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Reading Takes Both Games at Morelli to Lead Series 2-0
Melrose, MA- The sixth seeded Reading Bulldogs put the Chiefs' collective backs to the wall with a pair of wins at Morelli Field on Tuesday night. With the double win, Reading took a 2-0 lead in their best of five semi-final series.
The Bulldogs took the conclusion of game one 6-2, and then went on to grab game two 6-4.
GAME ONE
When game one continued in the top of the eleventh inning, Mike DeDonato set the tone for the night when he drilled the first pitch he saw from Joe Saia to left for a two run double and a 4-2 Reading lead. The lead quickly went to 6-2 when Zac Talis followed with a two-run homer.
The game was suspended on Monday night at Pine Banks.
Reading took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning when Rosario Missiti doubled to right, went to second on an infield grounder, and scored on Kevin Marciano’s long sacrifice fly to left.
The Chiefs tied things up in the bottom of the sixth when Nate Witkowski drew a two-out walk and scored on Mike Burgoyne’s opposite field triple to right.
The Bulldogs went ahead in the top of the ninth on consecutive singles from Steve Busby, Mike Taylor and Darren Hartwell.
In the bottom of ninth, the Chiefs tied the game at 2-2 on three walks and a Witkowski RBI fielder’s choice.
Prior to DeDonato’s tie-breaking double and Talis’ two run homer in the top of the 11th, Reading loaded the bases against Saia on a walk and two bunt singles from Hartwell and Marciano.
Jared Freni was superb for the Chiefs in his no-decision effort. The big right-hander struck out 15 batters in his 8.1 innings. Josh Deasi allowed the Reading run in the ninth. Saia, who took the loss, was charged with four runs, on five hits, in two innings of work. Amazingly, the three Chiefs' pitchers struck out a combined 18 batters in the game, and the defense played error free baseball, but they couldn't come away with a win.
Jack Theriault got the win for Reading. Cody Hall went the first 6.2 innings before giving way to Alex Mandrus in the seventh.
It was a game of missed opportunities. The Chiefs left an incredible 20 men stranded on base with 13 of those in scoring position. They had opportunities to win the game but left runners in scoring position in the 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th innings.
The Bulldogs missed plenty of scoring chances as well, leaving 13 men stranded.
Tony Serino had four of the Chiefs' 11 hits.
GAME TWO
The Chiefs jumped out to a 3-0 second inning lead. Johnny Welch led off with a double to left but was thrown out trying to go to third on Peter Copa’s grounder. Mike Andre followed with a single to right before Reading starter Jack Burke walked Mike Gedman, Witkowski and Serino to give the Chiefs a 2-0 lead. The lead then went to 3-0 on Shane Stande’s two-out RBI single.
The Bulldogs came right back to tie the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the second when Chris Bosco drilled a three-run homer, scoring Busby who was hit by a pitch, and Corey DiLorretto, who reached on a Copa error, in front of him.
The Chiefs took a 4-3 lead in the top of the fourth when Burgoyne drew a bases loaded walk.
The lead changed hands again, as Reading took it for good at 5-4, in the bottom of the third. Marciano walked, DeDonato singled, and they both scored on Talis’ double to deep right.
Reading’s final run came in the bottom of the sixth when Bosco doubled and scored on Johnny Hayes’ single to left.
Colby Morris picked up the win in relief of starter Jack Burke.
Mitchell Clegg went six innings for the Chiefs and allowed six runs, five earned, gave up eight hits and struck out nine.
The Bulldogs have now won four straight playoff games having defeated the #3 seeded Watertown Reds two games to none in the first round.
The teams will play game three at Pine Banks on Wednesday night at 8:00 PM.
-Thanks to Roberta Nelson & Steven Hartwell for ICL Baseball
Game One Suspended in 11th Inning Tied 2-2, Will Resume Tuesday at Morelli Field
Melrose, MA- Game one of the best of five semi-finals series between the Reading Bulldogs and the Chiefs was suspended in the top of the eleventh inning on Monday night at Pine Banks.
The Bulldogs are batting in the top of the eleventh and have the bases loaded with nobody out. Mike DeDonato is at the plate with an 0-2 count.
The game will be picked up at that point at Morelli Field on Tuesday night at 7:45 PM. Game Two of the series will immediately follow.
CLEGG PITCHES CHIEFS TO ICL PENNANT, TAKE TWO IN LEXINGTON 4-2 & 5-2
Mitchell Clegg made sure they returned with all four.
The big left-hander first secured the save, when he retired the Blue Sox in order in the conclusion of the suspended game one, and for an encore, proceeded to throw a complete game three-hitter in the pennant clinching nightcap.
In the process, the Chiefs captured the 2017 regular season crown as well as the number one seed in the upcoming playoffs.
First for the opener, which was the conclusion of a suspended game from June. Clegg set the Blue Sox down in order in the seventh inning when he got Thomas Russo on flyball, struck out Ross Curley, and then secured the 4-2 win when he got Aaron Barbosa to groundout to Mike Barbati at second. Clegg saved the game for Anthony Sullivan (1-0), who got the win after the Chiefs scored three runs in the top of the seventh inning to take the lead.
