Andre Chiefs

By Bruce Hack
Lexington, MA – The Andre Chiefs advanced to the ICL semifinals with a 13-1 win over Alibrandis Wednesday night at Lexington High School.

The fifth seeded Chiefs defeated sixth seed Reading Tuesday night 6-1 and then beat the fourth seeded Alibrandis. The Chiefs will next take on top seeded Lexington Thursday night in Lexington at 8:00 P.M.

Andre put the game away with a six run second inning. Nate Witkowski singled with the bases loaded to drive in the first two runs of the frame. After a walk and hit batter, Alibrandis starter Jared Brooks was replaced on the mound by Anthony Delprete. The Chiefs added three more runs on a sacrifice fly by Nick Valdario and RBI singles by Adam Johnson and Joe Bova.

Evan Walsh (pictured left) was the beneficiary of the Chiefs offense. The southpaw was 0-5 in the regular season put together his best outing of 2021. He gave up three hits, walked three and struck out six. Though he only had one 1-2-3 inning, Walsh stranded six runners and only allowed two base runners in one inning. The victory was the second postseason career win for Walsh.

Gordie Gronkowski supplied the lone Alibrandis run with a long home run to left in the sixth inning. It was his first postseason home run in the Intercity League.

Valdario was 4-for-4 with 2 RBI and a run scored for the Chiefs. Johnson drove in 3 runs on two singles and an infield out. Witkowski had 3 hits, 2 RBI and Bova had 2 RBI. Miles Reid and Ryan Noone each scored 3 runs. Reid and Noone each had one hit, while Reid had two walks and stole home on the back end of a double steal. Noone reached base on a hit by pitch and an error.

Kyle Halloran had two hits for Alibrandis.

The 13 runs was the most the Chiefs scored since they scored 15 in a 16-15 loss to Lexington on August 23, 2015. On August 12, 2015 the Chiefs defeated Arlington 13-1. For Alibrandis the 13 runs is the most they have allowed in an ICL postseason game since joining the league in 2018. This was the quickest exit for Alibrandis in the playoffs. In 2018 they lost to Lexington in the semifinals. In 2019 they lost to Lexington in the finals. Alibrandis is now 7-9 in three postseasons in the ICL.

MORE SOON

Watertown, MA- Veteran lefty Tim Dunphy tossed a two-day, complete game five-hitter, when the Chiefs beat the Reading Bulldogs 6-1 in a game started at Maplewood on Monday and completed at Victory Field last night.

The Chiefs made a five run first inning stand up.

With the win, the Chiefs move on to meet the #4 seeded Alibrandis at Lexington High on Wednesday night at 8:15 PM in a single elimination second play-in game.

The winner of the Chiefs-Alibrandis game will move on to meet the #1 seeded Blue Sox in the first game of a best of three semi-final series starting Thursday at 8:00 PM in Lexington.

The Reading Bulldogs- Chiefs play-in game was suspended due to heavy rain in the bottom of the first inning on Monday night at Maplewood.

The game will resume tonight (Tuesday) at Victory Field in Watertown starting at 7:00 PM.

When the game was stopped the Chiefs were leading 3-0 . The game will be resumed at that point this evening.

The winner of tonight’s game will move on to play #4 Alibrandis on Wednesday night at Lexington High School at 8:00 PM.

The Middlesex Expos beat the Malden Maddogs 7-2 on Saturday afternoon to eliminate the Maddogs from the 2021 ICL playoffs and clinch the sixth seed for the Reading Bulldogs.

As a result, the #6 Bulldogs will now meet the #5 Chiefs on Monday at 8:00 PM at Maplewood in a play-in game. The winner of Monday’s game will move on to a second play-in game vs. the fourth seed (Alibrandis or Melrose) on Tuesday night to determine which team will advance to the best of three semi-final round.

Sunday’s Alibrandis at Melrose Americans game at Morelli Field at 3:00 PM will determine who will be the ICL’s third and fourth seed. The winner of the game will meet the #2 seeded Middlesex Expos on Wednesday while the loser drops to fourth and will be forced to meet the Bulldogs-Chiefs winner on Tuesday to determine who will move on to battle the #1 Blue Sox in Lexington on Wednesday night at 8:00 PM. Heading into Sunday’s game, the Americans stand at 13-10 (26 points) and Alibrandis enters the game at 12-10-1 (25 points).

The Chiefs and Expos will conclude their respective regular seasons when they meet at Maplewood tonight at 8:00 PM.