Andre Chiefs

Lexington, MA- Mike DiCato was untouchable for the last four innings.

The bad news is that Matt Karis (4-0) was once again flawless for a full seven.

Such was the story in a first place showdown in Lexington on Monday night when Karis reached some rarified air and tossed his third consecutive ICL shutout on the way to chalking up his fourth straight decision in the Blue Sox 3-0 win over the Chiefs.

The right-hander out of Gettysburg College previously blanked the Medford Americans on June 16^th and 26^th and beat the Testa Corp. Bombers back on June 2^nd. So far this season the Southboro native has only allowed a stingy nine hits in 27.0 innings of work.

The Chiefs Mike DiCato certainly pitched well enough to win, allowing six hits and tossing zeros over the last four innings.

If you got there a bit late you missed all of the scoring in this one. In top of the first inning Karis got Brendan Pyburn swinging and catcher Bob McCarthy to pop up. Jeff Bercume followed with a line single to right but Karis picked him off first to end the inning.

The defending champs went right to work in the bottom of the inning scoring the only runs they would need. DiCato got Jack Laurendeau (Holy Cross) to ground to Mike Baillargeon at second. Former Boston College standout Pete Frates got things going for the Sox when he doubled into the right field corner. Danny Graham then singled to center scoring Frates and when Bercume’s throw to the plate went to backstop, Graham scampered all the way to third on the error. Steve Gath followed with a ground out to Pyburn at shortstop with Graham scoring on the play. DiCato got Sean McElroy to ground to Baillargeon to end the inning.

The Chiefs went quietly in the second and the Sox added their third and final run of the night in the bottom of the frame. Dan Haugh led things off with a tough hop single to center but DiCato picked him off first. Tom Haugh then worked a full count walk and Eric Polling (Greenville College/Pickneyville, IL) hit a soft grounder to Baillargeon pushing Haugh to second. Former UMass-Lowell star Anthony Santos then drilled a RBI single to left making it 3-0.

The Chiefs made a little noise in the third but could not score. Peter Copa reached on a throwing error and went to third on Hal Landers single to right. Pyburn then bounced into a 1-6-3 double play with Copa remaining at third. He was stranded there when McCarthy grounded out to Santos at second base.

DiCato reteird the Sox side in order in the third and Karis returned the favor in the top of the fourth. Gath walked to start the Lexington fourth but DiCato struck out McElroy and Dan Haugh in succession. Tom Haugh then lined a single to center and Bercume fired a strike to third baseman Mike Andre gunning down Gath trying to go to third to end the inning.

Veteran Brian Macrina reached on an error to start the fifth and Karis got Andre to fly out for the inning’s first out. Peter Copa grounded into a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning.

A two out Laurendeau single was all the Sox could muster against DiCato in the bottom of the fifth.

In the Chiefs sixth, McCarthy hit a two out ground ball just inside the third base bag (that was officially scored as a two base error) but Karis got Bercume to bounce out to end the inning.

Graham was hit by a DiCato pitch to begin the Sox sixth and was promptly thrown out by McCarthy trying to steal second. Gath grounded to Pyburn and DiCato struck out pinch hitter Matt McEvoy swinging to close the inning.

The Chiefs looked poised to finally break through against Karis in their final at bat. After Justin Crisafulli grounded out sharply to third both Baillargeon and Macrina drew walks. Andre then drilled the Chiefs hardest hit ball of the night to right-center field but the frustration continued when Frates had him played perfectly and gloved it for the second out. Karis completed his shutout trifecta when he got Copa to ground out to put an end to the night’s proceedings.

Karis struck out four and issued three walks while lowering his ERA to 1.30. DiCato, now 2-1, surrendered just the six hits while striking out five and walking a couple.

Dan Lozeau will get the start for the Chiefs on Tuesday when they travel to East Boston Stadium at 8:00 PM to face the Bombers.

Woburn, MA- Ryan McNeill went the first five innings to pick up the win and Rob Machado worked a perfect sixth and seventh as the two combined on a two-hit shutout of the Mooney Dental Tanners 16-0 at Ferullo Field in Woburn on Tuesday evening. 

McNeill, who claimed all Northeast-10 honors at Merrimack this spring, picked up his first ICL win in a Chiefs uniform yielding just a couple of singles while striking out six. Machado, the former Malden Catholic standout and current UMass-Amherst right-hander, retired all six batters he faced including one strikeout in his ICL debut. 

Catcher Bob McCarthy led the Chiefs 14 hit attack collecting four singles while Peter Copa and rookie Dario Pizzano chalked up three RBI apiece. 

The Chiefs scored early and often in this one, opening up a 9-0 lead after two innings. In the first inning, the Chiefs sent ten men to the plate and scored five times. Brendan Pyburn got things underway when he drew a walk from Tanners starter and loser Mike Nardelli. Pyburn promptly stole second and came around to score on McCarthy’s first single of the game. Jeff Bercume drew another walk but Nardelli struck out Hal Landers for the first out. Veteran Brian Macrina then gave the Chiefs a 2-0 lead when he delivered a RBI single that scored McCarthy. Mike Andre drew the inning’s third walk and Copa followed with a RBI fielder’s choice that plated Bercume. Pizzano made it 5-0 with a gap shot double to left-center scoring Macrina and Copa. 

