Andre Chiefs

East Boston, MA- For the better part of this summer, Chiefs right-hander Chris Foundas has been searching for the form that made him the unanimous selection as the Intercity League all-star closer in 2008.

On Thursday night he found it.

His 2.2 innings of no-hit, six strikeout work, allowed the Chiefs to stage a sixth inning rally and come out of East Boston Stadium with a hard earned 3-3 tie, picking up a big point in the ICL standings.

Foundas was overpowering, entering the game in relief of starter Ryan McNeill with two men on base and one out in the bottom of the fifth and Chiefs already trailing 3-1.

The game featured a scoreless pitcher’s duel between McNeill and Testa Corp. Bombers ace Anthony Del Prete for 3 ½ innings before hosts broke through with a run in the bottom of the fourth.

Nick Martinho started things when he beat out an infield single between first and the mound. With Martinho running on a 3-2 pitch, Steve Wadsworth singled into the shortstop hole. Kevin O’Leary then singled to left to load the bases with nobody out. With the Chiefs infield at double play depth, Joe Papa hit an infield grounder that scored Martinho with the game’s first run as O’Leary was forced at second for the first out. McNeill struck out Paul Bonfiglio for the second out of the inning before walking Steve Buitkus to re-load the bases. He got out of the inning when Jay DeFillippo lined to Brian Macrina in left.

The Chiefs scratched out a run in the top of the fifth to tie the game at 1-1. Justin Crisafulli broke up Del Prete’s no-hit bid when he singled up the middle with one out. J.P. Pollard’s infield grounder forced Crisafulli at second for out number two. Hal Landers followed with a perfect bunt single moving Pollard to second. The Chiefs inserted Dario Pizzano as a pinch runner for Pollard and he scored when Brendan Pyburn drilled a RBI single to right. Del Prete got Bob McCarthy to ground out to shortstop to end the inning and keep it a 1-1 game.

The Bombers took a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the inning. Vin Eruzione got things going with a single to center. Josh Klimkiewicz then lined shraply to Jeff Bercume in centerfield for the first out. Martinho then roped a triple into the right-center gap scoring Eruzione to give the Bombers the lead at 2-1. When Wadsworth singled to left scoring Martinho, the Bombers went up 3-1 and were threatening for more. Foundas was summoned from the bullpen and got O’Leary to line to center and then struck out Papa swinging to end the inning and keep the Chiefs in range.

Del Prete got Bercume swinging to start the Chiefs sixth. The Chiefs then caught a break when Papa made a nice play to get to a Peter Copa grounder but threw wide of first allowing him to reach on the throwing error. Macrina followed with a single to right putting runners at first and second with one out. Mike Andre then delivered a clutch RBI single to right scoring Copa that cut the lead to 3-2. Crisafulli was hit by a Del Prete pitch and Pizzano hit a RBI fielder’s choice forcing Crisafulli at second and allowing Macrina to score the tying run. With the go-ahead run at third base, Del Prete got tough and struck out Landers to end the inning.

Foundas set the Bombers down in the bottom of the sixth (including two strikeouts) and Del Prete got the Chiefs 1-2-3 (strikeout of Pyburn, McCarthy & Bercume grounders) in the top of the seventh.

Foundas struck out the heart of the Bombers order (Klimkiewicz, Martinho & Wadsworth) in order in the bottom of the seventh to preserve the tie for the Chiefs.

Chiefs Chatter…With the tie, Chiefs go to 14-10-3 (31 points) and assured themselves of another winning season, their 44^th in 46 years….Mike DiCato (5-2) is the expected starter when the Chiefs host the Lexington Blue Sox at Playstead Park on Friday at 6:00 PM. The Chiefs will use Playstead as their home venue on Friday as Tufts University is playing host to a Top-96 showcase…The Chiefs were to play the Blue Sox again on Saturday but that game has been switched to Sunday at 12:45 PM at Tufts University. The Chiefs will then travel to meet the Americans at Playstead on Sunday at 4:00 PM as part of a two site doubleheader. The Americans will have their traveling shoes on as well, as following the Chiefs game, they head to Ferullo Field in Woburn to meet the Tanners at 8:00 PM in what is shaping up as the final regular season game of the ICL season….The best of three first round of the playoffs is scheduled to begin on Tuesday with Seed 3 hosting Seed 6 and Seed 4 hosting Seed 5….The best of semi-finals are slated to start on Friday, August 14….

Medford, MA- The Andre Chiefs at Medford Americans game scheduled for tonight in Medford has been postponed.

A severe downpour hit Playstead Park in West Medford shortly before 4:00 PM this afternoon leaving the field unplayable.

"It is the worst flooding that I have seen in quite awhile", said Americans Manager Kevin Burgoyne, who was at the field and watched as the infield and baselines became flooded.

The game will be made up at Playstead on Sunday afternoon at 4:00 PM.

