Chiefs needed to come out of Lexington on Wednesday night with at least three points to leave with the 2017 Intercity League Pennant.
Mitchell Clegg made sure they returned with all four.
The big left-hander first secured the save, when he retired the Blue Sox in order in the conclusion of the suspended game one, and for an encore, proceeded to throw a complete game three-hitter in the pennant clinching nightcap.
In the process, the Chiefs captured the 2017 regular season crown as well as the number one seed in the upcoming playoffs.
First for the opener, which was the conclusion of a suspended game from June. Clegg set the Blue Sox down in order in the seventh inning when he got Thomas Russo on flyball, struck out Ross Curley, and then secured the 4-2 win when he got Aaron Barbosa to groundout to Mike Barbati at second. Clegg saved the game for Anthony Sullivan (1-0), who got the win after the Chiefs scored three runs in the top of the seventh inning to take the lead.
By holding on for the win in a game that began nearly six weeks ago, the Chiefs and Blue Sox headed to the second game with the ICL pennant on the line. A Chiefs win or tie would give them the flag while the Blue Sox needed to win.
The Chiefs got all of the runs that Clegg would need in the top of the first inning. Tony Serino and Shane Stande both drew game opening walks from Blue Sox starter Drew Leenhouts. Matt Nuzzo followed with a line single to left-center that loaded the bases. Cleanup man Johnny Welch quickly unloaded them when he drilled a grand slam to right-center that staked Clegg and his Chiefs to an early 4-0 lead.
The Blue Sox answered back with a couple of runs to cut the lead in half at 4-2 in the bottom of the second. Julian Alvarez opened the inning and found himself standing on second when Welch threw low to first on his infield grounder. Dan Graham followed and plated Alvarez to make it 4-1 with long double to the base of the centerfield fence. After Justin Silvestro grounded out, Thomas Russo drove in Graham with Lexington’s second run of the inning with a single to left.
Clegg and Leenhouts took control over the next four innings as the two southpaws each tossed four scoreless innings.
The Chiefs picked up their fifth run in the top of the seventh off reliever Rob DiFranco. Just like their big inning in the top of the first, Serino and Stande both drew walks to open the frame. Nuzzo then hit a hard grounder that skipped by Russo, for an error at second, and went into center-field allowing Serino to score.
Clegg slammed the door in the seventh. He got Silvestro to line to Andrew Caulfield in right for the first out, and followed that up by getting Russo to pop-up to Nuzzo. Josue Feliciano was next and the veteran kept the Blue Sox hopes alive when he drilled a two-strike single past the diving Barbati into right-center. Nuzzo then made an outstanding play on John Puttress grounder to throw him by a step at first to end the game.
Clegg improved to 4-1 and allowed just three hits. He threw 81 pitches in the game and saw his ERA drop to 1.09 in 38.2 innings. Leenhouts fell to 3-1 with the loss.
For the Chiefs, it was their second consecutive ICL pennant and the fourth in the last five years. It was also the 25th Suburban Twi-League or Intercity League regular season pennant for the Hosmer-Andre Chiefs franchise dating back to the first in 1960. For Manager Chuck Andre, it was his 10th regular season pennant.
The Chiefs (22-6-0) and Blue Sox (20-7-1) will now await their semi-final opponents to emerge from the first round of the ICL Playoffs which get underway on Thursday.
More Chiefs, Blue Sox & ICL coverage soon.
-Ian Roberts for ICL Baseball
-Bruce Hack & Pointsteak Game Statistics
Mitchell Clegg made sure they returned with all four.
The big left-hander first secured the save, when he retired the Blue Sox in order in the conclusion of the suspended game one, and for an encore, proceeded to throw a complete game three-hitter in the pennant clinching nightcap.
In the process, the Chiefs captured the 2017 regular season crown as well as the number one seed in the upcoming playoffs.
First for the opener, which was the conclusion of a suspended game from June. Clegg set the Blue Sox down in order in the seventh inning when he got Thomas Russo on flyball, struck out Ross Curley, and then secured the 4-2 win when he got Aaron Barbosa to groundout to Mike Barbati at second. Clegg saved the game for Anthony Sullivan (1-0), who got the win after the Chiefs scored three runs in the top of the seventh inning to take the lead.
By holding on for the win in a game that began nearly six weeks ago, the Chiefs and Blue Sox headed to the second game with the ICL pennant on the line. A Chiefs win or tie would give them the flag while the Blue Sox needed to win.
The Chiefs got all of the runs that Clegg would need in the top of the first inning. Tony Serino and Shane Stande both drew game opening walks from Blue Sox starter Drew Leenhouts. Matt Nuzzo followed with a line single to left-center that loaded the bases. Cleanup man Johnny Welch quickly unloaded them when he drilled a grand slam to right-center that staked Clegg and his Chiefs to an early 4-0 lead.
The Blue Sox answered back with a couple of runs to cut the lead in half at 4-2 in the bottom of the second. Julian Alvarez opened the inning and found himself standing on second when Welch threw low to first on his infield grounder. Dan Graham followed and plated Alvarez to make it 4-1 with long double to the base of the centerfield fence. After Justin Silvestro grounded out, Thomas Russo drove in Graham with Lexington’s second run of the inning with a single to left.
Clegg and Leenhouts took control over the next four innings as the two southpaws each tossed four scoreless innings.
The Chiefs picked up their fifth run in the top of the seventh off reliever Rob DiFranco. Just like their big inning in the top of the first, Serino and Stande both drew walks to open the frame. Nuzzo then hit a hard grounder that skipped by Russo, for an error at second, and went into center-field allowing Serino to score.
Clegg slammed the door in the seventh. He got Silvestro to line to Andrew Caulfield in right for the first out, and followed that up by getting Russo to pop-up to Nuzzo. Josue Feliciano was next and the veteran kept the Blue Sox hopes alive when he drilled a two-strike single past the diving Barbati into right-center. Nuzzo then made an outstanding play on John Puttress grounder to throw him by a step at first to end the game.
Clegg improved to 4-1 and allowed just three hits. He threw 81 pitches in the game and saw his ERA drop to 1.09 in 38.2 innings. Leenhouts fell to 3-1 with the loss.
For the Chiefs, it was their second consecutive ICL pennant and the fourth in the last five years. It was also the 25th Suburban Twi-League or Intercity League regular season pennant for the Hosmer-Andre Chiefs franchise dating back to the first in 1960. For Manager Chuck Andre, it was his 10th regular season pennant.
The Chiefs (22-6-0) and Blue Sox (20-7-1) will now await their semi-final opponents to emerge from the first round of the ICL Playoffs which get underway on Thursday.
More Chiefs, Blue Sox & ICL coverage soon.
-Ian Roberts for ICL Baseball
-Bruce Hack & Pointsteak Game Statistics
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