It went to 9-0 in the second with the Chiefs scoring four times after two were out. Landers and Macrina both worked two out walks and Nardelli was lifted in favor of Joe Harvey. Andre greeted Harvey with a line single to right center that scored Landers. Copa followed with another single scoring Macrina and when Pizzano reached on an infield error scoring Andre and Copa, the Chiefs were out to a 9-0 lead. 

A Macrina RBI single in the third and a Copa double and sacrifice fly from Mike Barbati ran the lead to a dozen after four innings.  The Chiefs added four more to make it 15-0 in the fifth on singles by McCarthy and Pizzano sandwiched around two infield errors and two hit batsmen. The sixteenth and final run of the night came in the sixth on singles from Pyburn, Bercume and Matt Boleski.

Wakefield, MA- Horrendous defense, miserable early April like weather, and about as many fans as you could put in the backseat of a mid-size car.

Make no mistake about it, Cooperstown is not calling for a tape of this one!

Those were some of the components that came into play on Sunday afternoon at Walsh Field in Wakefield when the Chiefs somehow came away with a 9-7 win.

The Chiefs opened up a 6-1 lead and saw the Merchants come back to tie things up at 7-7 before putting up two seventh inning runs to grab the win.

The Chiefs jumped out to a 1-0 lead off Kevin Tidmarsh in the first inning on a two out RBI single from Hal Landers which scored Brendan Pyburn who led off with a single.

The Merchants came right back in the home half of the first on a Mike Sorrentino RBI single surrendered by Chiefs starter Dylan Ellis to tie it up at 1-1.

A two out error by the Merchants opened up the floodgates in the top of the second when the Chiefs scored five unearned runs. After two were out, Mike Barbati walked and Pyburn reached on the infield error. A Bob McCarthy single scored Barbati to make it 2-1. Jeff Bercume followed with a line shot single to right which scored Pyburn giving the Chiefs a 3-1 lead. Northeast-10 Player of the Year Mike Baillargeon made his presence felt when he lifted a long triple to the fence in left-center scoring McCarthy and Bercume to up the advantage to 5-1. Landers then delivered a line drive single to center pushing Baillargeon across and giving the Chiefs a 6-1 lead.

Ellis held Wakefield scoreless in the second and third innings, despite some shoddy defense, and Tidmarsh settled down and blanked the Chiefs in the third and fourth innings.

The Merchants sent ten men to the plate in the bottom of the fourth and scored four runs (two earned) to make it a one run game at 6-5.

Tidmarsh again got the Chiefs side in order in the top of the fifth and the Merchants tied the game up at 6-6 in the bottom of the inning. Assumption’s Joe Martini came on in relief of Ellis to start the inning and was victimized by another unearned run when Alex LiDonni and Josh Band both reached on errors.

The Chiefs regained the lead at 7-6 in the top of the sixth courtesy of a Pyburn double and another McCarthy RBI single.

The Merchants got another unearned gift from the Chiefs in the bottom of the sixth to re-tie the game at seven. Taylor Von Kriegenberg reached when Matt Boleski misplayed his fly ball to left. Southpaw Chris Labriola came on for Martini to face lefty Jason Roth. Roth sacrificed Von Kriegenberg to second before another lefty, Matt Russo, took a Labriola offering to deep left for a RBI triple.

Enter Chris Foundas. The ICL all-star closer in 2008 struck out Kevin Johnson swinging and got pinch hitter Sam Choate to ground out to Baillaegeon stranding Russo at third with the go ahead run.

Hal Landers led off the Chiefs seventh with a single to center and stole second. Mike Andre then lined a single to right with Landers stopping at third. Eddie McDonald pinch ran for Andre and with runners on the corners, reliever Kevin Flight got pinch hitter Bill Catlado swinging. Boleski then got a big chunk of redemption when he lined a Flight pitch to right scoring Landers. Barbati followed with a single up the middle that plated McDonald and gave the Chiefs a 9-7 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh.

Foundas got LiDonni and Band to both pop to Pyburn at short and he put an end to the day’s follies when he got Steve Langone to fly to Bercume in centerfield.

With the win the Chiefs go to 5-1-1 on the season. They host the Lexington Blue Sox at Tufts University on Monday at 6:00 PM. Right-hander Ryan McNeill will draw the starting assignment for the Chiefs. 

Medford, MA- Bobby Giarratani twirled a complete game two-hitter and Mike Adessa drilled a two out, two run home run in the sixth inning as the Testa Corp. Bombers knocked off the Chiefs 5-0 at Tufts University on Friday evening. 

