Andre Chiefs

Woburn, MA- Jared Freni turned in the most dominating performance of his ICL career, striking out 17 batters, to lead the Chiefs to a 3-0 win over the Mooney Dental Tanners at Ferullo Field on Friday night. With the win, the Chiefs clinch a first round playoff bye for the second consecutive season.

Freni broke the Chiefs record for strikeouts in a game that was previously held by former San Diego Padres right-hander Keith Forbes, who struck out 16 batters against the Americans on July 1, 2007.

Tanner righty Phil Recco made certain that this important Chiefs win was not going to come in easy fashion. He retired the first eleven batters he faced in a row until Mike Andre broke the string with two outs in the top of the fourth inning.

The Chiefs went in order in the top of the first inning (Paul Yanakopulos groundout, Bob McCarthy popup, Andre lineout) and Freni retired the side in order in the bottom of the inning, recording his first two strikeouts.

Recco got the Chiefs 1-2-3 in the top of the second (Justin Crisafulli grounder, Matt Anderson flyout and Tony Deshler groundout). The Tanners got the first baserunner of the night, albeit briefly, in the bottom of the inning when Mark Nardelli led off with a line single to center. Freni caught Nardelli leaning the wrong way and promptly picked him off first. He ended the inning by striking out Keegan DeNapoli and Tim Mullin.

Recco stayed tough and set the Chiefs down quickly in the top of the third. (Brian Macrina groundout, Matt Boleski flyout to right, Mike Barbati groundout).The Tanners appeared poised to take the lead in the bottom of the nning when they loaded the bases with one out. Cote singled to right and Joe Harvey popped a bunt single over the charging Andre at third. Freni struck out Stokik for the first out before Watkins delivered the third single of the frame to center with Cote being held up at third. Freni dominated the next two hitters striking out Carlton Lentini and Joe Smith in succession to end the Tanner threat.

The Chiefs got their first baserunner and broke through for a huge unearned run in the top of the fourth. After Recco got Yanakopulos on strikes and McCarthy on a sharp grounder to short, Andre drilled a liner to right which Harvey dove at and it got by him and carried all the way to the wall for a triple. The Chiefs caught a break when Crisafulli’s grounder was juggled by Cote at second base allowing Andre to score. 

With the 1-0 lead, Freni was untouchable in both the fourth and fifth innings as he struck out six consecutive batters.

Chiefs Third Baseman Mike Andre

The Chiefs finally gave their hard throwing right-hander some breathing room when they picked up a couple of huge insurance runs in the top of the sixth. Mike Barbati led off the inning with a sinking line single to right. Harvey went into a dive and missed the ball allowing Barbati to come all the way around to score on a play that was officially scored as a single and a three base error. Recco struck out Yanakopulos for the first out before McCarthy lined a single to center and stole second. Andre then plated McCarthy with a line RBI single to right giving Freni a 3-0 lead. Crisafulli followed with bloop single to right but Recco escaped further damage when he K’d Anderson and got Deshler on groundout.

The Tanners had their second scoring threat of the night in the bottom of the sixth when Watkins and Lentini both singled with no outs. Freni kept the shutout intact when he struck out Smith and Nardelli and got DeNapoli on a hard hit liner to Bolseki in center.

Recco stranded a Chiefs runner at third in the top of the seventh. Macrina led off and reached on an infield error and rookie Sean Glabicky pinch ran for him. Recco then got Boleski on an outfield fly for the first out and Barbati moved Glabicky to second with a fielder’s choice. The Malden Catholic rookie went to third on a passed ball but was left there when Recco got Yanakopulos on a groundout.

Freni worked a quick seventh, registering K's 16 and 17 of the night.With the win, Freni goes to 4-2 on the season and lowered his ERA to 0.72. The former UMass-Amherst captain and Malden Catholic all-scholastic has struck out 68 batters in just 48.1 innings so far this season.

The Chiefs regular season final against the Americans has been cancelled.

Reading, MA- Rob Machado spun a complete game five-hitter and the Chiefs backed him with five early runs to win their second game in Reading in as many nights, 5-1 at Morton Field on Wednesday.

Machado was in control from start to finish, striking out nine, in his first start of the season. The righty, from UMass-Amherst via Malden Catholic, had made seven previous mound appearances out of the bullpen this year.

