Andre Chiefs

Malden, MA- Mike DiCato tossed a four hit shutout, and Juan Portes and Ryan Sonberg had a two-run homer each, when the Chiefs blanked the Wakefield Merchants 8-0 at Maplewood on Monday night.

DiCato, who allowed just one earned run in nine innings against Lexington last week, was equally impressive on this night.

Portes, in his first at bat of the season, gave the Chiefs a quick 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first when he turned a Clay Yianacopolus fastball around and deposited it deep over the centerfield fence for a two run homer. It was an impressive return to the lineup for the Chiefs’ standout and seven year Minnesota Twins veteran, who missed the first eleven games due to an off season injury.

DiCato retired the Merchants’ side in order in the top of the second and the lead went to 5-0 in the bottom of the inning. Paul Yanakopulos led off with a double off the left-centerfield fence and scored when Tony Serino delivered his second hit of the night, an opposite field double to left. Mike Burgoyne made it a 5-0 game when he tripled just inside the right-field line, scoring Burgoyne and Mike Barbati, who had walked.

Lou Tarantino got Wakefield’s first hit of the night in the top of the third before the Chiefs upped the lead to 7-0 on Sonberg’s two run homer to straightaway center.

Mike Sorrentino led off the visitor’s fourth with a single to center and following and infield out, DiCato got John Davison to bounce into a 5-4-3 doubleplay to end the inning.

The Chiefs pushed the lead to 8-0 in the bottom of the fourth off reliever John Russolillo on three walks and Mike Andre’s sacrifice fly to right.

DiCato cruised through the fifth and sixth innings.

In the bottom of the sixth, Sam Wishnow recorded the first hit of his ICL career with a sharp single to left.

DiCato, 2-1, struck out three and walked just one.

The Chiefs resume play, following the ICL's annual Fourth of July break, when they host the Melrose Americans at Maplewood on Monday, July 6 at 8:15 PM. On Tuesday, the Chiefs visit the Somerville Thunder at Trum Field at 8:30 PM. The Reading Bulldogs will make a visit to Maplewood on Wednesday at 8:15 PM.

Somerville, MA- Matt DiCato threw 3.1 innings of two-hit scoreless relief, and pitched out of a bases loaded nobody out jam in the bottom of the fifth inning, on the way to an 8-3 win over the Somerville Thunder at Trum Field on Tuesday night.

The Chiefs got three hit nights from both Tony Serino and Peter Copa and added five extra basehits, including a solo homer and a RBI double from Mike Burgoyne.

The Chiefs picked up a couple of runs for starter Tim Dunphy in the top of the first. Serino led off with a double and Billy Mottram sent him home with an RBI single. A Copa double, sandwiched around walks to Mike Gedman and Mike Andre, loaded the bases. Thunder lefty Wyatt Stanley continued to have control issues and hit catcher Chad Conner with a pitch to force in Gedman with the second run of the inning.

Dunphy got the side in order in the bottom of the first and Burgoyne increased the lead to 3-0 when he led off the Chiefs’ second with a solo homer to left.

The Thunder got that run right back in the bottom of the second when Doug Diaz drilled a homer just inside the leftfield foul pole.

A walk to Jake Cintolo and back to back doubles from Devan Jones and Jonathan Sencabaugh tied the game at three each in the bottom of the third.

The Chiefs took the lead again in the top of the fourth when Ryan Sonberg doubled, stole third, and scored when the errant throw skipped into leftfield.

With the Chiefs clinging to a 4-3 lead the Thunder made more noise in the bottom of the fourth. Adam Johnson reached on a Sonberg error and Justin Knight lined a single down the right field line. Gedman turned in the defensive play of the night when he hosed Knight at second trying to stretch the hit to a double. With two outs and Johnson representing the tying run at third, DiCato came out of the bullpen to get Rob Caggiano on a grounder to keep Chiefs in front.

In the Thunder fifth, a throwing error by Mottram at third, a walk to Jones, and a single by Sencabaugh, loaded the bases with no outs. DiCato escaped on a comebacker to the mound, and two strikeouts.

The Chiefs got some breathing room in the top of the sixth when they increased the margin to 6-3 on an infield error, a Burgoyne RBI double, a Serino single, and a double steal.

Two more runs came across in the seventh against reliever Paul Pollano. Singles from Andre, Sonberg, and Serino, scored pinch runners Ceccilio Guante and Dave Wendt to account for the 8-3 final.

DiCato, who is now 3-0 on the year, struck out five. Dunphy went the first 3.2 innings and was charged with three earned runs and allowed seven hits. Stanley (0-1) took the loss in his first start of the year.

The Chiefs travel to Walsh Field in Wakefield to meet the Merchants on Wednesday in an early 6:00 PM start.

Wakefield, MA- The runs came in bunches at Walsh Field on Wednesday night.

The Merchants jumped out to a 6-0 second inning lead only to see the Chiefs rally back to score seven unanswered runs to take a 7-6 lead in the fifth inning.

Wakefield however had the final say in this one, scoring the final four runs of the night to take their fourth straight win, 10-7.