By holding on for the win in a game that began nearly six weeks ago, the Chiefs and Blue Sox headed to the second game with the ICL pennant on the line. A Chiefs win or tie would give them the flag while the Blue Sox needed to win.
The Chiefs got all of the runs that Clegg would need in the top of the first inning. Tony Serino and Shane Stande both drew game opening walks from Blue Sox starter Drew Leenhouts. Matt Nuzzo followed with a line single to left-center that loaded the bases. Cleanup man Johnny Welch quickly unloaded them when he drilled a grand slam to right-center that staked Clegg and his Chiefs to an early 4-0 lead.
The Blue Sox answered back with a couple of runs to cut the lead in half at 4-2 in the bottom of the second. Julian Alvarez opened the inning and found himself standing on second when Welch threw low to first on his infield grounder. Dan Graham followed and plated Alvarez to make it 4-1 with long double to the base of the centerfield fence. After Justin Silvestro grounded out, Thomas Russo drove in Graham with Lexington’s second run of the inning with a single to left.
Clegg and Leenhouts took control over the next four innings as the two southpaws each tossed four scoreless innings.
The Chiefs picked up their fifth run in the top of the seventh off reliever Rob DiFranco. Just like their big inning in the top of the first, Serino and Stande both drew walks to open the frame. Nuzzo then hit a hard grounder that skipped by Russo, for an error at second, and went into center-field allowing Serino to score.
Clegg slammed the door in the seventh. He got Silvestro to line to Andrew Caulfield in right for the first out, and followed that up by getting Russo to pop-up to Nuzzo. Josue Feliciano was next and the veteran kept the Blue Sox hopes alive when he drilled a two-strike single past the diving Barbati into right-center. Nuzzo then made an outstanding play on John Puttress grounder to throw him by a step at first to end the game.
Clegg improved to 4-1 and allowed just three hits. He threw 81 pitches in the game and saw his ERA drop to 1.09 in 38.2 innings. Leenhouts fell to 3-1 with the loss.
For the Chiefs, it was their second consecutive ICL pennant and the fourth in the last five years. It was also the 25th Suburban Twi-League or Intercity League regular season pennant for the Hosmer-Andre Chiefs franchise dating back to the first in 1960. For Manager Chuck Andre, it was his 10th regular season pennant.
The Chiefs (22-6-0) and Blue Sox (20-7-1) will now await their semi-final opponents to emerge from the first round of the ICL Playoffs which get underway on Thursday.
More Chiefs, Blue Sox & ICL coverage soon.
-Ian Roberts for ICL Baseball
-Bruce Hack & Pointsteak Game Statistics
On a night when the number of the late Coach Steve Calabresi was retired, the Chiefs rode the pitching of Jared Freni on the way to an 8-0 win over the Melrose Americans at Morelli Field.
Freni dominated the game and gave up just two singles in the 6.2 innings he worked and, although it took a little time, his mates went the longball route, then used some opportune walks, to pull away for their 20th win of the year.
Over the first three innings, Freni and Melrose starter Zeke Berg made quick work of the opposing lineups. Freni allowed a leadoff single to Charlie Huegi in the first inning and Berg kept the Chiefs hitless into the fourth.
The Chiefs started to make some noise when Shane Stande led off the top of the fourth with a single. That proved to be short lived when Berg picked Stande off first. Berg then struck out Matt Nuzzo before Johnny Welch put the Chiefs on the board with a solo bomb to left-center. For Welch, it was his fifth homer of the season.
Freni struck out the Americans’ side in the bottom of the fourth and Berg set the Chiefs down in order in the top of the fifth.
The Americans got the tying run into scoring position in the bottom of the fifth when Dan Cacciola reached on a two-out infield error and then stole second. Freni kept the Chiefs in the lead when he got Huegi on a comebacker to the mound to end the inning.
The Chiefs threatened but couldn’t score in the top of the sixth. Tony Serino led off and drew a walk. That was the night for Berg as Aran Hamilton-Grenham came out of the bullpen and got Stande on a fly ball for the first out. Nuzzo was next and he lined a Berg pitch to right for a single with Serino moving to second. Hamilton-Grenham got the dangerous Welch swinging and ended the threat when he retired Peter Copa on a liner to left.
Freni got the Melrose side in order in the bottom of the sixth, including strikeouts of Malcolm Nachmanoff and John Jennings.
The Chiefs put the game away in their last at bat when they scored seven times in the top of the seventh despite getting, albeit a loud one, just one hit. Mike Andre led off and drew a walk from reliever Harry Welch. Mike Gedman was hit by a pitch and Nate Witkowski moved both runners up with a sacrifice bunt. Mike Burgoyne then gave the Chiefs a 2-0 lead with a sacrifice fly to center. Consecutive walks to Serino and Stande loaded the bases for Nuzzo. The lead went to 4-0 when Nuzzo’s grounder was mishandled and went into short center, allowing both Gedman and Serino to score. Welch drew another walk before Copa delivered a lights out grand slam to left, which was the aforementioned only hit of the inning, doubling the lead to 8-0.
