Andre Chiefs

Malden, MA- Tim Dunphy pitched out of trouble all evening long, getting 13 outs via the ground ball, and Mike Andre drove in three runs with a triple and a single, when the Chiefs turned back the Arlington Trojans 8-1 at Maplewood on Monday night.

After Dunphy got the Trojans’ side in order on three groundouts in the top of the first the Chiefs picked up a run without the benefit of a hit in their first at bat. Mike Burgoyne drew a one out walk, stole second, moved to third on Paul Yanakopulos’ infield out, and scored when Arlington starter Nolan Brennan uncorked a wild pitch.

Seth Coiley led off the Arlington second with a single but was erased when Morgan Brown popped up an attempted sacrifice bunt to Dunphy who gloved the ball and trotted to first for a doubleplay.

Brennan got the Chiefs’ side in order, including two K’s, in the bottom of the second. Dunphy surrendered a two out double by Joe Bradlee but kept it a one run lead when Conner Reensterma lined to Mike Barbati to end the Trojans’ third inning.

Nick Leva worked a walk to begin the bottom of the third and Tony Serino flew to short left for the first out. Brennan put his second 1-2-3 inning in the book when Burgoyne bounced into a 5-4-3 doubleplay.

The Trojans got a single from Kyle Bourdias to open the top of the fourth. When Peter Copa slipped fielding Kyle Hood’s bunt the Trojans were in business with two on and nobody out. Coiley moved the runners up to second and third with another bunt but Dunphy kept the shutout intact when he got Brown, with the infield drawn in, then Dave Cunningham, to both ground to Barbati at second base.

The Chiefs gave Dunphy some breathing room in the bottom of the fourth. Billy Mottram reached on an infield single and Peter Copa drew a walk. Yanakopulos then moved both his mates up a base with a sacrifice bunt. With the infield drawn in, Andre fought off a Brennan pitch and singled to left-center, scoring Mottram for a 2-0 lead. Barbati was next and Brennan got a glove on his hard grounder and deflected it to Reensterma forcing Andre at second with Copa scoring the Chiefs’ third run on the play.

After a scoreless fifth, Dunphy weaved his way out of another jam in the top of the sixth. For the second time in the game, Bourdias and Hood both reached on singles to begin an inning. The Chiefs’ then came up with their second doubleplay of the night when Coiley grounded into a Barbati to Witkowski to Copa doubleplay with Bourdias going to third. Arlington got on the board when Brown lined a single to right that cut the margin to 3-1.

The Chiefs put the game away in the bottom of the inning. Mottram led off with a base on balls before Bourdias tracked down Copa’s warning track liner to right-center for the first out. Yanakopulos then singled and Andre followed and drove a 1-2 pitch from Brennan into the right field corner for a triple, clearing the bases and jumping the lead to 5-1. Breenan then issued his sixth and seventh walks of the game to Barbati and Witkowski to load the bases and was lifted in favor of Dan Csaplar. Leva greeted Csaplar with a bloop single to center to bump the lead to 6-1. A Sernio sacrifice fly and a Burgoyne RBI single to left completed the five run frame that pushed the final score to 8-1.

Dunphy goes to 3-0 on the season with his complete game effort. It was the 33rd win in a Chiefs’ uniform for the veteran lefty.

The 13-3 Chiefs are off on Tuesday and will travel to Victory Field in Watertown on Wednesday at 7:45 PM to visit the Reds.

(at Campanelli Stadium, Brockton MA)
Semi-Finals
Yawkey League 4, Cranberry League 3
Intercity League 14, Boston Park League 2

Championship
Intercity League 6, Yawkey League 3

Boxscores, Game Live, etc can be found at:
http://www.pointstreak.com/baseball/scoreboard.html?leagueid=789&seasonid=29676

Malden, MA- The Chiefs were frustrated by right-hander Davarn Nova, leaving the tying run in scoring position in each of the last three innings, in a 3-2 loss at Maplewood on Wednesday night.

