Andre Chiefs

By Bruce Hack
Lexington Director of Media Relations
(Malden, MA) – With both teams scoring limited to one inning each the Chiefs put up the bigger crooked number and then held on to take game one of the best of three semi-final series with Lexington in a game played at Maplewood Park on the campus of Malden Catholic.

The Chiefs scored four runs in the third inning on five hits. Nate Witkowski started the inning with a single to center. Tyler Ferdinand’s sacrifice moved Witkowski into scoring position. A single up the middle by Nick Valdario put Chiefs on the corners with one out. Juan Parra and Miles Reid followed with RBI singles, and it was quickly 2-0. Teddy Dzuiba hit a comebacker to Lexington starter Steve Bangs who tossed to first to get Dzuiba, but Parra scored with the third run of the inning. Andrew Caulfield closed out the scoring with a line drive single to left plating Reid and it was 4-0 Chiefs. Caulfield’s’ hit was the sixth and last one of the night for the Chiefs.

Lexington got on the scoreboard in the sixth. Ernie Little began the rally with a ground-rule double down the right field line. Little went to third on a single to center by V Desai and the Sox had runners on the corners with no outs. Jake Elbeery flied out to center, but deep enough to bring home Little with the first Blue Sox run. A wild pitch allowed Desai to take second and then went to third when Julian Alvarez reached on an error again putting Blue Sox on the corners this time with one out. Bryan Acosta reached on fielders’ choice, Alvarez forced at second, on a ground ball to short, with Desai scoring the Sox second run and cutting the lead to 4-2. Chiefs starter Paul Frisoli ended the threat by inducing a infield popup off the bat of Eric LeBreault that Frisoli caught for the third out.

Frisoli, making his fourth appearance of the summer, tossed a complete game giving up five hits, only three through the first five innings. He walked none and struck out eight in earning the win. He had three 3-up, 3-down innings in the first, fifth and seventh.

Lexington starter Bangs pitched three innings, gave up six hits, four runs and walked and struck out one.

Both starters had a 1-2-3 first inning, with Bangs inducing three ground balls to Little at second.

In the second inning both starters ran into trouble.

Alvarez started the Lexington half with a sharp single to left for the first hit of the night for either team. He took second on a sacrifice bunt by Acosta. Then with one out Frisoli hit LeBreault and then Josue Feliciano to load the bases. He got out of the threat by striking out Andrew Selima and Joe Auger to strand the three Blue Sox runners.

A single by Caulfield started the bottom of the second and a walk to Ryan Noone put Chiefs on first and second with no outs. Bangs induced John Batista to hit into a 6-4-3 double play and suddenly there were two outs and Caulfield was on third. He was left there when Joe Bova went down swinging to end the peril.

Eric Lopes pitched the last three innings for Lexington. He did not allow a hit or run, but walked four, struck out three and hit a batter.

This was the 40th playoff game between the two teams since 2006. Monday night’s win was the 13th for the Chiefs. Of those 40 games, 30 of them have come in the Intercity League finals, including 26 between 2011 and 2016, as the teams met in six consecutive championship rounds.

The two teams play game two Tuesday night in Lexington with first pitch scheduled for 8:00 pm.

(Malden, MA)- The Chiefs will begin their pursuit of the 2023 ICL Championship when they host the Lexington Blue Sox starting on Monday at 8:00 PM at Maplewood.

The #2 seeded Chiefs finished the regular season at 18-7 while the #3 seeded Blue Sox ended up at 13-12.

Game two of the best of three series will be played on Tuesday at 8:00 PM at Lexington High. If a game three is required it will be played at Maplewood on Wednesday at 8:00 PM.

The #1 seeded Sabertooth Expos (20-5) will await the winner of Sunday’s play-in game between the #4 Melrose Americans (10-14) and the #5 seeded Malden Maddogs (8-17). The play-in game will start at 8:00 PM at Morelli Field.

Game one of the Expos-Americans/Maddogs series is scheduled for Monday back at Morelli at 8:00 PM.

The winners of the semi-final series will advance to the ICL’s best of five championship round.

(Melrose, MA) - The Chiefs concluded their regular season with an 8-6 win over the Melrose Americans on Tuesday night at Morelli Field.