Giarratani, from Denison College in Ohio, took a no-hitter into the fifth inning before Brendan Pyburn broke up the bid with a single to right field. The Chiefs Dan Lozeau matched Giarratini pitch for pitch for 5.2 innings. Adessa finally broke the scoring drought with a sixth inning line shot over the right field wall scoring Nick Martinho, who had singled, ahead of him. 

The Chiefs had several chances to break into the scoring column, leaving runners in scoring position in the second, third, fourth and sixth innings. 

In the bottom of the second inning, J.P. Pollard drew a lead off walk and Giarratani got Hal Landers swinging for the first out. A Mike Barbati fielder’s choice moved Pollard to second and the Bombers Mike Navarro kept it a scoreless game when he ran down a deep Mike Andre line drive to straightaway right to end the inning. 

The defensive gems continued for the Bombers in the bottom of the third. Catcher Eddie McDonald reached on Testa’s only error of the night on a slow hit ball that was mishandled by shortstop Joe Papa. McDonald went to second on a passed ball but Giarratani got Pyburn to bounce back to him for the first out. Brian Macrina followed with a ten pitch at bat then ended when Giarratani finally got him swinging on a 3-2 pitch. Jeff Bercume looked like he was about to give the Chiefs the lead when he hit a hard one hopper to the right of first baseman Josh Klimkiewicz. The former Harvard star made a nice diving stop and recovered quickly enough to flip to Giarratani covering first to get the fleet Bercume by half a step. 

Another Chiefs scoring opportunity went by the boards in the fourth when Landers drew a two out walk, stole second, but couldn’t get any further as Giarratani again got tough and caught Barbati looking at a third strike. 

The Chiefs got a defensive gem of their own in the top of the fifth when Brian Macrina made a spectacular diving grab of Steve Buikus line drive with Paul Bonfiglio, who had walked and went to second on a sacrifice bunt, in scoring position. 

The Chiefs were poised to take the lead again in the fifth when Pyburn broke up the no-hitter with a two out single and proceeded to steal second. A Macrina fly ball to center ended the inning and the teams went into the sixth at 0-0.  

Addesa’s shot in the top of the sixth came with two outs. The inning started well enough for Lozeau when he struck out Navarro swinging. Martinho followed with a single and Lozeau got the dangerous Klimkiewicz to fly to Landers in right. Adessa caught up with a Lozeau fastball and provided instant offense for the Bombers and a 2-0 lead. 

Bercume’s chalk raising double down the right field line was all the Chiefs could muster against Giarratani in the sixth and Chris Foundas came on for Lozeau, his former Bryant University teammate, to work the top of seventh. 

A throwing error by Copa at third, a hit batsman, two walks, a wild pitch and a Klimkiewicz single, added up to three unearned runs off Foundas and 5-0 Bombers lead heading into the bottom of the seventh. 

Giarratani made quick work of the Chiefs in the seventh. He got Matt Boleski, who was pinch hitting for Barbati, to groundout, Andre to fly to center and ended things when he got pinch hitter Phil Costello looking. 

Giarratani struck out seven and surrendered three walks on the way to picking up his first win of the year. Lozeau, who suffered his first loss, pitched very well for the Chiefs giving up just three hits and recording a couple of strikeouts. 

The Chiefs begin a three game pre-Fourth of July stretch on Sunday at Walsh Field in Wakefield at 3:00 PM. Lefty Dylan Ellis (1-0) is expected to start for the Chiefs.       

Medford, MA- The Chiefs have announced the addition of former Assumption College infielder and 2009 Northeast-10 Conference Player of the Year Mike Baillargeon.

Baillargeon is expected to add some much needed offensive power to the lineup. The Chiefs are hitting only .236 as a team through the first six games of the season. They were shutout on just two hits on Friday night while dropping their first game of the summer. 

A native of Worcester, Baillargeon just capped off a great four year career with the Greyhounds being named to the Rawlings/American Baseball Coaches Association NCAA Division II All American second team.

Baillargeon batted a lofty .393 this past season with a team-record 84 hits and also led Assumption in runs (56), singles (57), home runs (11), stolen bases (12), bases on balls (27) and total bases (136).

He set career marks in games (187), games started (187), at bats (731), hits (267), triples (15, tied), sacrifice flies (11) and was only caught stealing ten times in fifty three attempts during his college career.

Baillargeon is expected to join the Chiefs on Sunday when they travel to Walsh Field in Wakefield to begin a three game road trip in a rare 3:00 PM start. - Bruce Tillman

Year       Avg   GP-GS     AB    R    H   2B   3B   HR  RBI   BB   SO   SB-ATT

2006....  .294   44-44    177   25   52   12    3    1   17   10   34    7-9

2007....  .329   41-41    152   28   50   11    4    3   22   17   24   16-17

2008....  .431   47-47    188   32   81   12    5    0   29   21   26    8-13

2009....  .393   55-55    214   56   84   13    3   11   44   27   47   12-14

TOTAL...  .365  187-187   731  141  267   48   15   15  112   75  131   43-53

(Information Provided by Assumption College Athletics and the Northeast 10)