The missed opportunities, along with some uncharacteristic spotty defense, wasted a decent complete game pitching performance by lefty Evan Walsh.

The Chiefs took a brief 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first when Billy Mottram drew a two out walk and scored on Johnny Welch’s fly ball double, which took a high bounce off the artificial surface in left.

The Bulldogs came right back and took a 2-1 lead in the top of the second, and probably should have had more if not for a base running gaffe. Zac Talis led off with a single and Ryan O’Connor drilled a shot into the rightfield corner in what appeared to be a sure triple. Talis slipped and fell while rounding third, before recovering and scoring. But the fall forced O’Connor to stop and he got hung up and tagged out in a rundown between second and third. Josh Drew followed with another double and moved to third on a passed ball. That proved costly when Cody Hall hit a sacrifice fly to right, easily scoring Drew for a 2-1 lead.  

Reading took advantage of a couple of infield errors to record what proved to be the game winning run in the top of the third. Hartwell singled and stole second. After Walsh struck out Corbin Hyde for the first out, Hank Oringer reached when Welch’s throw on his grounder pulled Copa off the bag at first. Talis then popped to Copa for the second out. O’Connor was next and he hit a grounder to Barbati. The second baseman fielded the ball, but threw high to first for an error as Hartwell never stopped running from second to score the Bulldogs’s third run.

The Chiefs chipped a run off the lead to make it 3-2 and threatened for more in the bottom of the third. Nick Leva led off with a single to center but was forced at second on Serino’s grounder. Serino stole second and then moved to third on Burgoyne’s nubber in front of the plate. Mottram followed and delivered Serino with a single to right-center and then moved into scoring position when he stole second. Nova kept Reading in front when he struck out the dangerous Welch to end the inning.

The Chiefs couldn’t push across the equalizer, despite having six more men on base, over the last four innings.

In the bottom of the fifth, Nova pitched the Bulldogs out of another tight spot. Tony Serino drilled a one out double to the fence in right-center. Nova then got Mike Burgoyne to line-out to left, before walking Mottram. With runners at first and second, Oringer made a nice play of a Welch grounder behind the bag at third and scrambled to beat the sliding Serino to the bag.

The Chiefs threatened again in the bottom of the sixth. Mike Andre drilled a one out single to left-center and Yanakopulos was hit with a pitch. Nova pitched out of it, seemingly with new found velocity, and struck out Barbati and pinch-hitter Ryan Soberg to end the inning.

The final chance came in the bottom of the seventh. Serino led off with double to left. Nova got Burgoyne to bounce back to him, freezing Serino at second, for the first out. Mottram followed and grounded out to O’Connor at first base for the second out, with Serino moving to third. Nova sent the Bulldogs back north with a win when he got Welch to hit a soft liner to second baseman Burton Deady to end the game.

Walsh meanwhile gave the Chiefs the opportunity to win the game. He blanked the Bulldogs over the last four innings while only allowing a two out single to Talis in the fifth. The Bentley product gave up two earned runs and six hits on the night while striking out four.

Nova (2-2), scattered seven hits and struck out five.

Somerville, MA- Paul Yanakopulos lined a bases loaded single two RBI single in the top of the eighth inning to complete the Chiefs’ second comeback in as many nights in a 4-1 win over the Somerville Thunder at Trum Field.

The Chiefs trailed for most of the game had their hands full with the expansion Thunder on this night, and in particular lefty Jonathan Richard, who took a perfect game into the fifth inning and worked into the eighth inning, before giving way to Nick Ahern.

Richard was matched by Matt DiCato, who went the first five innings for the Chiefs.

The Thunder took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Mike Kinch drew a leadoff walk and Justin Knight bunted him to second. After Jake Cintola grounded out to Ryan Sonberg for the second out, the Thunder got an unearned run when Devan Jones’ fly ball into a swirling wind was misplayed by Adam Lucey in shallow left.

