News and Announcements
Desai Wins 2017 ICL Pitcher of the Year Award
Woburn, MA- Chiefs' lefthander Josh Deasi was voted in as the 2017 ICL Pitcher of the Year.
The former Suffolk University standout and Shrewsbury, MA resident finished the 2017 campaign with an overall record of 7-0.
During the regular season, Desai posted a league best 0.88 ERA and struck out 57 batters in just 40 innings of work. He also added a playoff win against the Reading Bulldogs.
Desai will be honored at the ICL's Hall of Fame, Awards, and Reunion Dinner on Saturday, November 11 at the Montvale Plaza in Stoneham, MA.
The complete list of the 2017 Award Winners is below:
Most Valuable Player- Bobby Losanno, Wakefield Merchants
Outstanding Hitter- Will Brennan, Watertown Reds
Outstanding Pitcher- Josh Desai, Andre Chiefs
Batting Champion- Jeff Costello, Lexington Blue Sox
Rookie of the Year- Jeff Costello, Lexington Blue Sox
Rookie Pitcher of the Year- Alex Mandrus, Reading Bulldogs
Les DeMarco Sportsmanship Award- Johnny Hayes, Reading Bulldogs
Playoff MVP Hitter- Dan Graham & Ross Curley, Lexington Blue Sox
Playoff MVP Pitcher- Ryan Filipowicz & Drew Leenhouts, Lexington Blue Sox
2017 Intercity League Hall of Fame Inductees
For information on the dinner please contact Dinner Chairman Orazio Azzarello at (617) 839-6843.
The new inductees are:
Jim Adamson-Melrose Rams
Dave Ahern-Cassell Club, Medford Americans & Lexington Blue Sox
Luke Begley-Watertown Reds
Larry Blauvelt-Melrose Rams
Bill Brassil-Chiefs
Kevin Burgoyne-Melrose Americans
Joe Cacciatore-Umpire
Peter Centola-Grannan Club
Justin Crisafulli-Chiefs
Stan DeMartinis-Melrose Rams & Lynnfield White Sox
Jake Dillard-Lexington Blue Sox
Jon Drew-Somerville Red Sox & Chiefs
Andy Hartung-Wakefield Merchants
Steve Howe-Chiefs & Medford Mustangs
Paul Kelleher-Wakefield Merchants
Ron Luongo-Chiefs
Sean McElroy-Lexington Blue Sox
Matt Noone- Peter Fuller Club
Dave Tallent- Chiefs
Rob Zorian- Chiefs & Lexington Blue Sox
Reading's 5-3 Win Denies Chiefs ICL Finals for First Time in 7 Years
The Reading Bulldogs denied the Chiefs the opportunity to meet the Lexington Blue Sox for the seventh straight time, and the eighth time in the last nine seasons since 2009, when they punched their own ticket with a well earned 5-3 game five win at Pine Banks on Sunday Night.
For the Bulldogs, it will be their first trip to the ICL finals since their inception in 2010.
The Bulldogs won the game by scoring single runs in five consecutive innings from the second through the sixth against the Chiefs’ Jared Freni.
The Chiefs took a brief 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first on Johnny Welch’s solo homer.
The Bulldogs tied things up against Freni in the top of the second when Chris Bosco walked, went to third on Mike Taylor’s single to right, and scored when the Chiefs turned a 6-4-3 doubleplay off the bat of Macyn Clifford.
Reading starter Jack Burke kept the Chiefs off the board in the bottom of the second and the Bulldogs took the lead for good in the top of the third. After Freni got Johnny Hayes on a liner to Mike Burgoyne in left, Darren Hartwell drilled a long triple just out of the reach of Mike Gedman in right-centerfield. Kevin Marciano then singled to center, scoring Hartwell, to put Reading up 2-1.
The Chiefs threatened but couldn’t score in the bottom of the third inning. With two outs, Shane Stande drew a walk and Welch singled deep into the shortstop hole. Both runners moved into scoring position on a wild pitch before Burke got out of the jam, and kept the Bulldogs in front, when he got Matt Nuzzo on a groundout.
Another run came across for Reading in the top of the fourth. Bosco and Taylor opened the inning with consecutive singles. Clifford followed and moved both runners into scoring position with a well-placed sacrifice bunt. Freni walked Corey DiLoreto to load the bases before veteran Johnny Hayes put his team up 3-1 with single that scored Bosco. Freni limited the damage to just the one run when he got Hartwell on a shallow fly to Burgoyne then Marciano on a soft liner to Nate Witkowski at shortstop.
The Chiefs cut the lead to 3-2 in the bottom of the fourth. Peter Copa singled up the middle but was forced to leave the game with a hamstring injury and Mike Barbati came on to run for him. Mike Andre was next and he moved Barbati to second with a grounder to the right side. Barbati moved to third on a wild pitch and scored the Chiefs’ second run on a Gedman grounder to Marciano at short. Witkowski then doubled into the right-field corner but Burke kept the Bulldogs in front when he got Burgoyne to flyout to shallow center.
The Bulldogs got that run right back in the top of the fifth. Bosco tripled to the fence in right-center, and when the throw to get him at third skipped by Nuzzo, he scampered home to make it a 4-2 Reading lead.