Medford, MA- Forget the dead ball era! Welcome to Huskins Field where pitchers frolic and hitters frown. 

ICL observers are starting to ask the question, “why can’t anyone hit or score runs at Huskins Field”, home of the Chiefs. 

Prevailing summer wind always seeming to blow in?  Quality pitching? Wood bats? Humungous dimensions? 354’ down the left field line? 379’ plus in the gaps? 410’ to center? Poor hitting? A thick carpet like lush infield? Great defense? Lots of room in foul ground? Take your pick. 

There is no doubt that the perfectly manicured field on the campus of Tufts University in Medford is one of the finest natural grass surfaces in New England. It has just become a place where offensive baseball is virtually non-existent come the summertime. 

Consider this - the ICL’s batting average at Huskins Field is 52 points less than any other field in the ICL, 59 points below the ICL average and 106 points less than what ICL batters hit at Ferullo Field in Woburn. Toss in the fact that all batters are close to the Mendoza line, hitting a paltry .205, with an on base percentage of just .294 and slugging percentage of .260, which are all league lows. 

If you throw aside the Chiefs’ 12-7 opening night win against the Tanners and the Americans 11-5 win in early July, when the wind was blowing out on both occasions, there have been a total of 42 runs scored in the other twelve games. Without having everyone reach for the calculator, that number translates into the fact both teams are combining for 3.5 runs per game.

Aside from the aforementioned two games, there have only been 84 hits in the remaining dozen games or an average of 7.0 per game. In league like the ICL that is stacked with outstanding hitters, those numbers are staggering! The average linescore at Huskins has been 1.75 runs and 3.5 hits per game, per team. 

The Chiefs have played 26 games so far this season, 13 at Huskins and 13 on the road. Here's how the numbers stack up.

Astute observers would argue that a field with such big dimensions would have plenty of room in the alleys and therefore yield plenty of gap shot extra basehits. Not so! At Huskins there have been only 15 doubles, two triples and just four home runs, all to right field.

Incredibly, ICL batters strike out with less frequency at Huskins than any other field in the ICL. Simply said, batters are making contact but the ball is going nowhere. That provides solid reasoning as to why the average ICL game at Huskins takes less than an hour and a half.

2009 Intercity League Batting by Field

So batters beware and pitchers rejoice! Huskins is ready to humble you. - Bruce Tillman 

Medford, MA- Jack Laurendeau and Dan Graham hit back to back first inning doubles, resulting in the only run of the game, as the Lexington Blue Sox nipped the Chiefs at run starved Tufts University on Monday. 

With the win the Blue Sox clinched the 2009 regular season pennant. 

The game featured an outstanding pitching match up between Lexington’s Steve Bodnar (5-0) and the Chiefs Dylan Ellis (3-1). Both pitchers allowed just four hits. Ellis struck out six while Bodnar struck out three. 

Ellis struck out Ross Curley to open the top of the first inning. Laurendeau then hit an opposite field double down the left field line. Graham followed with a long blast off the base of the fence in right scoring Laurendeau. Ellis walked Matt McEvoy but escaped further trouble when Sean McElroy flew out and Ben Hewett bounced out. 

That was all the Sox were to get off Ellis on this night as he surrendered just a second inning triple to Eric Poling and a seventh inning infield hit to Anthony Coscia. The southpaw retired 16 batters in a row before Coscia’s infield hit, which came with two outs in seventh. 

The problem for the Chiefs was that they could not break through against the always tough Bodnar.

In the bottom of the first, Brendan Pyburn hit a bloop single down the left field line but was erased on Jeff Bercume’s fielder’s choice. Bercume was then thrown trying to steal second by Poling. 

Peter Copa led off the Chiefs’ second with a seeing eye single that fell between the mound and first base. But Bodnar retired the next three batters in a row when Mike Andre lined to center, Justin Crisafulli struck out swinging and Dario Pizzano flew to right. 

The Chiefs’ had their best scoring opportunity in third inning when Brian Macrina and Bob McCarthy both singled putting runners on first and second with nobody out. Hal Landers followed, and after two unsuccessful sacrifice bunt attempts, Bodnar struck him out swinging. Pyburn then hit into a fielder’s choice forcing McCarthy out at second and leaving runners on the corners with two away. Bodnar got out of it when Jeff Bercume flew to left ending the inning. 

The Chiefs threatened to tie it up in the seventh but came up empty. Andre drew a leadoff walk and Mike Barbati pinch ran for him. Crisafulli then hit a ball back at Bodnar which he knocked down and recovered in time to get Crisafulli by a step at first with Barbati taking second on the play. Pizzano followed and flew to shallow center for the inning’s second out. With Macrina at the plate, Bodnar uncorked a wild pitch that sent Barbati to third. That was as far as Barbati got when Bodnar got Macrina to fly to center to end the game. 

