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Chiefs Will be Tested in Five Games in Five Day Stretch
The 14-6 Chiefs will play five games in five days, starting on Sunday, that will go a long way in determining where they will be seeded when the Intercity League Playoffs begin during the second week of August.
Their week starts on Sunday when they head to Summer Street Field to meet the Arlington Trojans at 5:00 PM. On Monday, the road trip continues with a journey up I-95 to face the Reading Bulldogs at 8:00 PM. The Chiefs then meet the Bulldogs again on Tuesday evening at 8:00 PM at Pine Banks' Kezer Field. On Wednesday, the Chiefs and Americans will play at Morelli Field in Melrose at 7:30 PM, before the week concludes with a third meeting with the Bulldogs, again at Endicott College, on Thursday at 8:00 PM.
The regular season is scheduled to end on either August 7th or 8th with the playoffs to follow. The top two teams in the ICL Standings will receive a first-round bye. The Chiefs are currently in a four way battle for the top spot with the Watertown Reds, Lexington Blue Sox, and Wakefield Merchants.
Prior to the Wednesday game at Morelli Field, the Chiefs will retire the number of longtime Coach Steve Calabresi in an on-field ceremony. "Coach Cal", who was with the Chiefs' organization as a Bench Coach since 1989, passed away suddenly this past April.
Richard Tosses 4-Hitter as Hot Royals Win 4th Straight, 4-1
Malden, MA- Somerville left-hander Jonathan Richard limited the Chiefs to just four hits, and the Royals played some flawless defense, to come from behind and beat the Chiefs 4-1 on Wednesday at Maplewood.
For the Royals, it was their fourth straight win, while the sputtering Chiefs have now lost three out of their last four.
Mitchell Clegg was cruising along with a two-hit shutout until the Royals finally solved him in the top of the sixth.
The Chiefs jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Tony Serino led off with an infield single but was erased at second on Shane Stande’s grounder. Peter Copa then hit a gap shot double to right-center, scoring Stande from first, for a 1-0 lead. Richard escaped the inning with just one run when he got Johnny Welch on a fly to left and Matt Nuzzo on an infield grounder.
Clegg struck out two batters in the top of the second and the Chiefs threatened again in the bottom of the second to no avail. Mike Gedman drew a leadoff walked and Mike Andre followed with line single to center. Richard got out of it when he got Mike Barbati to ground into a doubleplay, and then Mike Burgoyne to groundout. Andre was forced to leave the game after being cleated in the face area on the play.
After a scoreless third, the Chiefs got their last hit off Richard in the bottom of the fourth when Welch hit a lead off and wind blown pop up single behind the first base bag. The Royals erased Welch, and then Nuzzo, when they turned their second doubleplay of the game.
The Chiefs still had a 1-0 lead in the top of the sixth when the Royals picked up a couple of runs to take the lead. Pinch-hitter Adam Johnson got things underway with a bloop single to right. John Collette then drilled a long double to the fence in left-center, scoring Johnson, to tie the game at 1-1, Wagner Gomez followed and delivered Collette with a long single to give the Royals the lead at 2-1. Burgoyne made nice catch of a George Crowley warning track shot to left for the first out before Brian Campbell singled, and Nick Valdario reached on an error, to load the bases. Clegg kept it a one run game when he got Rob Caggiano to bounce out to Nuzzo at short.
Richard got the Chiefs in order in the bottom of the sixth and the Royals picked up two more runs in top of the seventh off Tim Dunphy. Singles form Jake Cintolo, Collette, and Campbell, and a sacrifice fly from Crowley, led to the runs.
The Chiefs went quietly in the bottom of the seventh.
Richard (3-4) retired 15 of the last 16 batters he faced. He struck out two and issued just a two out seventh inning walk.
Clegg (2-1) struck out seven in his six innings of work.
The Chiefs travel to Lexington on Thursday night. At 7:30 PM, they will the complete the suspended game from June 29. The Chiefs are leading that game 4-2 with the Blue Sox batting in the bottom of the seventh. Following the conclusion of that game, the scheduled game will be played.
-Ian Roberts for www.intercityleaguebaseball.com
Desai 2-Hitter Leads Chiefs to 7-0 Win at Pine Banks
Desai, who went to 4-0 on the season while making his third start, was impressive from start to finish. His previous starts were a 14 K complete game against Somerville on July 6 and he followed that up with a four-hit, seven strikeout effort, against Wakefield on July 17. His other win came against Melrose on June 12 when he pitched three scoreless and hitless innings.
Former Toronto Blue Jay and Brown University product Matt Nuzzo gave Desai all the runs he would need in the bottom of the first when he drove home Tony Serino (walk) and Shane Stande (single) with a long single to left-center. Nuzzo was thrown out at second on play trying to stretch it into a double.
Desai and Trojans’ starter Mike Andrews matched zeros until the Chiefs came up with four runs to take a 6-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth. Nate Witkoswki drew a one out walk, Mike Barbati singled to right-center, and Mike DiCato was issued the second walk of the inning to load the bases. Mike Burgoyne followed and both Witkowski and Barbati scored when his grounder went through the first baseman into right-field to make it a 4-0 game. When Tony Serino drilled Andrews next pitch into left-center for a single, DiCato and Burgoyne scored to up the lead to 6-0.