Burke walked Welch with two away in the bottom of the fifth. Nuzzo followed but was thrown out at first by Hayes on a play that was heavily disputed by the Chiefs to end the inning.
Reading picked up a single run for the fifth straight inning in the top of the sixth. DiLoreto drew a leadoff walk and went to third when Hayes dropped a single to short right. Freni struck out Hartwell for the first out before Marciano upped the lead to 5-2 with a fielder’s choice.
Burke got the Chiefs in order in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Bosco doubled to right with two outs in the top of the seventh but was erased trying to extend it to a triple.
It was last call for the Chiefs in the bottom of the seventh and they didn’t go quietly. Witkowski reached on an error to start the inning. Burgoyne was next and he grounded out, forcing Witkowski at second. Tony Deshler, hitting for Tony Serino, who was ejected in the top of the sixth, then singled to right. Stande followed and grounded out to second, forcing Deshler for the second out. Down to their last out, Burke issued consecutive walks to Welch and Nuzzo, forcing in Burgoyne, to make it 5-3. Alex Mandrus came out of the bullpen with the bases loaded to face Barbati. Barbati hit the first pitch he saw from Mandrus sharply to the left of Mike DeDonato at second. DeDonato moved to his left and made a nice stop of the ball and threw Barbati out at first to end the game and the series.
The Bulldogs outhit the Chiefs 10-5 in the game.
The Chiefs finish the 2017 campaign with an overall 24-9 record and have to settle for ICL's regular season pennant.
The ICL finals will open at Morelli Field on Tuesday night.
More on this game and the series soon.
Dunphy 4-Hitter Gets Chiefs to Game Five, 9-2
Melrose, MA- For the second straight game the Chiefs faced a win or go home scenario and for the second straight game they got an outstanding effort from one of their stable of talented southpaws.
It was veteran Tim Dunphy’s turn on Friday night to keep the Chiefs alive, and he did just that, with a neatly spun 75 pitch five-hitter, propelling his team to a convincing 9-2 win in game four of their best of five semi-final series with the Reading Bulldogs.
With the win, the Chiefs came back from a two game to none hole to tie the series up 2-2 at showery Morelli Field. The deciding game five will be played at Pine Banks on Sunday night starting at 7:30 PM.
The teams took sparring jabs at each other in the first inning. Torrid Tony Serino got the Chiefs off to a solid start when he led off and drilled a 1-1 Colby Morris pitch to left. Serino then stole second, and the Chiefs went quickly up 1-0 when Shane Stande laced a Morris offering to leftfield for a double. Morris escaped with just the one run when he got Johnny Welch and Mike Andre on pop-ups and Matt Nuzzo on an infield grounder.
The Bulldogs answered right back and tied the game at 1-1 courtesy of their own hot leadoff man Darren Hartwell. The rapid lefty dropped a Dunphy pitch just inside the left-field line and legged it out for a stand-up double. Hartwell went third on a Kevin Marciano grounder and scored the tying run on Mike DeDonato’s bouncer to Nate Witkowski at short.
After a scoreless second inning, the Chiefs picked up three big runs in the top of the third. It was Serino who once again got things started with another single. Stande drew a walk, and Welch followed with a line single to left that loaded the bases. Nuzzo was next and he provided what would prove to be the game winning hit when he drilled a single to center that scored both Serino and Stande to give the Chiefs a 3-1 lead. With Nuzzo at first and Welch at second, Andre then dropped a sacrifice bunt that moved the runners into scoring position. That immediately paid dividends when Mike Gedman delivered Welch with a long sacrifice fly to center, scoring Welch, to increase the lead to 4-1.
The Chiefs got a bit sloppy with two outs in the bottom of the third that allowed the Bulldogs to clip a run off the lead to 4-2. Hartwell reached on an infield hit, stole second, went to third when Stande’s throw went into centerfield, and scored when Nuzzo made an errant toss to first on Marciano’s ground ball.
The Chiefs opened the game up in the top of the fourth. Mike Burgoyne started things off with a one-out single. Serino drew a walk before Stande popped up for the second out. Welch followed with a laser double into the left-centerfield gap, scoring Burgoyne and Serino, to expand the lead to 6-2. After Morris went to 3-0 on Nuzzo, he was given an intentional pass. Andre was next and he drilled the first pitch he saw from Morris deep to the right-centerfield fence, for a ground rule double, scoring Welch, to up the margin to 7-2.
Dunphy cruised through a 1-2-3 bottom of the fourth and the Chiefs padded their lead to 9-2 in the top of the fifth. Mike Barbati led off with a walk and moved to second on a two-out infield error by Marciano at shortstop off the bat of Serino. Alex Mandrus replaced Morris on the mound and Stande and Welch greeted him with back to back singles to make it a 9-2 game.
Johnny Hayes got the first Bulldog hit since the first inning with a sharp two-out single before Dunphy struck out Hartwell to end the fifth inning.
Gedman launched a long one out double to right-center in the top of the sixth but was erased on an inning ending doubleplay when Barbati lined out to DeDonato at second base.