The Chiefs have a rare day off on Tuesday and resume ICL play on Wednesday at 6:00 PM when they travel to Playstead Park to face the Americans. The Blue Sox are back in action tonight when they host the Wakefield Merchants in an 8:00 PM start in Lexington.     

Medford, MA- Mike DiCato took a no-hitter and shutout into the seventh inning as the Chiefs held on to beat the Testa Corp. Bombers in "suddenly" dramatic fashion 3-2 at Tufts University on Sunday afternoon. 

DiCato, the former Malden Catholic All-American and UMass-Amherst standout, raised his personal season mark to 5-2. 

After DiCato set the Bombers down in order in the top of the first inning, including strikeouts of Vin Eruzione & Josh Klimkiewicz, the Chiefs struck for a run in bottom of the frame. Bombers starter Bobby Giarrantani (Bishop Fenwick/Denison College) got Hal Landers to fly to center for the first out. Giarrantani walked his former high school teammate Brendan Pyburn and the Chiefs shortstop promptly stole second. Jeff Bercume flew to center for the second out before Peter Copa, who was newly inserted into the clean-up slot, made that move pay immediate dividends when he roped a single to left scoring Pyburn. 

The Bombers went 1-2-3 again in the second and Giarrantani got Justin Crisafulli to pop up,  Mike Andre to fly deep to right and Bob McCarthy swinging on strikes in the Chiefs half of the inning. 

DiCato came out throwing smoke in the top of the third as he struck out the side in order (Boston College quarterback Alex Atiyeh, Colin Quirk & Joe Papa).

Giarrantani returned the favor in the home half of the frame getting Landers and Bercume to groundout and Pyburn on a fly ball. 

It was twelve up and twelve down for DiCato in the fourth, retiring Jay DeFilippo on a groundout, Eruzione looking and Klimkiewicz on a bouncer to Pyburn. 

Giarrantani looked as if he was getting stronger as he had a rocking chair bottom of the fourth.The right-hander got Copa on a groundout, Pizzano to line to first and Crisafulli on a warning track fly ball to centerfield. 

Nick Martinho’s walk to start the fifth broke up DiCato’s perfect game. DiCato then picked his former Malden Catholic teammate off first base, before getting Mike Adessa to fly out and catcher Steve Wadsworth to line to Pyburn, to keep the Bombers at the minimum fifteen batters through five innings. 

The Chiefs came up with a big run to take a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the fifth. Andre led off and roped his fifth double off the season into the right field corner. After two unsuccessful sacrifice bunt attempts, Giarrantani struck out J.P. Pollard swinging for the first out. Things worked out for the Chiefs when Andre scampered to third on a wild pitch. That proved to be big when Bob McCarthy hit the next pitch to centerfield for a sacrifice fly that allowed Andre to tag up and score the second run of the game.

Nothing doing against DiCato for Testa in the top of the sixth as he set down Atiyeh (groundout), Quirk (fly to right) and Papa (lineout to center) to keep the Bombers at the minimum eighteen batters sthrough six innings. 

Rookie Dario Pizzano delivered what proved to be the game winning run, when he singled home Copa, who had walked and stole second, with two outs in the sixth to make it 3-0 heading into the seventh.

DiCato walked DeFilippo leading off the seventh. Eruzione then hit a chopper to Pyburn at shortstop who flipped to Copa for the force at second with the relay to first being a half step late. It looked as if DiCato was going to get his no-hitter when Klimkiewicz hit a hard grounder headed for Copa in doubleplay depth at second. DiCato got a piece of the ball as it went by the mound and it deflected just to left of Copa for an infield single. Trouble was begining to brew when Martinho drew the second walk of the inning to load the bases. Adessa did his best to spoil DiCato’s gem, as well as the afternoon for Chiefs fans, when he unloaded a shot to the right-centerfield gap that scored Eruzione and Klimkiewicz and sent Martinho barreling around third with the potential tying run. A perfect relay from Landers to Copa to McCarthy cut down Martinho at the plate on a very close play as the Chiefs clung to the 3-2 lead. With Adessa at second, DiCato finished his day’s work by getting Wadsworth to ground to Pollard at first preserving the win. 

“I was in perfect position on Klimkiewicz’s grounder in the seventh”, said Copa after the game. “It was hit hard enough that we would have had a great chance to turn the doubleplay and get Mike his no-hitter. It is a natural reaction for any pitcher, especially one like him who has played so much infield, to try and get his glove on the ball. Once Mike deflected it I had no chance,” Copa added. 

DiCato finished with a two-hitter, striking out six, while lowering his ERA to 2.16. It was his fifth complete game of the season. Giarrantani was almost as good allowing just three hits, (Copa & Pizzano RBI singles & Andre’s double) while fanning one and walking a couple. 

The Chiefs are right back at it on Monday when they host the first place Lexington Blue Sox at Tufts at 6:00 PM. Southpaw Dylan Ellis (3-0) will draw the starting pitching assignment.