The Chiefs jumped on Bulldog starter Brian Millea (1-1) for three runs in the top of the first inning. Leadoff man Paul Yanakopulos flew out and Bob McCarthy drew a full count walk. Tim Dempsey then flew to the warning track in right for the second out of the inning. Justin Crisafulli drew a walk and Mike Andre (photo left) followed and gave the Chiefs a 1-0 lead when he doubled to left-center scoring McCarthy and sending Crisafulli to third. With Tony Deshler at the plate, Millea uncorked a wild pitch allowing Crisafulli to score, making it 2-0. Deshler singled on the next pitch scoring Andre, staking Machado to a 3-0 lead.

Machado recorded two strikeouts in each of the first two innings and the Chiefs lead increased to 5-0 in the top of the third when they scored two unearned runs. Andre drew a two out walk and Deshler sent him to third with a double off the base of the fence in left-center. The Chiefs caught a break when rookie Sean Glabicky struck out on a pitch in the dirt and the throw to get him at first sailed into rightfield allowing both Andre and Deshler to score.

Machado was in cruise control until the Bulldogs picked up their only run of the night in the bottom of the fifth on a single by Steve Buitkus, a catcher’s interference with John Halsey at the plate, and a RBI single from T.J. Murphy.

In the sixth, Machado allowed a two out single to Mike Russo, who was promptly thrown out trying to steal second by McCarthy.

Machado got the Bulldogs in order in the bottom of the seventh, which included a fine defensive play by second baseman Mike Barbati for the first out.

Deshler (pictured left) and Andre each reached base three times for the Chiefs.

With the win, Machado lowered his ERA to 2.00 and has now struck out 15 batters in 14 innings in his eight mound appearances.

The Chiefs are off on Thursday and will travel to Ferullo Field in Woburn for an 8:00 PM Friday date with the Mooney Dental Tanners.

Jared Freni (3-2) is expected to get the start for the Chiefs.

Reading, MA- Lefty Kevin Gilchrist won his third straight decision and his Tufts University teammate Pat O’Donnell retired the last six batters of the game, to record the save, as the Chiefs beat the Bulldogs 5-3 at Reading’s Morton Field.

The Chiefs staked Gilchrist to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Tim Dempsey singled with two outs, stole second, and scored on Justin Crisafulli’s RBI single.

The lead went to 4-0 in the top of the second inning. Tony Deshler drew a walk from Bulldog starter Andrew Bishop. Mike Barbati reached on a slow roller to shortstop that was scored an error. Malden Catholic Rookie Sean Glabicky, in his first ICL at bat, moved the runners up to second and third with a perfect sacrifice bunt. Tim Dunphy followed and was hit by a Bishop pitch to load the bases. Another Malden Catholic rookie, Paul Yanakopulos then hit a long sacrifice fly to right scoring Deshler and giving the Chiefs a 2-0 lead. With runners at first and third, Bishop balked home Barbati with the third run. Yet another Malden Catholic rookie, Justin Sencabaugh, then delivered Dunphy with a line single to left-center to make it 4-0.

The Bulldogs closed the gap to 4-1 in the bottom of the fourth on Steve Panza’s RBI double.

It became a one run game in the bottom of the fifth when Reading came up with two unearned runs on an outfield error and singles from T.J. Murphy, Dave Dellorfon and Bishop.

O’Donnell came on to start the sixth for Gilchrist and retired the side in order on two fly balls and an infield popup.

The Chiefs added an insurance run in top of the seventh inning. Glabicky led things off with a walk and Matt Anderson singled. Yanakopulos then dropped a bunt single that loaded the bases. Matt Boleski, then pinch hit for Senacabaugh (see Chiefs Notes below) and struck out. Dempsey followed with a sacrifice fly to left scoring Glabicky to make it 5-3.

O’Donnell preserved the win when he got the side in order in the bottom of the seventh on a strikeout, a fly to Boleski in right, and a grounder to Yanakopulos at shortstop.

Gilchrist (3-0), worked five innings, allowed just one earned run, surrendered five hits and struck out three.

The Chiefs and Bulldogs are right back at it on Wednesday night in Reading at 6:00 PM.

