Andre Chiefs

Beverly, MA- Mike DiCato picked up his fourth win of the year and his mates erased a 2-0 fourth inning Reding lead when the Chiefs ripped out a dozen hits on the way to beating the Bulldogs 7-2 at Endicott College on Tuesday night.

With the win, the Chiefs clinched a spot in the 2015 ICL playoffs as well as securing the 50th winning season for the franchise in 52 seasons. 

The Bulldogs picked up the only runs they would get off DiCato when they took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the third on a Mike Taylor double and Bill Cataldo single.

The Chiefs came right back with two runs of their own to knot the score at two in the top of the fourth off Bulldogs’ starter Jack Burke. Mike Burgoyne and reached on an error and Juan Portes walked. Mike Gedman then singled to score Burgoyne. Burke struck out Peter Copa for the first out before Mike Andre singled to center to load the bases. Mike Barbati’s RBI grounder to short forced Andre at second but brought Portes across with the tying run. Burke kept it a tie game when he got Nate Witkowski to fly to left with two runners aboard to end the inning.

Cody Hall led off the Reading fourth with a single but rookie catcher John Prentice threw him out attempting to steal second. DiCato got Taylor to fly out and Hayes to ground to Witkowski to move the game to the fifth.

Neither team could get anything going in the inning and the Chiefs took a 4-2 lead in the top of the sixth. After Gedman flew to Hartwell on the warning track in deep center for the first out, four consecutive singles from Copa, Andre, Barbati, and Witkowski, along with a wild pitch, gave the Chiefs the two run lead.

The Chiefs added three more runs in the top of the seventh. Burgoyne reached on an infield single, Portes singled, and Gedman drilled a double to right-center, scoring Burgoyne, to make it a 5-2 game. Reliever Zac Levine struck out Copa for the first out before Ryan Sonberg drilled a double into the left-centerfield gap, scoring Portes and Gedman, bumping the lead to 7-2.

DiCato allowed a one out single to John Hayes in the seventh. Portes then turned in the defensive play of the night when he went behind the bag at third to grab Jordan Roper’s high chopper and while falling into foul territory, threw him out at first. DiCato got Cam Farnham to pop up to Witkowski to end the game.

With the complete game effort, DiCato goes to 4-1 on the year. The veteran righty struck out five and scattered eight hits.

The Chiefs are back in action on Wednesday night when they host the Somerville Thunder at Maplewood/Malden Catholic at 8:15 PM. Bruce Tillman for www.andrechiefs.com

Malden, MA- The Watertown Reds came back from a 2-0 fifth inning deficit to beat the Chiefs 3-2 at Maplewood on Monday night.

On a night when the pitching from both sides dominated the game and hits were at premium (four for Watertown, two for the Chiefs), the Reds took advantage of three fifth inning walks, a timely double by Mike Samko, and a passed ball, to tie the game and go on to win it an inning later.

The game featured a power pitching battle between the Reds’ Juan Guzman and the Chiefs’ Jared Freni.

Freni set the Reds down in order with two strikeouts in the top of the first.

The Chiefs took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Guzman opened up strong and struck out both Tony Serino and Juan Portes to start the inning before Johnny Welch doubled to left-center and went to third on a passed ball. Welch scored an unearned run when Samko dropped Mike Gedman’s flare behind third base.

The Reds’ got a one out single from Pete Burgio in the top of the second but Freni got Liam O’Connor to ground out ,and then struck out Ryan Pocock, to end the inning.

The Chiefs’ lead went to 2-0 in the top of the second when Mike Barbati tripled to right-center and then scored on a wild pitch.

Guzman and Freni were dominant in both the third and fourth innings.

The Reds tied up the game up in the top of the fifth. O’Connor bounced back to Freni to start the inning. Pocock and Will Brennan then drew consecutive walks. After Freni struck out Kevin Kelley for the second out, Samko lined a double to left-center, scoring Pocock to make it a 2-1 game. With Mac Jacobson at the plate, Brennan came across with the tying run on a passed ball. Jacobson eventually walked and stole second before Freni struck out Dan Chaisson to end the inning with Reds’ runners at second and third.

The Chiefs got the potential go ahead run to second in the bottom of the fifth. Barbati walked, went to second on Nick Leva’s one out push bunt to the right side, but was stranded there when Guzman struck out Serino.

