Andre Chiefs

By Bruce Hack
Intercity Baseball League Media Relations Director

Lexington, MA – Lexington came out swinging and tied the finals at 1-1 with a 5-2 win over the Chiefs at Lexington High School Friday night. The teams move to Medford for Saturday and Sunday. Both games are scheduled for 1:30 p.m. starts at Tufts University’s Huskins Field.

The Blue Sox set the tone early as Pete Frates led off with a double in the first. Ross Curley sacrificed him to third and a walk to Dan Graham put runners on the corners. Sean McElroy bounced a single through the left side and it was 1-0 Sox four batters into the game. Steve Gath singled to center to score Graham and the Sox were up 2-0.

In game two it was Lexington’s pitching and defense that made the plays and made big ones when they were needed. The Chiefs had runners at first and second on back-to-back singles by Mike Andre and Justin Crisafulli, with one out in the second. Dario Pizzano lofted a fly ball down the left field line. Sox left fielder Matt McEvoy made a sliding catch on the line and then popped up and fired a throw to second baseman Anthony Santos, who made like a first baseman and stretched out to make the catch and double up Andre.

In the fourth Andre loaded the bases on a single by Jeff Bercume and two hit batters, Mike Baillargeon and Crisafulli with one out. Pizzano this time hit a ground ball to third which Curley fielded, stepped on the bag and fired across the diamond to nail Pizzano at first for the inning-ending double play.

Steve Bodnar was the beneficiary of the outstanding defense as he won his second game of the postseason. In a complete game effort, he scattered six hits, gave up two unearned runs, walked one and struck out five. His five K’s came at crucial times as he struck out Mike Andre in the fourth with two on and no outs and then struck out Baillargeon with two on and no outs in the sixth.

It was the four and five hitters, McElroy and Gath, that came through again for the Blue Sox in the fifth. Frates beat out a leadoff bunt for a single and Curley then beat out a bunt for a base hit and the Sox had runners at first and second with no outs. Frates moved to third on Graham’s fly ball to left to put runners at the corners. With Curly going, McElroy grounded out to short with Frates scoring the third run. Curley then scored on Gath’s second single to center and it was 4-0 Lexington.

The Sox final run came in the sixth inning when Santos doubled to right with two outs. He scored on Frates single to left giving Lexington a 5-0 lead.

The Chiefs finally got on the board in the seventh when it took advantage of a Lexington error.
Bodnar retired the first two batters and then Mike Barbati got a pinch-hit single through the right side. Brendan Pyburn reached when Santos dropped his fly ball in shallow right and Barbati moved to third. Both runners came home on Brian Macrina’s double to left center. Bodnar got the final out a soft line drive to Santos.

Dan Lozeau, who was 0-1 against Lexington in the regular season, fared a little better tonight. pitching six innings, giving up nine hits, five runs, walking three and striking out two.

From the stat sheet – Pete Frates continues his hot streak in the postseason for Lexington. He is now hitting .563 with seven runs scored, three RBI and three doubles and a home run...... Jeff Bercume is hitting .500 for the Chiefs with four runs and three RBI. He also has two doubles, a triple and a home run. ......Mike Andre is hitting .364 and leads all players in the postseason with two home runs and seven RBI..........Steve Bodnar went 2-0 with 0.50 ERA in 14 innings with 14 K’s in two playoff starts. .......Dan Lozeau is now 2-1 in three games and has pitched 11 innings in the postseason.

Lexington, MA- Mike DiCato tossed a six-hit shutout to lead the Chiefs past the Lexington Blue Sox 6-0 in Game One of Intercity League’s best of five Championship Series on Thursday night in Lexington. For the Chiefs it was their fourth consecutive playoff win, having taken three straight from the Testa Corp. Bombers after dropping the first game of that semi-final series. 

Blue Sox starter Tim Bryant set the Chiefs down in order in the top of the first inning when he struck out Brendan Pyburn, got Brian Macrina on a groundout and Jeff Bercume on an outfield fly. DiCato surrendered a leadoff single to Pete Frates to open the home half of the first but he was quickly erased when Ross Curley bounced into a 6-4-3 doubleplay. 