Freni stayed in cruise control got the first two hitters in the seventh before giving way to lefty Andrew Chin who retired the only batter he faced on a groundout to end the game.
Freni improved to 7-2 on the season while lowering his ERA to 1.64. He struck out ten and didn’t issue a walk. The right-hander has now fanned a league best 94 batters in just 55.1 innings this summer.
Berg pitched well but saw his record to fall to 0-3.
The Chiefs wrap up the regular season when they travel to Lexington to visit the Blue Sox on Wednesday night. Starting at 7:30 PM, the teams will conclude the game that was suspended on June 29. In that game, the Chiefs are leading 4-2 with nobody out and Lexington batting in the bottom of the seventh inning. Following the conclusion of that game the teams will play the regularly scheduled contest. With the Chiefs at 20-6-0 (40 points), and the Blue Sox at 20-5-1 (41 points), the Chiefs will have to get three of the four points that are up for grabs to leave Lexington with the top seed in the upcoming ICL playoffs. Both the Chiefs and Blue Sox have already secured first round playoff byes.
-Ian Roberts for ICL Baseball
-Tom O'Connor Photos
Desai's Third Straight Shutout & Nuzzo Solo HR Give Chiefs 1-0 Bye-Clinching Win
Melrose, MA- Josh Desai fired his third consecutive shutout, and Matt Nuzzo supplied the game’s only offense with a first inning solo homer, when the Chiefs edged the Melrose Americans 1-0 at a damp Pine Banks on Monday night.
With the win, the Chiefs assured themselves of a no worse than second place finish and clinched a first-round playoff bye, with the regular season pennant still to be decided this week between them and the Lexington Blue Sox.
Desai emerged from the game as the front-runner for the Intercity League Pitcher of the Year, the league’s version of the Cy Young, with yet another sterling outing.
If runs and hits are your preference, Pine Banks was not the place to be on this night as Melrose righty Chris Mitchell and Deasi hooked up in a classic pitcher’s duel.
Desai allowed a one-out single to Nick Herzog in the top of the first before the Chiefs turned a 4-6-3, (Nuzzo to Nate Witkowski to Peter Copa) double-play to end the inning.
Nuzzo’s third homer of the season provided some instant offense in the bottom of the first when he drilled a two-out solo blast over the left-field fence.
Chris Hopkins reached when Nuzzo bobbled his grounder at second base to open the Americans’ second, but Desai got Hunter Boyce to flyout, Matt Hosman to ground to Witkowski, before striking out Mike LaRovere.
It was three up and three down for Mitchell in the Chiefs’ second.
Deasi got the first two outs in the top of the third before Charlie Huegi singled. With Herzog at the plate, Deasi picked Huegi off to end the inning.
Mitchell cruised through his second consecutive 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the third and Desai retired the side in order again in the top of the fourth, including two strikeouts.
The Chiefs tried to add to their lead in the bottom of the fourth to no avail. Shane Stande led off with a single to center but Mitchell got Nuzzo to ground into a doubleplay. Johnny Welch followed and singled to left and Copa drew a four pitch two-out walk. Mitchell kept it a one run game when he got Mike Andre swinging, with the runners on the move on a full count, to retire the side.
The Americans got their final hit of the night when LaRovere got a two-out single in the top of the fifth. Desai then recorded his second K of the inning when he struck out Dave Center to send the game to the bottom of the fifth.
A Mike Burgoyne single gave the Chiefs a two-out baserunner but Mitchell stayed tough and got Tony Serino on an infield chopper to retire the side.
Deasi looked as if he was getting stronger in the top of the sixth recording two more strikeouts.
The Chiefs ran themselves out of a potential insurance run in the bottom of the sixth. Stande led off and reached on an error when Hopkins bobbled his grounder to third. Nuzzo was then thrown out on a close play at first when Huegi made a nice play on a grounder deep into the shortstop hole. With Stande taking second on the play, Welch was issued an intentional walk. Copa followed with a soft liner to right that Malcolm Nachmanoff put a charge on and made a perfect throw to the plate to nail Stande trying to score. When Copa tried to go to second on the throw, he was gunned out by Boyce to complete the inning ending 9-2-6 twin kill.
Deasi never let the issue be in doubt in the top of the seventh. He got Nachmanoff on a fly to Burgoyne in left, struck out Hopkins, and concluded the night by getting Boyce on a flare to Copa at first.
Desai scattered three hits, struck out nine, and didn’t issue a walk, The big lefty faced just 23 batters and needed only 88 pitches in the game. Now 6-0, he lowered his ERA to 0.88. In 40 innings so far in 2017, he has struck out 57 and has allowed just 24 hits.
Mitchell (4-4), who deserved a better fate, gave up five hits and struck out three.
The Chiefs and Americans will go at it again on Tuesday, this time at Morelli Field in Melrose at 7:30 PM. Prior to the game, the number of former Chiefs’ coach Steve Calabresi will be retired. Calabresi passed away suddenly this past spring after almost three decades with the team.
-Game Coverage-Ian Roberts