Manager Anthony Perry (pictured) used six pitchers in the game with Jonathan Richard (3-0) working the third and fourth innings to gain the win. Evan Walsh (1st), Chai Cohen (2nd), Relfin Jiminez (5th), Cameron Breault (6th) and Jonathan Chotkowski (7th, save) all threw for the Chiefs.

Juan Parra, Andrew Caulfield, Ryan Noone, Luis Tejada, and Chris Klein, all had two hits each to lead the Chiefs’ 14 hit offense. Corey Bright was perfect at the plate for the Americans going 4-4 with two RBI’s and John Jennings added three hits, including a double. Chris Mitchell (1-3) took the loss.

The Chiefs finish the regular season in second place with a 18-7 record. They will now meet the third place Lexington Blue Sox in a best of three series starting next week. The winner of that series will advance to the best of five ICL Championship Series.

(Malden, MA) - Andrew Mazzone, Ryan Cloutier, and Leon Paulino all homered to lead the Sabertooth Expos to an 18-7 rout of the Chiefs at Maplewood on Monday night. The loss dropped the Chiefs into second place in the ICL Standings.

Kebler Peralta and Jose Paulino added three RBI’s each as the Expos rung out 17 hits. Dan Shaw (3-1) went the distance to record the win. Shaw allowed eight hits but struck out 11.

Andrew Caulfield (pictured) drove in five of the Chiefs’ runs with two doubles. Caulfield leads the ICL with 38 RBI’s on the season. Ryan Noone and John Baptista added doubles and Tyler Ferdinand contributed two hits for the Chiefs.

Tim Dunphy (4-3) worked four innings and took the loss.

Chiefs Chatter.… The 17-7 Chiefs conclude their regular season slate with a 7:30 PM game tonight against the Melrose Americans at Morelli Field in Melrose….

(Malden, MA) The Sabertooth Expos scored five times in the bottom of the sixth inning to rally past the Chiefs 5-3 at Maplewood on Thursday night in a battle for first place.

Chiefs’ starter Paul Frisoli faced the minimum 15 batters through five innings before the Expos took advantage of his sudden wildness and wrestled the game away in the sixth.

The Chiefs jumped out to a 2-0 first inning lead against Expos’ ace Nick Johnson on a walk to Joe Bova, a Miles Reid double, and a sacrifice fly to center from Andrew Caulfield.

The lead went to 3-0 in the third on a Bova leadoff triple followed by a Reid single.

Frisoli was perfect through three innings before the Expos broke through in the bottom of the fourth. Leon Peralta led off with a single but was picked off first after a rundown. George Chava followed with another single but was erased when Anthony Mazzone bounced into a 4-6-3 doubleplay as the Expos sent the minimum 15 batters to the plate through five innings.

Meanwhile, Johnson began to settle in, striking out the Chiefs’ side in the fourth, getting them in order in the fifth with a K, and ended the top of the sixth with another strikeout with Hector Pellot aboard via a walk.

Things unraveled quickly for Frisoli and the Chiefs in the bottom of the sixth inning. Three consecutive walks to Michael Oliviera, Jose Paulino, and Hunter Weissman, loaded the bases with nobody out. Frisoli then struck out Leon Paulino for the first out before a Chava groundout got the Expos on the board at 3-1. Mazzone then delivered an RBI single to make it 3-2. Jon Matos replaced Frisoli and the Expos greeted him with consecutive singles by Leon Paulino, Ryan Cloutier and Angelo Colucci for three more runs and a 5-3 lead. Cameron Breault came on for the Chiefs and ended the inning with a strikeout, keeping it a two run Expos lead heading into the seventh.

Johnson struck out the first two batters of the seventh before the Chiefs got two runners aboard via an error and a walk. Johnson finished in style recording his 12th K of the game to secure the Expos’ win.

Johnson, now 6-0, allowed five hits. He has struck out 96 batters in 49 innings so far this summer and has an ERA of 1.43. Frisoli (0-1) ended up taking the loss. The righty went 5.2 innings, gave up three hits, struck out seven, but allowed three walks that all scored in the sixth inning.

Chiefs Chatter.… The loss snapped the Chiefs winning streak at seven games…..The 17-6 Chiefs return to action on Monday in a rematch with the Expos at Maplewood at 8:00 PM….The team concludes the regular season when they visit the Melrose Americans at Morelli Field on Tuesday at 7:30 PM…..