Mike Andre got things started for the Chiefs when he singled down the right field line with one out in the second. Justin Crisafulli then singled to left and rookie Dario Pizzano laced a double into the left-centerfield gap that scored Andre to give the Chiefs a 1-0 lead. Bryant stranded Crisafulli and Pizzano when he got both Bob McCarthy and Hal Landers to both flyout. 

The Blue Sox had their biggest scoring threat in the bottom of the second inning. Matt McEvoy led off with a single and DiCato got the first out when Steve Gath popped to Baillargeon. Sean McElroy then singled to right and went to second on the throw attempting to get McEvoy going to third. Tom Haugh then bounced back to DiCato for the second out of the inning with runners forced to hold. Eric Poling was then hit by a pitch that loaded the bases. DiCato kept the Chiefs in the lead when he struck out Anthony Santos to end the inning. 

The Chiefs lead went to 4-0 in the top of the third inning. It started quietly enough when Pyburn grounded to Haugh at first base for the first out. Macrina then hit a sinking soft liner to Gath at short who could not come up with the ball, which was scored an error. Bercume then picked up some chalk when he drilled a double just inside the first base bag that sent Macrina to third. Baillargeon then came up big when he delivered a two RBI single to center giving the Chiefs a 3-0 lead and took second on the throw to the plate. Bryant got Andre to fly out to Frates in center for the second out of the inning before Criasfulli plated Baillargeon with a RBI single to left and 4-0 lead. 

Lexington got two more aboard (Graham single, McEvoy HBP) after two were out in the bottom of the third but DiCato ended another Sox threat with an inning ending strikeout, getting Gath swinging, to send the game to the fourth inning. 

Bryant had his strongest inning in the fourth, aided by his defense. McCarthy led off and hit a hard grounder over the third base bag but was gunned down by McEvoy trying to stretch it to a double. Bryant responed and got Landers on a pop-up and Pyburn on a grounder to end inning. 

DiCato remained tough and set the Blue Sox down in order in the bottom of the fourth including strikeouts of Haugh and Poling. 

The Chiefs increased their lead to 6-0 in the top of the fifth. Bercume dropped a perfect bunt single. Bryant got Baillargeon to line to right for the first out. With Andre at the plate, Bercume stole second and the former Merrimack captains gave the Chiefs a five run lead when Andre lined a single to left that scored Bercume. Crisafulli followed with his third straight hit, a double down the left field line that sent Andre to third. Pizzano then picked up his second hit and RBI of the night when he greeted reliever Sam Steed with another single that scored Andre with the sixth Chiefs run. 

DiCato gave up a one out single to Frates in the bottom of the fifth before Curley grounded into another 6-4-3 doubleplay. 

Landers opened the Chiefs sixth with an infield single between third and short and Pyburn promptly sacrificed him to second. Steed kept it a 6-0 lead when he got Macrina on a groundout and Bercume swinging ending the inning. 

DiCato followed two groundouts to Baillargeon by striking out Gath to end the sixth. It was the fourth straight inning that DiCato ended with a strikeout. 

Baillargeon tripled to center open the Chiefs seventh but Steed left him there when he struck out Andre and Crisafulli and got Pizzano on a grounder to Curley at third. 

McElroy led off the Sox seventh with a single to right and he was forced at second when Haugh grounded to Baillargeon. Pinch hitter Jeff Nolet then grounded out to Andre at third for the second out and DiCato ended things when he got Santos on fly to Landers in right to end the game. 

DiCato struck out five and did not issue a walk as he recorded the first playoff win of his ICL career. 

Game Two is scheduled for Lexington High School on Friday at 8:00 PM.  

East Boston & Lexington, MA- It wasn’t the longest game ever played but it sure seemed that way. A little under twenty-four hours after it began, spanning two cities and surviving a curfew and a late venue change, the Chiefs and Bombers finally decided Game Four of their best of five semi-final series on Wednesday. For the Chiefs it was well worth the wait as they came out on top 7-6 in ten innings.