The Reds got the game winner off reliever Mitchell Clegg in the top of the sixth. Steve Rogers got things started when he lined a two strike pitch to right. With Rogers running on the pitch, Burgio flew to Serino in center and his strong throw to first just missed doubling off the runner. Burgio eventually stole second before Clegg struck out O’Connor for the second out. With Burgio on the move once again, Pocock lined a single between third and short easily scoring him with the go ahead run.

Guzman got three big hitters in the bottom of the sixth. Jacobson ran down a Portes’ shot to the warning track in left-center, Welch struck out swinging, and Gedman was retired on bullet to Brennan at shortstop.

Clegg settled in and retired the Reds in order in the top of the seventh.

The Chiefs threatened to tie and/or win the game in their last at bat but came up empty.
Peter Copa drew a four pitch walk and Mike Burgoyne came on to pinch run. After two unsuccessful sacrifice bunt attempts, Guzman struck out Paul Yanakopulos swinging on a low full count breaking ball with Burgoyne stealing second on the pitch. Mike Andre was next and he hit a ball back up the middle that Guzman gloved and appeared to have Burgoyne hung up. After being caught in a brief rundown, Burgoyne scampered safely back to second with Andre reaching first with the potential winning run. Jonathan Bishop came out of the bullpen and recorded the two out save when he got Barbati on a broken bat liner to Kelley at second and then struck out pinch-hitter Ryan Sonberg looking to end the game.

Guzman (1-0) went 6.1 innings and struck out seven while Bishop recorded his first save of the season.

Freni worked five innings, gave up one earned run, two hits, walked four, and struck out nine. Clegg (0-1) was charged with the loss as he allowed two hits and struck out one in a couple of innings.

The 15-5 Chiefs travel to Endicott College in Beverly to meet the Reading Bulldogs on Tuesday at 8:00 PM. On Wednesday they return to Maplewood to host the Somerville Thunder at 8:15 PM.

Arlington, MA- Tim Dunphy went 5.1 innings to get his fourth win of the year and the Chiefs knocked out 10 hits on route to a 10-3 win over the Trojans in Arlington on Friday night.

The game was scoreless over the first two innings as Dunphy and Arlington ace Graham Stack both tossed two shutout frames.

That changed for both teams in the third as each picked up three runs. The Chiefs sent nine batters to the plate in the top of the inning to take a 3-0 lead. Mike Burgoyne and Paul Yanakopulos both singled with one out and the two then executed a double steal. Juan Portes followed and drove home Burgoyne with the first run with a sacrifice fly to left. Stack experienced some control issues and walked Mike Gedman, hit Peter Copa with a pitch, and then walked Ryan Sonberg, forcing in Yanakopulos, to make it 2-0. A Mike Barbati RBI single then drove home Gedman to give the Chiefs a 3-0 lead.

The Trojans took advantage of some shoddy Chiefs’ defense in the bottom of the inning to come right back and knot the score at three each and probably would have taken the lead if not for a costly base running blunder. Isiah Berg led the inning off with a single and was subsequently picked off first by Dunphy for the first out. That proved to be large when Reme Portis followed with another single and Kyle Bourdias reached on a rare miscue by Copa at first allowing Portis to score. Tom Russo then drew the Trojans to within a run at 3-2 with single to right-center. When Yanakopulos got his feet tangled up when fielding Dan Kelly’s grounder to third, the Trojans pulled even at 3-3.

The Chiefs answered quickly and took back the lead at 5-3 in the top of the fourth. Burgoyne reached on a one out fielder’s choice, Yanakopulos doubled, Portes singled, and Gedman drove in Yanakopulos with a groundout.

Dunphy retired the Arlington side in order on four pitches in the bottom of the fourth inning.

The lead went to 6-3 in in the fifth when Barbati drew a walk, stole second, and scored on Burgoyne’s RBI single to right-center.

Bourdias led off the Arlington fifth with a single before Sonberg turned in what arguably may be the defensive play of the year thus far. The former Bates College standout made a diving snag of a Coiley line shot headed to centerfield, scrambled to his feet, and fired a strike to Copa to double off Bourdias.

The Chiefs moved the lead to 7-3 in the top of the sixth. Copa worked a one out walk and Sonberg followed with a liner to left-center. When Sonberg got caught up between first and second trying to stretch the hit to a double, Copa scampered home during the subsequent rundown with the seventh run.