It was the DiCato & Richard show for the next four innings. DiCato allowed only a single to James McConville with one out in the fourth. Richard was on cruise control and faced the minimum of 12 batters until Peter Copa broke up the streak when he lined a single to left leading off the Chiefs’ fifth. Mike Andre sacrificed Copa to second but that was as far as he got as Richard got Sonberg to pop up and Barbati to fly to right, keeping the Thunder in front 1-0.

Knight reached on a bad hop error by Sonberg with one out in the bottom of the fifth and proceeded to steal second. DiCato ended the threat, and kept it a one run game, when he struck out Cintola and Jones in succession to end the inning.

The Chiefs finally broke through and tied the game in the top of the sixth. Rookie Danny DiMare pinch hit for Lucey and dropped a single into short right field. Nick Leva attempted to sacrifice to him to second, but Richard bounced off the mound and fired a strike to force DiMare. Mike DiCato came on to pinch run for Leva, read Richard’s motion, and stole second. Richard then got Tony Serino to ground out to Jones at second, with DiCato moving to third. Mike Burgoyne stayed hot at the plate and followed with a line single to left, scoring DiCato, to tie things up at 1-1. Yanakopulos then singled to center pushing Burgoyne to third. Richard kept it a tie game when he got Copa on a fly to center.

Nate Witkowski came out of the bullpen to start the bottom of the sixth on the mound for the Chiefs. The former Bentley and Malden Catholic standout got a groundout and a strike out before McConville doubled to left. Witkowski ended the Thunder sixth when Adam Johnson lined to Burgoyne in right to send the game to the seventh at one apiece.

Richard retired the Chiefs in order in the top of the seventh and Burgoyne turned in the defensive gem of the night in the bottom of the frame. Rob Caggiano grounded to Sonberg for the first out before Kinch drilled a hard grounder by the diving Copa and into the right-field corner. Burgoyne fired to Sonberg, who made a nice pick while covering second, to erase Kinch trying to stretch the hit to a double. Witkowski struck out Knight looking to end the inning and send the game into a bonus baseball mode.

DiMare got things underway when he led off the Chiefs’ eighth with his second straight single to right. After a couple of unsuccessful bunt attempts, the Chiefs got the desired result anyway when DiCato eventually grounded out with DiMare moving to second on the play. Serino then drew a walk and Ahern was summoned from the Thunder bullpen to face the right-handed hitting Burgoyne. Burgoyne greeted him with a soft single to center, that DiMare had to hold up on, to load the bases. Yanakopulos followed and elivered the game winner with a crisp line single to right-center, scoring DiMare and Serino, giving the Chiefs their first lead of the game at 3-1. Copa then grounded out to first, with Burgoyne scoring, to make it 4-1. Andre followed with another single, sending Yanakopulos to third, but Sonberg lined out to center to end the inning.

Witkowski teamed up with Barbati, who had a hand in all three outs, to get the Thunder side in order in the bottom of the eighth. Two infield pop ups and then a grounder to the second baseman finally ended the game.

Witkowski (1-0), picked up the win in his first mound appearance of the year. He allowed two hits and struck a couple in his three innings of work. DiCato surrendered an unearned run, two hits, and struck out five in five innings.

After his perfect five inning string, Richard (0-4), ended up being charged with all four runs. He gave up five hits and struck out six in 7.1 innings. Ahern allowed the other three Chiefs’ hits.