With the win, the Chiefs wrapped up the semi-final series three games to one and earned themselves a ticket to the ICL’s Championship Series against the Lexington Blue Sox. 

Mike Andre carried the Chiefs offense driving in four of the Chiefs seven runs, crushing a three run homer, his second of the series, in the first inning, accounted for the tying run on a double play ball in the seventh (no rbi) and putting the Chiefs ahead 6-5 with a RBI single with two outs in the ninth. 

Ryan McNeill started for the Chiefs and worked into sixth, leaving in favor of Dan Lozeau. Lozeau, surrendered the lead in the inning as the Bombers went ahead 5-4, but only briefly as the Chiefs evened things up in the seventh. 

Andre gave the Chiefs the lead again in the top of the ninth and it appeared that it was going to stay that way until Josh Klimkiewicz delivered a long two out RBI single in the bottom of the inning, scoring Jay Defilippo who had drawn a walk, putting things even at 6-6 just before the curfew at East Boston Stadium brought the proceedings to a halt. 

Rookie Hal Landers collected the eventual game winner in the top of the tenth, when the game resumed in Lexington, driving home fellow rookie Dario Pizzano who had doubled and was sacrificed to third by Bob McCarthy. 

Dylan Ellis came on for the Chiefs in the bottom of the tenth inning to earn the save for Lozeau who picked up his second win of the series. Colin Quirk took the loss for the Bombers in relief of Mike Hashem who went the first seven innings.   

By Bruce Tillman
Medford, MA- Centerfielder Jeff Bercume (4-4) was a one man offensive show and the Chiefs got an outstanding two-hit pitching effort from rookie Rob Machado and veteran Danny Lozeau as they nipped the Testa Corp. Bombers 2-1 in eight innings on Monday evening at Tufts University. With the win, the Chiefs take a 2-1 lead in the best of five semi-final series. 

The Bombers got their only run of the night in the top of the first inning. Machado issued a two out walk to Josh Klimkiewicz. Clean-up man Nick Martinho followed and gave the Bombers a quick 1-0 lead when he blasted a long double to the right-centerfield gap scoring Klimkiewicz.  

Bombers starter Anthony Del Prete kept the Chiefs off the scoreboard until they tied the game up in the bottom of the third. Brendan Pyburn led off and drilled a double to the wall in right-center. Brian Macrina then grounded out to shortstop Joe Papa with Pyburn taking third. Bercume brought Pyburn home with the tying run, delivering a single just inside the first base bag. Bercume stole second but Del Prete kept it a 1-1 game when he struck out Mike Baillargeon and got Mike Andre on an infield grounder. 

Machado worked a 1-2-3 fourth and Del Prete, the ICL’s all-star starting pitcher the past two seasons, yielded only a leadoff single to Justin Crisafulli in the bottom of the inning. 

Machado issued a two out walk to Jay DeFillipo in the fifth before getting Vin Eruzione on a fly ball to end the inning.  

After Pyburn and Macrina both grounded out to start the home half of the fifth inning, Bercume drilled a two out triple to right-center. Del Prete got tough once again and caught Baillargeon looking to keep the game tied at 1-1. 

In the top of the sixth, Machado struck out Klimkiewicz swinging (his only K of the night) and then issued a four pitch walk to Martinho. The Chiefs defense came up big once again as Machado got Stan DeMartinis to bounce into a 4-6-3 (Baillargeon to Pyburn to Macrina) doubleplay. 

Del Prete, who pitched professionally for three seasons in Evansville, Indiana, had a rocking chair sixth inning, retiring Andre on fly to left, Crisafulli on a fly to right and Dario Pizzano on hard grounder back to him. 