After Dunphy got Kelly to groundout to Sonberg to open the bottom of the sixth, he surrendered a single to Morgan Brown and gave way to Jared Freni. The Chiefs ace, who was making his second appearance out of the bullpen this week, allowed an infield single to the left of the mound before getting pinch-hitter Marcus Way on grounder for the second out. Freni then struck out Berg to end the inning and send the game into the seventh.

The Chiefs picked up three more runs and the lead went to 10-3 in the top of the seventh. Singles by Burgoyne and Portes, two hit batsman, and two walks off reliever Nick Pascucci accounted for the scoring.

Lefty Mitchell Clegg finished things up for the Chiefs when he set down the Arlington side in order in the bottom of the seventh.

The 15-4 Chiefs are off for the weekend and return to action to begin a busy week on Monday when they host the Watertown Reds at Maplewood Park on the campus of Malden Catholic at 8:15 PM.

Melrose, MA- Dillon Corliss tossed a six hit shutout when the Americans whitewashed the Chiefs 3-0 at Morelli Field on Wednesday night.

Corliss kept the Chiefs’ hitters off balance all night long in a game that featured four inning ending doubleplays and took only an hour and twenty-six minutes to complete.

The tone of the evening was set in the bottom of the first inning when the Americans scored the only run they would need against Matt DiCato. Austin Masel and Mike Addesa both walked and the middle infield of the Chiefs kicked a potential inning ending doubleplay ball off the bat of Steve Passatempo. The Americans took immediate advantage and took a 1-0 lead when Harrison Smoske delivered a sacrifice fly to left, scoring Masel.

The Chiefs got two runners aboard with one out in the top of the second on consecutive singles from Mike Andre and Ryan Sonberg. Corliss ended the threat when he got Nate Witkowski to hit into a 5-4-3 doubleplay.

DiCato worked a 1-2-3 in the second and Corliss did the same to the top of the Chiefs’ order in the top of the third.

Chris Sharpe drew a one out walk in the Melrose third before Addesa hit an absolute bullet back to DiCato who miraculously made a great grab of the liner and then threw to Peter Copa at first to easily double up Sharpe.

The Americans gave Corliss some space in the bottom of the fourth when they picked up a couple of runs to take a 3-0 lead. Smoske and Ian Steckel both singled before Brian Carney delivered the game’s biggest hit, a sinking line drive double just out of the reach of the diving Mike Burgoyne in centerfield that scored both Smoske and Steckel.

The Chiefs ran themselves out of a potential scoring opportunity in the top of the fifth. After Corliss got both Andre and Sonberg to both fly out, he hit Nate Witkowski with a pitch. Rookie catcher John Prentice then hit a bad hop single into right but Anthony Licciardello came up throwing and hosed Witkowski out at third to ending the inning.

The Chiefs threatened but couldn’t get on the board in the top of the sixth. Juan Portes doubled to right-center with one out but Corliss struck out Johnny Welch on a breaking ball for out number two. The Chiefs loaded the bases when Copa worked a walk and Paul Yanakopulos singled off Adessa’s glove into left. Corliss kept the shutout going when Andre grounded to Sharpe at second base.

DiCato kept the Americans off the scoreboard in the bottom of the sixth.

In the Chiefs’ seventh, Corliss struck out Sonberg and then got Witkowski on a fly to right for the first two outs. The Chiefs stayed alive when pinch-hitter Danny DiMare reached on a throwing error by Addesa. With Portes representing the potential tying run in the on-deck circle, Corliss struck out Burgoyne swinging to end the game.

Corliss, the Framingham State right-hander from Winterport, ME, allowed six hits and struck out two while improving to 2-3 on season.

DiCato, who allowed five hits and just two earned runs, fell to 3-1.

The Chiefs are expected to send Mitchell Clegg to the mound when they meet the Trojans at Summer Street Field on Friday at 7:00 PM.

Watertown, MA- The Intercity League playoffs are almost a month away, but certainly nobody could convince the Reds or the Chiefs of that fact on Wednesday night.

In what took on a post season atmosphere for both teams, the Chiefs prevailed 4-3 in one of the better games thus far of the ICL regular season at Victory Field.

The Chiefs took a 1-0 lead, fell behind 3-1, regained the lead 4-3, and then used no less than five pitchers over the last 1.2 innings, and had to throw out the tying run at the plate to boot, in order to secure the win.