Chiefs Notes….Glabicky, who just finished his junior year at MC, recorded his first ICL hit with a two out single in the fourth inning…..Sencabaugh joined the Chiefs long injury list when he suffered a knee injury in the bottom of the second inning while catching. The UMass-Amherst bound slugger will be examined in the morning….To replace some of the injured, the Chiefs will acquire a few Senior Babe Ruth and Legion players over the next few days. Players who were playing in these leagues are still able to be added to an ICL roster….

Wakefield, MA- Former Bentley standout Jarrod Marchesi (5-1) went the distance, allowing ten hits, to get the Merchants past the Chiefs 4-3 at Walsh Field.

Marchesi pitched out of trouble all evening long, including a bases loaded jam in the top of the seventh inning. The right-hander was aided by some fine Merchant glove work as the hosts turned in three doubleplays.

Dave Orlowitz, John Zageria, Scott Searles and Mike Sorrentino all had hits in the bottom of the second inning when the Merchants scored all of their runs of Chiefs starter Dylan Ellis (6-2), who allowed six hits and struck out four.

The Chiefs made it game when they scored three runs in the fifth on singles from Matt Anderson, Paul Yanokopulos and Tony Deshler to go along with an infield error by the Merchants.

Mike Gedman reached base four times for the Chiefs with three singles and a walk.

The Chiefs travel to Morton Field in Reading to meet the Bulldogs on Tuesday at 6:00 PM.

Medford, MA- With all due respect to Reds righty Karl Alexander, who threw a tidy five hit shutout gem, the Chiefs turned in another anemic offensive performance that led to a 2-0 defeat at Huskins Field on Saturday afternoon. It was the third time the locals were shutout in their last five games as they have only scored three times over that same five game time frame.

The lineup shuffling continued as the once potent Chiefs attack struggles to find some offensive support for its still powerful pitching staff. They are minus no less than six starters from the opening day lineup and no less than eight regulars from last season’s championship finalists.

Currently out of the lineup are Mike Baillargeon, who signed professionally with the Can-Am League, Jeff Bercume who signed with the Oakland A’s, Dario Pizzano who signed with the North Shore Shore Navigators, Hal Landers who signed with Front Royal Cardinals, Brendan Pyburn who has been out with injuries for six weeks, Peter Copa who is done for the season after undergoing surgery last Monday and Brain Macrina who is still out with a nagging hamstring problem. Although still strong, the pitching staff has not avoided the injury bug or the defection scenario with Dan Lozeau (elbow), Mike DiCato (shoulder) and Isaac Oakley (hamstring) out with injuries to go along with Eric Perrault (signed with North Adams Steeplecats) and Ryan O’Rourke (signed with the Minnesota Twins) gone from the opening day roster.

Overcoming two, three, four or even five injuries or defections certainly seemed possible with the depth and talent of this edition of the Chiefs over the first half of the 2010 season. But when the numbers start to approach the ten, eleven and twelve level, the odds of overcoming that scenario becomes increasingly insurmountable.

It was the same old story on Saturday, just as every other game over the last two weeks, when the Chiefs got another outstanding pitching performance, this time from Jared Freni, but just could not muster any offensive support. Alexander (2-3) allowed just five hits and cruised to a complete game shutout win. The Reds won the game in the top of the seventh when pinch-hitter Brain Casey led off with a single. Leadoff man Sam Sager followed with another single to left. Veteran Luke Begley then attempted a sacrifice bunt which first baseman Matt Anderson fielded and threw Casey out at third. Lefty Tim Dunphy then replaced Freni, who had thrown 102 pitches, he and got Chris Burke to pop out. Begley stole second and with the count 2-2, Sean Callahan delivered a check swing single to left, scoring both Sager and Begley, giving the Reds the win.

Alexander (2-3) from Bates College, struck out five and did not issue a walk. Freni (3-2), allowed six hits and struck out seven in his 6.1 innings of work.

"Obviously we are struggling to find some consisent offense", said Chiefs manager Chuck Andre. "Despite the injuries and the signings, which by the way, we are pleased because its shows the caliber of player this franchise attracts, we still have some serious veteran bats in this lineup that we need to step up and carry us into the playoffs", he added.

The Chiefs will attempt to rebound on Sunday when they send staff ace Dylan Ellis (6-1) to the hill against the Merchants at Walsh Field in Wakefield in a 5:30 PM start. -B.Tilman