The Bombers threatened to take the lead without the benefit of a hit in the top of the seventh as Machado began to show some fatigue in the 85 degree heat. Mike Adessa flew to Pizzano in left for the first out and Steve Wadsworth drew a five pitch walk. Papa was next up and he and hit a chopper to Baillargeon’s left. The second baseman’s only play was to first base, throwing Papa out as Wadsworth moved into scoring position. Machado then walked his second batter of the inning (Steve Buitkus) and sixth of the night. With Machado’s pitch count at 96, Chiefs manager Chuck Andre opted to go to the bullpen and summoned Lozeau. Lozeau went up in the count 1-2 to DeFillipo before hitting him with a breaking ball that loaded the bases. Eruzione followed and hit a one-hopper to Andre at third who gloved the ball and stepped on third to end the threat. 

Del Prete was still dealing in the bottom of the seventh. He got catcher Bob McCarthy to fly to right for the first out. Hal Landers followed and bounced a single up the middle representing the winning run. Pyburn then hit a screaming liner Eruzione at second who fired to Klimkiewicz at first to double up Landers sending the game into extra innings. 

Things looked a bit ominous when Lozeau issued the Chiefs seventh walk of the night to Klimkiewicz leading off the Bombers eighth. But the former twenty game winner at Bryant University, let Klimkiewicz get no further as he settled down to retire Martinho on a pop up, DeMartinis swinging on strikes and Adessa on fly out to Bercume. 

Del Prete got Macrina to ground out to Adessa at third for the first out of the Chiefs eighth setting the stage for Bercume’s heroics. The speedy centerfielder beat out an infield roller to second base for his fourth consecutive hit of the night. With Baillargeon at the plate, Bercume took off for second and Wadsworth’s throw sailed into centerfield allowing him to get back to his feet and race to third. Del Prete’s 1-2 pitch to Baillargeon skipped away from Wadsworth just far enough to allow Bercume to slide across the plate with the winning run as the Chiefs dugout emptied to mob him. 

Machado surrendered just two hits in his 6.2 innings of work and Lozeau picked up the first playoff win of his career.

Del Prete, scattered eight hits, struck out four and did not walk a batter. 

Chiefs Chatter….Ryan McNeill will take the mound for the Chiefs against the Bombers Mike Hashem when the teams hook up in Game Four of the series on Tuesday night at East Boston Stadium at 8:00 PM…..The Chiefs were forced to go without Peter Copa who suffered a hamstring pull on Sunday….The Game Three win was the Chiefs first extra inning playoff win since 2002 when they beat the Wakefield Merchants 1-0 in nine innings at Tufts behind Paul Koslowski….Machado threw a one-hitter against Lexington in his last regular season start and combined with Monday's outing he has now allowed just three hits in his last 13.2 innings...   

By Bruce Tillman
East Boston, MA- Dylan Ellis’ gutsy complete game pitching performance sent the Chiefs home from East Boston Stadium with an “edge of your seat” 4-3 playoff win on Sunday afternoon. With the victory, the Chiefs evened their best of five semi-final series with the Testa Corp. Bombers at one game each. 

The Chiefs threatened right away, putting two men in scoring position in the top of the first inning. Bombers starter Eddie Donovan struck out Brendan Pyburn looking leading off the inning. Mike Baillargeon then tripled into the right center-field gap. Jeff Bercume drew a walk and promptly stole second. Peter Copa was next and he hit a one hopper right at Bombers third baseman Mike Adessa, who looked the runners back and threw him out at first. Donovan, who had a 0.84 ERA in seven appearances for Trinity this spring, escaped the inning when he got Mike Andre to ground out to second baseman Vin Eruzione. 

Ellis got the first two outs in the bottom of the first inning before former Harvard star Josh Klimkiewicz unloaded a bomb triple to center. Ellis matched Donovan’s escape and got Nick Martinho to ground to Baillargeon to keep the game scoreless. 

Donovan hit Justin Crisafulli with a breaking ball leading off the top of the second. The Chiefs could not capitalize as Macrina lined out, catcher Bob McCarthy grounded out and Hal Landers flew out to right. 