Before the late inning dramatics, the Chiefs’ Mike DiCato and Watertown’s undefeated righty Jhonneris Mendez were embroiled in a pretty decent pitcher’s duel.

Mendez made short order of the Chiefs in the top of the first inning with strikeouts of Tony Serino and Juan Portes that were sandwiched around a Billy Mottram pop-up.

DiCato also went the two K route in the Reds’ first but he had to work a tad harder than Mendez as he stranded Mac Jacobson at third after his one out triple to center.

The Chiefs took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second. Peter Copa was drilled by a Mendez fastball in the upper leg area and shook it off and went to first. Paul Yanakopulos was next and he grounded out to Mike Samko, forcing Copa at second. Mike Andre then gave his team a 1-0 lead when he drilled a deep line double to the fence in left-center, scoring Yanakopulos all the way from first. Andre moved to third on a wild pitch, but that was as far as he got when Mendez got Mike Burgoyne to ground out, then struck out Mike Barbati, to end the inning.

The Reds tied things up at 1-1 in the bottom of the second. After Justin Forman flew to Mike Burgoyne in right for the first out, Pete Burgio lined a double to left and Samko drove him home with a single. DiCato averted more scoring by striking out Steve Morganelli and then getting Kevin Kelley on a grounder to Mottram at third.

The Chiefs went quietly in the top of the third. The Reds took a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the frame on a walk to Kyle LaVigne, singles from Jacobson and Danny Chaisson, and a groundout by Steve Rogers.

The Chiefs failed to capitalize on a Watertown miscue in the top of the fourth. Copa drew a leadoff walk before Mendez retired both Yanakopulos and Andre on fly balls. Jacobson dropped and apparently lost Burgoyne’s deep fly ball to right in the lights to hand the Chiefs’ runners on second and third with two outs. Mendez kept the Reds in front when he retired Barbati on pop-up to Forman behind the bag at first.

DiCato sailed through the Reds’ fourth, which included two strikeouts.

The Chiefs regained the lead for good in the top of the fifth. Mendez hit a Nick Leva with a pitch and then issued a walk to Serino. Mottram dropped a bunt but Mendez pounced off the bump and fired to third to force Leva. Portes followed and cut the lead to 3-2 with a broken bat single to center that scored Serino when Chaisson dropped the ball after applying the tag. Copa followed and singled up the middle to load the bases. The Chiefs caught a big break when the back end of a potential doubleplay grounder off the bat of Yanakopulos was thrown low to first for an error, allowing both Mottram and Portes to score the Chiefs’ third and fourth runs.

In the Reds fifth, Jacobson flew out before DiCato issued a full count walk to Chaisson. The inning came to an abrupt end when Rogers lined to Yanakopulos at shortstop who fired a strike to Copa at first to double off Chaisson.

The Chiefs threatened to pad their lead in the top of the sixth. Leva drew a two out walk and Serino singled to right. Mottram then drilled a shot that appeared headed for extra bases before LaVigne closed on the ball and made a running catch in deep left-center to end the inning.

It was “game on” in the bottom of the sixth. DiCato issued a free pass to Forman to start the inning. Burgio then sacrificed Forman to second. Left-hander Evan Walsh replaced DiCato to face the left-handed hitting Samko. Samko hit Walsh’s first pitch to center and Serino put a charge on the ball and threw a strike to Leva who applied the tag to cut down Forman at the plate for the second out of the inning. Righty Nate Witkowski came on and walked pinch-hitter Ryan Pocock on a full count fastball to put Reds’ runners on first and second. With three lefties due up in succession, southpaw Mitchell Clegg was summoned out of the Chiefs’ bullpen as the fourth pitcher of the inning. The former Washington National product did his job and got pinch-hitter Will Breenan to bounce to Copa to end the inning.

Mendez got the Chiefs in order in the top of the seventh.

The Chiefs appeared to buy themselves a barrel of trouble when Clegg hit the rapid LaVigne with a pitch to begin the home half of the seventh. Jacobson then bunted LaVigne to second. The Chiefs went all in, when staff ace Jared Freni, who has been on the disabled list with back tightness since June 24, made a rare relief appearance to face Chassion. LaVigne then easily stole third. With the tying run now ninety feet away, Freni got Chaisson on a shallow fly ball to right and then concluded the evening when he retired Rogers on a grounder to Barbati at second

DiCato 3-1, worked the first 5.1 innings, struck out six and was credited with the win. Freni recorded the first save of his ICL career.