Chiefs Notebook…… The team will host the Reading Bulldogs at Maplewood on Wednesday at 8:15 PM……Nate Witkowski’s last mound appearance for the Chiefs was a one inning stint back on June 30, 2014, against the Melrose Americans. Tuesday’s mound appearance was the fifth in his four year Chiefs’ career. He has not allowed a run in a total of eight innings, all out of the bullpen. Witkowski once pitched back to back no-hitters for Malden Catholic in 2009. He also pitched a bit for Bentley University, where he was the starting third baseman, from 2012-2014. The right-hander chalked up his first collegiate pitching win against Assumption in a game played at Rollins College on March 6, 2011…..Mike Andre had a couple of reasons to smile on Tuesday. Not only did he see the Chiefs rally for a win, but he also saw his old Merrimack College roommate Ryan O’Rourke make his major league debut with the Minnesota Twins. O’Rourke, who was called up by the Twins yesterday, recorded his first major league strikeout and retired the side in order in the ninth inning of an 8-3 Minnesota win over the Baltimore Orioles. The big lefty was a teammate of Andre and former Chief Jeff Bercume at Merrimack for three seasons. He pitched for the Chiefs during the 2010 pre-season before being selected in the 13th round of the MLB Draft on June 7, 2010…..

Malden, MA- The Chiefs came back from deficits of 3-0, 6-3, and 8-5, to nip the Melrose Americans 10-9 in a wild one at Maplewood on Monday night.

The Americans' fireworks began early as they jumped on starter Mike DiCato and took a 3-0 lead in the top of the first on a three run homer from Steve Passatempo.

The Chiefs went the same route in the bottom of the inning, when starter Anthony Dally walked Tony Serino and Mike Burgoyne, before surrendering a three run shot to Peter Copa that tied the game at three each.

The Americans came right back and took their second three run lead in as many innings in the top of the second. Austin Masel put a up a ten pitch at bat, that included a dropped foul pop up, before hitting his first ICL homer to center to give the Americans the lead back at 4-3. Consecutive singles from Dan Caciola and Mac Singleton, followed by a Chris Sharpe triple, bumped the lead to 6-3.

The Chiefs went quietly in the bottom of the second.

Melrose increased their lead to 7-3 in the top of the third on a John Jennings triple to right and a Masel sacrifice fly down the leftfield line.

The Chiefs began their second comeback of the night in the bottom of the third. Mike Barbati’s two out, two run double, into the leftfield corner scored Mike Gedman and Peter Copa, who had both walked, to cut the lead in half at 7-5.

The Americans got a run back in the top of the fourth when Sharpe homered to center, giving the Americans another three run lead at 8-5. That was the night for DiCato and Tim Dunphy made a rare appearance out of the bullpen to get the last two outs of the inning.

The Chiefs came all the way back when they scored five times in the bottom of the fourth. Dally continued to have control issues and walked Nick Leva to start the inning. Ryan Colbert came on to relieve Dally and he promptly walked Serino. Burgoyne then drilled a triple to left-center to cut the lead to 8-7. Johnny Welch followed with a double to right-center, scoring Burgoyne, to tie the game at 8-8. Gedman then gave the Chiefs their first lead of the night when he drove in Welch with a single. Singles by Mike Andre and Barbati drove home Copa, who had reached on a fielder’s choice, to give the Chiefs a 10-8 lead heading for the fifth.

Dunphy and Americans reliever Mike Peters restored some order and threw blanks in the fifth and sixth innings. In the bottom of the sixth, Peters was aided by two outstanding defensive plays, the first by Caciola who robbed Andre of extra bases with a diving catch of a line drive in right-center, and the second by Sharpe at third base, when he made a terrific stop of a Barbati seed that was earmarked for left-field.

The Americans did not go quietly in the top of the seventh. Sharpe led off with a blooper to center that took a high hop over Serino’s head for a double. Mike Addesa then grounded to Nate Witkowski at short for the first out, with Sharpe moving to third. Passatempo then singled up the middle, scoring Sharpe, to cut the lead to 10-9. Dunphy helped himself bigtime, when he stopped Harrison Smoske’s line drive back to the box and recovered in time to get him at first. With the tying run now at second, Dunphy got Jennings on a grounder to Barbati to end the game.

Dunphy (2-0), picked up the win. He allowed two hits in his 3.2 innings of work.