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Freni 12 K's, Dunphy Save, Give Chiefs 4-2 Win Over Blue Sox
Malden, MA- Jared Freni went the first six innings, striking out a dozen, and Tim Dunphy picked up the seventh inning save, when the Chiefs took a 4-2 win over the Lexington Blue Sox at steamy Maplewood Park on Wednesday night.
For the now 12-3 Chiefs, it was their sixth straight win.
Freni and former Holy Cross right-hander Ryan Filipowicz (2-1), both pitched out of some tight spots and kept the game scoreless over the first three innings.
Freni struck out the Blue Sox side in the top of the fourth and the Chiefs responded and came up with what would prove to be all the runs they would need in the home half of the inning. Filipowicz got the inning started when he hit Peter Copa with a 2-0 pitch. Mike Andre followed and drilled the first pitch he saw into centerfield for a single. When the ball skipped past Taylor Ferguson and went all the way to the fence, Copa scored the first run and Andre found himself standing at second. Nate Witkowski then singled to deep shortstop with Andre having to hold at second. After an unsuccessful sacrifice bunt attempt, Mike Burgoyne’s grounder to Ross Curley at shortstop turned into a productive out when Andre and Witkowski moved up to second and third respectively. With the Lexington infield drawn in, Filipowicz got Nick Leva to ground to Curley for the inning’s second out, with both runners having to hold. With now two away, Tony Serino delivered the game’s biggest hit when he lined a full count Filipowicz fastball to left, scoring Andre and Witkowski, to up the Chiefs lead to 3-0.
The Blue Sox clipped a run off the lead in the top of the fifth when a Curley two out single to right scored Thomas Russo, who had led off the frame with a walk.
Johnny Welch got that run right back in the top of the fifth when he led off and hit a solo shot to left-center, his second of the season, giving the Chiefs a 4-1 lead heading for the sixth.
Russo’s two out single in the top of the sixth, scored Dan Graham, who had walked, to make it a two run lead again at 4-2. Freni kept his team in the lead when he struck out Costello with the tying runs aboard to close the inning.
The Chiefs couldn’t capitalize on a Witkowski leadoff double off reliever Kevin Scanlon in the bottom of the sixth.
Tim Dunphy came on in relief of Freni to begin the top of the seventh. Trouble began to brew when second baseman Shane Stande mishandled Dorian Rojas’ bouncer to start the inning. When Curley followed with a single to right, the Sox had the tying runs on base with nobody out. Clean-up man Julian Alvarez was next, and with the runners on the move, he hit a sharp liner directly at Burgoyne in left, who fired to Stande at second to easily double up Rojas for a huge twin killing. Dunphy then hit Graham with the first pitch he threw to put the tying runs back on base for the second time in the inning. With Jeff Vigurs at the plate, Dunphy ended things when he struck out the lefty swinging on a 1-2 pitch.
Freni (5-2) threw 127 pitches over his six innings of work, 75 of which were strikes. Dunphy, who lowered his ERA to 0.91 over his 15.1 innings so far this season, picked up his first save since July 20, 2012.
Wednesday's game can be followed at http://baseball.pointstreak.com/gamelive/?gameid=422367. The audio replay of the game can be heard on http://www.localsportsproductions.com/live/ with Sam Feeley doing the play by play.
The Chiefs are expected to send veteran southpaw Mitchell Clegg (1-0, 1.31 ERA) to the hill when they travel to Victory Field in Watertown to visit the Reds on Thursday at 7:45 PM.
-Game Stats - Bruce Hack & Pointstreak.com
-Courtesy Bruce Tillman & Ian Roberts
Clegg 2-Hitter, Welch & Andre Lead to 8-0 Win in Watertown
For the 13-3 Chiefs, it was their seventh straight win.
Clegg and Reds’ righty Matt Horan, who entered the game with a 4-0 record, made pretty quick work of the opposing lineups over the first three innings. That changed in the top of the fourth when Johnny Welch blasted his second solo homer in two nights, and third of the season, deep over the left-field fence to give the Chiefs a 1-0 lead.