Deasi shut the Troajns down in the top of the fifth and the Chiefs added their final run of the game in the bottom of the inning. Mike Andre lined a one out single to center off reliever Andrew Hamel. Andre went to second on a wild pitch and scored on Barbati’s RBI single to right.
Desai faced only 23 batters in the game and struck out the side in both the fourth and sixth innings. He allowed only a second inning single to Kennedy Wilson and a sixth inning infield single to John Smokovich, who was promptly retired on a 5-4-3 doubleplay. He did not walk a batter.
The Chiefs improved to 14-5 with the win and in the process halted a two-game losing streak. They are back in action on Wednesday night when they host the Somerville Royals at Maplewood Park at 8:15 PM.
Chiefs Falter in Wakefield, 13-6
Wakefield, MA- The Chiefs squandered a 5-2 lead, when the Merchants scored seven runs in the bottom of the fourth inning, on the way to a 13-6 loss on Sunday at Walsh Field. For the now 13-5 Chiefs, it was their second straight defeat.
The Chiefs erased a 2-0 Wakefield lead when they scored five runs of their own in the top of the fourth, only to see the game slip away in the home half of the inning.
Tony Serino and Mike Burgoyne had a couple of hits and an RBI each for the Chiefs. Mike DiCato, Shane Stande, and Nick Leva, had the other RBI's.
Andrew Chin (0-2) started for the Chiefs and went 3.1 innings. He was charged with seven runs, six earned, seven hits, struck out three, and walked two. Matt DiCato worked 1.2 innings, giving up two earned runs, before brother Mike DiCato pitched the bottom of the sixth and gave up an unearned run.
The Chiefs defense committed four costly errors in the game and issued five walks, four of which scored. Bobby Losanno, Dillion Koster, Paul McGunigle, and Anthony Cecere, each had a couple of hits for the Merchants.
Chiefs' Rookies Jamal Vilmont, with a long sixth inning double to center, and Andrew Caulfield, with a seventh inning single, both recorded the first ICL hits of their careers.
Brandon Barlett (1-0) went six innings to get the win.
On Monday, the Chiefs will look to get back into the win column when they host the Melrose Americans at Maplewood Park at 8:15 PM.-www.intercityleaguebaseball.com
Arlington Ends Chiefs Winning Streak at 7 Games, 4-0
After Hamel retired the Chiefs in order in the top of the first, Arlington came up with all the runs they would need in their first at bat against starter Joe Saia. Ryan Hood led off with a single to center and Johnny Welch threw Brendan Rocha’s bunt low to first, putting Trojans’ runners at second and third with nobody out. Saia then walked Kyle Boudrias and Jeff Besozzi in succession forcing in Hood with the first run. A Kyle Dembroski single made it 2-0 and when Saia walked Aaron Williams the lead went to 3-0 with still nobody out. Saia settled in and got Kennedy Wilson to foul out to Welch for the first out before averting further damage when he got Taifer Riguard to ground into a 3-2-3, (Peter Copa to Shane Stande to Copa) inning ending doubleplay.
Hamel cruised through his second 1-2-3 inning and Saia pitched out of a two-runners on jam in the bottom of the second.
Nate Witkowski led off the third with single, and Mike Burgoyne drew a one out walk, but Hamel kept the Chiefs off the board with a strikeout and a popup.
Saia looked strong in the bottom of the fourth when he struck out the Trojans’ side.
All the Chiefs could muster in the bottom of the inning was a one out Copa single to left.
Arlington added a run to their lead in the bottom of the fourth. Eddie McDonald drew Saia’s fifth walk of the night and went to third on consecutive wild pitches. Rocha then delivered him with a single to center making it a 4-0 game.
Witkowski, who had two of the Chiefs' four hits in the game, led off with another single to open the fifth but Hamel got two groundouts and a flyout to keep the Chiefs at bay once again.
Former Boston College lefty Andrew Chin took over for Saia and provided the Chiefs' high point of the night when he recorded two strikeouts in the scoreless Arlington fifth.
Hamel concluded his night by getting the side in order in the top of the sixth before Kyle Musco made his first mound appearance of the season and stranded a Trojan runner at third in the bottom of the inning.
Matt Wesolowski took over for Hamel in the top of the seventh and the Chiefs mounted a short-lived threat. Wesolowski hit Copa with a pitch before Mike Andre lined a single to right. Andre moved to second on a wild pitch but the Chiefs couldn’t break the into the scoring column as Wesolowski got out of it with two popups, sandwiched around a strikeout, to end the game.
Hamel struck out four and walked just one. Saia, now 1-1 took the loss.
The Chiefs are off on Saturday before travelling to Walsh Field in Wakefield to meet the Merchants on Sunday at 4:00 PM. -Ian Roberts for www.intercityleaguebaseball.com