Ellis struck out ICL veteran Stan DeMartinis for the first out of the Bombers second before Adessa singled to center. Ellis sent the game into the third inning at 0-0 when he retired Steve Wadsworth on a grounder to Pyburn at shortstop and Joe Papa on a chopper to Baillargeon at second. 

The Chiefs broke the scoring ice in the top of the third inning. Donovan retried Pyburn on a grounder to Eruzione to start the frame. Bailargeon then reached on an infield single to third base. Adessa made a nice play to get to the ball, but threw wide of first for an error allowing Baillargeon to scamper to second. Bercume followed and delivered a laser shot home run to left-center, scoring Baillargeon ahead of him and giving the Chiefs a 2-0 lead. Papa then bobbled Copa’s grounder long enough to allow him to reach first on an error. Copa stole second and Donovan got the second out when Andre lined to center. Macrina came up big when he delivered Copa with a RBI single to left jumping the lead to 3-0. Donovan got McCarthy to pop up to end the inning. 

The Bombers came right back to pick up a run in the bottom of the third. Steve Buitkus lead off with a solid single to right. Jay DeFilippo followed with another single to left. Ellis then got Eruzione to bounce to Copa going to his right and he fired a strike to Pyburn forcing DeFilippo at second base. Klimkiewicz cut the lead to 3-1 when he singled down the left line scoring Buitkus. The Chiefs defense came up big when they turned a 4-6-3 doubleplay off the bat of Martinho to keep it a two run game. 

Donovan and Ellis both worked 1-2 -3 innings in the fourth. 

The Chiefs picked up what proved to be the eventual game winner in the top of the fifth but missed a chance to open up some room when they left the bases loaded. After Bercume grounded out, Copa unloaded on a blast to deep left. As he was rounding first, Copa came up lame with a hamstring pull but managed to get to second before going down in obvious pain. Dario Pizzano came on to run for Copa and Andre beat out an infield single to put runners on the corners with one away. Crisafulli then was hit by a Donovan pitch for the third consecutive time to load the bases. Donovan got the huge second out when he struck out Macrina swinging. McCarthy then came through when he lofted a single to right scoring Pizzano that ran the margin to 4-1. Landers then grounded sharply to second ending the inning. 

Ellis got stronger in the bottom of the fifth, again retiring the side in order, including a strikeout of Buitkus.  

The Chiefs appeared poised to open up the game once again in the top sixth but Donovan pitched himself out of another big time jam. After Pyburn flew out, Baillargeon walked and went to third on a Bercume single to right-center. Pizzano, hitting in Copa’s spot, drew a walk to load the bases. Donovan kept the Bombers in the game when he struck out Andre and Crisafulli both swinging. 

The Bombers built on Donovan’s escape job and threatened to take the lead after two were out in the sixth. Things started well for Ellis when he got the first two batters, Eruzione on a foul-out and Klimkiewicz on a pop-up. Martinho then gave the Bombers immediate life when he hammered a long solo home run to right-center that drew them closer at 4-2. They weren’t nearly finished as DeMartinis worked a walk and went to third when Adessa drilled a rocket single to center. Chiefs’ fans surely began feasting on the fingernails when Wadsworth followed with double to right-center scoring DeMartinis, sending Adessa to third, and putting the potential winning run in scoring position. Ellis got tough once again as he struck out Papa looking as the Chiefs headed to the seventh still holding the one run lead. 

The Chiefs wasted a leadoff single by Macrina in the top of the seventh as Donovan got McCarthy on a pop-up, Landers on a fly to left and Pyburn on a fly to right. 

Ellis kept the dramatics to a minimum in the bottom of the seventh when he retired Buitkis on a fly to Bercume, DeFilippo on a grounder to Baillargeon and finished strongly when he struck out Eruzione to end the game. 

Ellis allowed eight hits and struck out six. Donovan gave up nine hits and K’d five. 

Game Three will be played at Tufts University on Monday at 5:20 PM. 

**Bruce Tillman’s Chiefs Chatter & Game Notes are Coming Soon**