Clegg set the Reds down in order in the bottom of the fourth and the Chiefs responded and blew the game open in the top of the fifth. After Mike Burgoyne flew out, Horan issued a walk to Tony Serino, who stole second, and then went to third when Shane Stande dropped a single down the right-field line. Welch followed with a RBI single up the middle, scoring Serino, to make it 2-0. Consecutive walks to Mike Gedman and Peter Copa forced in Stande to increase the lead to 3-0. Mike Andre then unloaded on a full count fastball that went to deep right for a bases clearing triple that doubled up the lead to 6-0. The Chiefs weren’t done yet as Mike Barbati, who had three hits in the game, plated Andre with a single putting the score at 7-0.
Clegg cruised through the bottom of the fifth.
The Chiefs added another run in the top of the sixth when reliever Alexander Zaiser hit Gedman with a pitch with the bases loaded.
Clegg allowed only a first inning single to Dan Chaisson and a seventh inning double to Cal Christofori. He struck out eight, walked just one, and needed just 88 pitches on the night. With his 16th career win in a Chiefs’ uniform, Clegg went to 2-0 on the year and lowered his ERA to a team leading 0.79 in 17.2 innings.
The Chiefs will send Joe Saia (1-0, 1.85 ERA) to mound at Summer Street Field where they meet the Arlington Trojans on Friday night at 7:00 PM.
Desai 4-Hitter Gets Chiefs Past Wakefield 9-2
The Chiefs opened the scoring when they picked up a couple of runs in the bottom of the second inning without getting the ball out of the infield. Merchants starter Justin Kerulas (0-1) hit both Johnny Welch and Mike Andre with pitches, walked Peter Copa, before Mike Burgoyne delivered a rare two RBI infield single when he beat out a high chopper behind second with Welch and Copa both scoring on the play.
The Merchants cut the lead to 2-1 in the top of the third on a Scott Searles single and a Mark Webber triple to right-center.
After a scoreless top of the fourth that featured two strikeouts by Desai, the Chiefs put the game away in the bottom of the inning. Andre got things started with a single to right and Nate Witkowski followed with a single to left. Everyone was safe and the bases were loaded after Burgoyne dropped a bunt that went for his second infield hit of the game. Tony Serino’s single, the Chiefs fourth consecutive hit, scored Andre to make it 3-1. With the bases still loaded, Kerulas walked Shane Stande to force in Witkowski with the fourth run. Mike Barbati, hitting for Matt Nuzzo who left the game with apparent hamstring tightness, then bounced back to Kerulas who threw home to force Burgoyne for the first out. Welch then drew the second bases loaded walk of the inning, forcing Serino home, to make it 5-1 game. Southpaw Spencer Meyer replaced Kerulas and struck out Mike Gedman for the second out. Copa was next and he deposited a Meyer pitch over the left-center field fence for a grand slam, giving the Chiefs a 9-1 lead. Andre followed with his second hit of the inning before Meyer got Witkowski to fly to Bobby Losano in center to end the seven-run uprising.
The Merchants got a run back in the top of the fifth on singles from Lou Tarantino and Webber.
Deasi, now 3-0 with a 1.84 ERA, struck out seven.
The Chiefs are off on Tuesday before hosting the Lexington Blue Sox on Wednesday at 8:15 PM.
-www.intercityleaguebaseball.com
Clegg Saves Chiefs at Trum in 8-6 Win Over Royals
Somerville, MA- The Chiefs opened up leads of 6-0 and 7-2, then saw the Royals close to 7-6 before coming away from Trum Field with an 8-6 win on Tuesday night. With the win, the Chiefs vaulted into first place with a 10-3 record as the ICL nears the regular season half way point.
After a scoreless first inning, the Chiefs staked starter Jared Freni to a 4-0 advantage in the top of the second. Peter Copa drew a walk and Shane Stande singled before Mike Andre drove them both home with long double to straight away right-field to make it 2-0. Singles from Nate Witkowski, an infield error, and a Mike Burgoyne RBI single, then upped the lead to 4-0 off Royals’ starter Rich Gilbride.
Freni shut the Royals down in the bottom of the second and the Chiefs picked up two more runs in the top of the third. Matt Nuzzo drilled a one out solo homer, his second of the year, a moonshot to left to make it a five run lead. Three consecutive singles followed from Copa, Stande, and Andre (RBI), that jumped the margin to 6-0.