Marciano opened the Reading sixth with a single before Dunphy turned in the web gem of the night. The former Brandeis star knocked down an absolute missile from DeDonato and recovered in time to start a 1-6-3 doubleplay. Dunphy followed that effort up by striking out Zac Talis to send the game to the seventh.
The Chiefs couldn’t do anything with a leadoff single from Witkowski as Mandrus retired Burgoyne on a flyout, and Serino and Stande on groundouts, to end the inning.
The Bulldogs got their first two men aboard to open the seventh when Chris Bosco dropped a double down the right field line and pinch-hitter Steve Busby drew Dunphy’s only walk of the night. Any thoughts of a comeback were short-lived when Macyn Clifford bounced into a tailor-made 6-4-3 doubleplay. Dunphy secured the win when he struck out Corey DiLoreto to end the game.
CHIEFS CHATTER.....For Dunphy, it was his 43rd career win as a Chief, and his eighth in the postseason. He improved his overall record to 4-0 in 2017. He now holds a 43-16 mark for the Chiefs since 2010 in 443 innings.......This is the second year in a row that the Bulldogs and Chiefs will have extended the semi-final series to five games. Last year, the Chiefs took the rubber game of that series 3-0 at Maplewood Park on August 18. .......Sunday’s game will begin at 7:30 PM on the Pine Banks turf. Fans are urged to bring lounge chairs as seating at the facility is limited.......Kezer Field at Pine Banks is located at 101 Main St, Melrose MA, 02176.
-Ian Roberts for www.intercityleaguebaseball.com
-Anthony Zeoil -Pointstreak.com
-Steve Hartwell Photos (www.shartwell.zenfolio.com)
Reading still leads the best of five series 2-1 with Game Four scheduled for Friday night at Morelli Field in Melrose.
After Chiefs’ starter Josh Desai pitched out of a two on, nobody out, jam in the top of the first, the Chiefs jumped on Bulldogs’ starter Steve Hueston, and reliever Zak Levine, for seven runs in the bottom of the inning, sending 13 men to the plate. Tony Serino got things underway with a line single to left. Shane Stande drew a walk, and Matt Nuzzo gave the Chiefs a quick 2-0 lead when he plated both runners with a double into the right-field corner. Hueston then walked Johnny Welch, and Nuzzo went to third on a wild pitch, before Peter Copa delivered Nuzzo with a sacrifice fly to left to make it 3-0. Consecutive walks to Mike Andre and Mike Gedman loaded the bases for Nate Witkowski, who singled to left, scoring Welch, to up the lead to 4-0. Levine replaced Hueston and struck out Mike Burgoyne for the second out of the inning. Serino’s second single of the inning, another walk to Stande, and a bases loaded walk to Nuzzo, made it 7-0. Levine escaped further damage when he caught Welch looking at strike three breaking ball to finally end the inning.
The Bulldogs chipped a run off the lead in the top of the third when Kevin Marciano singled and Zac Talis drove him home with an RBI double.
Levine frustrated the Chiefs over the next two innings, leaving the bases loaded in the bottom of the fourth.
The Bulldogs closed to 7-2 in the top of the fifth when Darren Hartwell led off with a double, went to third on Marciano’s fly to right, and scored on Mike DeDonato’s sacrifice fly to deep center.
The Chiefs left two more men in scoring position in the bottom of the fifth and the Bulldogs started to make things a bit tight in the top of the sixth. Chris Bosco drew a leadoff walk before Deasi struck out Mike Taylor. Corey DiLoreto was then hit by a Desai pitch before a Macyn Clifford single scored Bosco to make it a 7-3 game. Deasi then recorded a big second out of the inning when he struck out Johnny Hayes. Hartwell followed and beat out a chopper to Nuzzo to keep the inning alive. When Marciano’s third hit of the night went through the Chiefs’ right side, DiLoreto and Clifford both scored to bring the Bulldogs to 7-5. Deasi kept the Chiefs in the lead when he struck out DeDonato looking to end the inning.
The Chiefs picked up a big insurance run in the bottom of the sixth. Copa singled to left-center before Clifford made a nice running catch of an Andre fly to left. Levine struck out Gedman on a 3-2 pitch and Copa stole second on the play. Witkowski then drove in Copa with a double down the left-field line. Levine threw walks to both Burgoyne and Serino but the Chiefs couldn’t add to their lead when Stande popped up.
Reading didn’t go quietly in the top of the seventh despite Deasi striking out the side. Talis led off and drilled a single up the middle. Deasi got tough and then struck out both Bosco and Taylor for the first two outs. The Bulldogs got a bit of a reprieve when Mike DiCato misplayed DiLoreto’s apparent game ending fly ball to right. With runners on second and third and Clifford at the plate representing the tying run, Desai struck him out to end the game.
Deasi, who won his first ICL postseason game and is now a perfect 7-0 overall on the year, allowed a season high ten hits. The big lefty was good when he had to be and struck out ten Bulldogs.
Friday's Game Four at Morelli is scheduled to start at 8:00 PM.
-Anthony Zeoli (Pointstreak.com) & Roberta Nelson
-Steve Hartwell Photos
