Andre Chiefs

Woburn, MA- Right-handed ace Keith Forbes picked up where he left off last season with six innings of dominating pitching,  propelling the Chiefs to their third straight win, 8-1 over the Mooney Dental Tanners on Sunday night at Ferullo Field. 

Forbes, who was making his first start of the young season, led the ICL in 2007 with 79 K’s. The former San Diego Padre allowed just three hits in an 87 pitch effort, while striking out seven. The only run he surrendered was of the unearned variety in the sixth inning.
 
The Tanners Joe Curran (Arlington, MA/Southern Maine) matched blanks with Forbes for two innings before the Chiefs broke through with four "twilight aided" runs in the top of the third. With one out, Angel Valdez reached on an infield error. Andrew Hanson remained red hot with his second single of the night to right. Cleanup man Justin Crisafulli then popped out for the inning’s second out. Mike Andre then came to the plate and delivered a RBI single to center scoring Valdez and giving the Chiefs a 1-0 lead. The twilight sky then came into play as Matt Anderson lofted what seemed to be an inning ending fly ball to short right field. The ball was lost in the dusk and fell for a two RBI double, allowing both Hanson and Andre to score making it 3-0. Déja vu when the next batter up Phil Costello hit a fly ball to center that was also lost in the tough sky, dropping for a RBI single and a 4-0 Chiefs lead.

The Chiefs added two more runs in the fifth to take a 6-0 lead. Nate Leva beat out a perfect bunt to get things going and Brendan Pyburn singled to left center putting runners on the corners with nobody out. Valdez lofted a sacrifice fly to center easily scoring Leva with the Chiefs fifth run. Hanson, who is hitting a league leading .727 (8-11), rapped his third consecutive single moving Pyburn to third. Crisafulli plated Pyburn with a RBI infield grounder.

Forbes meanwhile went sailing through the first four innings before tiring a bit in the fifth and sixth. He pitched out of a bases loaded jam in the fifth, when runners reached on an error by first baseman Paul Koslowski, a single and a walk, by getting Bentley College star Kevin Vona to ground out. He allowed a run in the sixth when Ryan Doyle reached on an error at shortstop by Brenden Shepard and scored on a RBI double off the bat of Andrew Worden.
 
The Chiefs made it an 8-1 game with two runs in the seventh on singles from Anderson, Koslowski and Leva. 

Joe Martini came on to pitch a scoreless seventh inning in his Chiefs debut, allowing one hit and striking out a batter.

The Chiefs return to action on Sunday night at Ferullo Field in Woburn at 8:00 PM. Ace Keith Forbes is expected to draw the starting assignment.

Medford, MA- Rightfielder Phil Costello drilled a seventh inning bases loaded single capping a furious Chiefs comeback and giving them a dramatic 4-3 win over the Wakefield Merchants in their ICL opener at Tufts University on Thursday evening.

Merchants starter Jarod Marchesi and Chiefs starter David Garcia matched zeros until the Chiefs took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth. Justin Crisafulli singled to left and Mike Andre followed with a single to right. Costello then dropped a perfect sacrifice bunt moving Crisafulli and Andre up a base. Marchesi then got Paul Koslowski to groundout to second baseman Matt Nuzzo for out number two. Rookie catcher Matt Lawlor got the Chiefs on the board when he drilled an infield single off Marchesi’s glove scoring Crisafulli and giving the Chiefs a 1-0 lead.

Wakefield wasted no time in erasing the Chiefs lead off Garcia in the top of the fifth when they scored three times on four singles to take a 3-1 lead. The Chiefs went quietly in the bottom of the fifth.

Bryant University righty Chris Foundas came on in relief of Garcia to start the sixth and picked up right where he left off from his outstanding pre-season, setting the Merchants down in order.

The Chiefs tied the game in the bottom of the sixth. Costello drilled a long leadoff triple to left. After a Koslowski groundout, Lawlor delivered Costello with a RBI single to right center to cut the lead to 3-2. Mike Barbati came in to run for Lawlor and Angel Valdez, pinch hitting for Matt Boleski, drilled a long double to left center scoring Barbati and knotting the score at 3-3. Marchesi got tough and stranded pinch runner Nick Dunn, who was running for Valdez, at second base when he struck out Brendan Pyburn swinging and got Brenden Shepard to groundout.

Foundas again shut the Merchants down in the top of the seventh setting up Costello’s heroics. Former Princeton star Andrew Hanson, who was 3 for 4, got things started in the seventh with an opposite field double down the left field line. Crisafulli was intentionally walked and Andre was hit by a pitch to load the bases with nobody out. Costello then drilled a 1-2 Marchesi pitch through the drawn infield into centerfield giving the Chiefs the comeback win.

Garcia worked five innings, surrendering three runs on seven hits with four strikeouts. Marchesi (0-1) took the loss giving up twelve hits and striking out five. With two strong shutout innings, Foundas, (1-0) picked up the first win of his Chiefs career.

Dylan Ellis will get the start when the Chiefs travel to Playstaed Park to take on the Medford Americans on Friday at 6:00 PM. On Sunday the Chiefs travel to Ferullo Field in Woburn in an 8:00 PM start. Ace right-hander Keith Forbes will get the starting nod in that one.

Note: Tuesday Night's Scheduled Opener was Postponed -Rain
Medford, MA- The Chiefs will send ace right-hander Keith Forbes to the mound on Tuesday evening when they open their 2008 Intercity League campaign against the Mooney Dental Tanners of Woburn. Game time is set for 6:00 PM at Huskins Field on the campus of Tufts University.

Forbes was 3-1 for the Chiefs last season, registering 79 strikeouts in just 44 innings. The former San Diego Padres 31 year old right-hander signed with Sussex of the professional Can-Am League following the ICL season where he made two starts for the Skyhawks.

Pre-Season Ends with 3-1 Loss to Americans
Medford, MA- The 2008 pre-season came to a conclusion on Monday evening when the Medford Americans dealt the Chiefs a 3-1 loss at Playstead Park.

Lefty Connor Bishop (Arlington, MA/Bridgewater St.) started for the Chiefs and worked a credible four innings, allowing just one run on four hits. He gave way to right-hander Jose Pimental (Bani, DR/San Diego) who surrendered two runs on three hits in two innings, including a mamouth solo home run off the bat of Americans rookie Ben Waltrip (Medford, MA/Medford) in the sixth.

The Chiefs only run of the night came on a sixth inning sacrifice fly from Andrew Hanson (Cumberland, ME/Princeton). Zack Bunzell (Medford, MA/American International) picked up the pre-season pitching win for Medford.

Southpaw Matt Boleski worked a 1-2-3 seventh inning for the Chiefs.