Wagner Gomez then got the Royals back into the game when he drilled a triple to deep right, scoring Jake Cintolo and Sean Harrington, who had both singled, to cut the lead to 6-2 heading for the fourth.
After a scoreless fourth, the Chiefs added a run to the lead in the fifth when Mike Barbati’s RBI single scored Copa, who had walked, to make it 7-2.
Freni struck out the Somerville side in the bottom of the fifth and reliver Paul Pollano pitched out of a bases loaded jam in the top of the sixth.
The Royals made things much too close for comfort when they struck for four big runs in the bottom of the sixth. Luke Ronchi lead off and reached on a Nuzzo error at third. Freni then made James McConville his 11th strikeout victim of the night before George Crowley singled. Freni then walked Brendan O’Flaherty to load the bases. Number nine hitter Nick Valdario then delivered two big runs with a line single to right, cutting the lead to 7-4. Mitchell Clegg came out of the Chiefs’ bullpen and Cintolo greeted him with a gap shot double to left-center, scoring both O’Flaherty and Valdario, to suddenly make it a one run game. With Cintolo representing the tying run at second, Clegg came up big and struck out Harrington, and then got Brian Campbell on a comebacker to the mound, to keep the Chiefs in the lead.
The Chiefs picked up a big insurance run in the top of the seventh. Witkowski rapped a one out double off the fence in left before Pollano issued consecutive walks to Mike DiCato, Burgoyne, and then Jamel Vilmont, to make it 8-6. Pollano avoided further damage when he got Nuzzo to pop up, and then Copa to ground out.
Clegg came out firing and was dominant in the bottom of the seventh, striking out Gomez swinging, retiring Ronchi on a pop up to Copa, before securing the win by striking out McConville.
Freni (4-2) went 5.1 innings, allowed six hits and struck out 11. Clegg, who recorded his first save of the year, worked the final 1.2 innings and struck out three. Gilbride (0-3) worked four innings plus and was tagged with the loss.- Ian Roberts
Dunphy Tosses 4-Hitter as Chiefs Edge Arlington, 2-1
Dunphy and Trojans’ righty Mike Andrews (Stoneham, MA/Framingham State) hooked up in a pretty decent pitcher’s duel as they both fired zeros over the first three frames.
Arlington finally broke through to take a 1-0 lead in the top the fourth. Kyle Bourdrias got things underway for the visitors when he drilled a Dunphy offering off the fence in right-center. Former Harvard shortstop Morgan Brown followed and moved Bourdrias to third with a grounder to the right side. With the Chiefs’ infield drawn in, Jeff Besozzi gave the Trojans the lead with a sharp single to center.
The Chiefs answered and picked up an unearned run in the bottom of the fourth to tie game at 1-1. Matt Nuzzo drew a one out walk and Peter Copa singled him to second. Catcher Shane Stande followed with an infield hopper that forced Copa at second. When the relay attempt to get Copa at first was thrown high, Nuzzo came across the plate with the tying run.
The Chiefs took the lead in the bottom of the fifth. Mike Andre led things off with a line single to right-center. Jamel Vilmont came on to pinch-run and moved up to second on an Andrews wild pitch. Mike DiCato was next and his groundout to the left side moved Vilmont to third. With the Trojans’ infield playing in looking to cut down the go ahead run at the plate, Nate Witkowski lined a 2-2 Andrews pitch into center for the game-winner.
Dunphy set Arlington down in the top of the sixth and then got the side in order in the seventh to preserve the win. The veteran struck out six and walked just one.
Andrews (0-3) was nearly as good and only allowed four hits himself while striking out two.
Chiefs Chatter….Dunphy raised his record to 2-0 on the year and now has an ERA of 0.98 in 14.1 innings. He needed just an economical 88 pitches to complete his seven inning effort. The former Brandeis star saw his career record with the Chiefs improve to 41-16, dating back to the 2010 season….The Chiefs travel to Trum Field in Somerville on Tuesday at 8:15 PM to face the Somerville Royals before returning home to meet the Reading Bulldogs on Wednesday….
-Ian Roberts for www.intercityleaguebaseball.com