It was a rough first inning for Chiefs’ starter Jared Freni who gave up five runs and four hits, with the big blows being a bases clearing triple from Josh Band, and RBI singles from John Davison and B.J. Neil. Freni left the game at the end of the inning with his pre-game back muscle tightness certainly being a factor.

Evan Walsh came on to replace Freni to start the bottom of the second and the lead went to 6-0 on singles from Bobby Losanno, Mike Sorrentino, and Band.

The Chiefs chopped the lead in half in the top of the third. Mike Burgoyne walked, Paul Yanakopulos, Tony Serino, and Billy Mottram all singled, to make it a 6-2 game. Serino then scored to make it 6-3 when shortstop Scott Searles made a nice backhand grab of a Ryan Sonberg grounder and turned it into a 6-4-3 doubleplay.

Walsh kept the Merchants off the board in the bottom of the third and the Chiefs cut the lead to 6-5 in the top of the fourth. Peter Copa singled and Mike Andre moved him to second. After Mike Barbati flew out, RBI singles by Mike Burgoyne and Danny DiMare made it a one run game.

Sorrentino drew a walk to lead off the Merchants’ fourth but Walsh completed his second shutout inning with two groundouts and a strikeout.

The Chiefs came all the way to take a short lived 7-6 lead in the top of the fifth. Mottram walked, Gedman doubled, and Copa drove them both home with a RBI single to left.

The Merchants used singles from Neil, Lou Tarantino, Losanno, and Sorrentino, to come back and score three times and take the lead for good at 9-7 in the bottom of the fifth.

Brendan Deleire (1-0) blanked the Chiefs over the final two frames to pick up the win.

Walsh, (0-1, 4.0 innings, 8 hits, 2K’s) took the loss. Gedman worked his first inning of the season in relief of Walsh in the bottom of the sixth.

Johnny Welch left the game in the second inning, as a precautionary measure, after being hit in the helmet by a Jason Ferlan pitch in the top of the first. Welch appeared okay and remained in the Chiefs dugout during the game. (Bruce Tillman/Dave Greco)

Malden, MA- The two teams picked up right where they left off last August, and in the end it was a familiar face that made the difference.

Veteran Dan Graham drove in the only run of the night with a sharp 9th inning single that gave the Lexington Blue Sox 1-0 win over the Chiefs at Maplewood on Monday night.

For the two ICL heavyweights, this was another in a long line of epic battles. This one came in the first game of the year, instead of in the ICL finals, where they have met for four straight seasons and five times in the last six years.

The Chiefs had plenty of chances to break the scoring ice against Blue Sox starter Alsis Herrera and relievers Tim Duggan and Chris Law. Blue Sox pitching frustrated the defending champs all game long as they had at least one baserunner in every inning except the 9th.

Mike DiCato was just as sharp for the Chiefs, but his teammates just couldn’t get him a run to work with.

Through the first three innings, the Chiefs stranded Tony Serino with a leadoff single, Mike Andre in the second who drew a walk, and Nick Leva in the third with a single. They squandered a terrific scoring opportunity in the fourth when Mike Gedman led off with a gap double. After Herrera struck out Nate Witkowski, Mike Barbati hit a high chopper toward Ross Curley at third. The ball was bobbled allowing Barbati to reach first and when Gedman took a wide turn at third, he was tagged out.

In the bottom of the fifth, Serino reached on an infield error, stole second, but was left there when Herrera got Mike Burgoyne to ground out. The Chiefs loaded the bases in the sixth. After Hererra struck out both Billy Mottram and Gedman to start the inning, Peter Copa followed with a single and Andre and Barbati both drew walks. The threat went by the board when Witkowski bounced back to Hererra to end the inning. In the seventh, Burgoyne singled up the middle with two outs but was forced at second when Mottram grounded out.

The Chiefs got the winning run into scoring position in the bottom of the eighth. Copa singled to left with one out and Danny DiMare came on to run. Barbati then dropped a bunt, with Duggan making a nice play and throwing him out at first by a step. With DiMare now at second, Duggan struck out Ryan Sonberg, who had pinch run in the bottom of the sixth, on a check swing 0-2 pitch.

DiCato walked Mike Hart to open the top of the ninth and he promptly stole both second and third. With the Chiefs infield drawn in, Dorian Rojas grounded out to Mottram at third for the first out of the inning. Graham, the ICL MVP in 2007 and 2009, came up big for the umpteenth time in his career when he delivered Hart with a crisp single to right. That ended DiCato’s herculean night and southpaw Evan Walsh came out of the bullpen to strikeout the left-handed hitting Kyle Adie for the second out. With righty John Puttress coming to the plate, the Chiefs brought in Matt DiCato, who struck him out swinging.

The Chiefs couldn’t generate an answer in the bottom of the ninth as Law got Witkowski and Leva to both groundout and then ended things when Serino flew to Adie in left.

DiCato (1-1) took the loss despite allowing just five hits and striking out three in his 8.1 innings.

The Chiefs, who fell to 8-1 and saw their eight game season opening winning streak come to a close, visit the Somerville Thunder at Trum Field on Tuesday at 8:15 PM. On Wednesday, they meet the Wakefield Merchants at Walsh Field in an early 6:00 PM start. (Text-B.Tillman, Stats-B.Hack)

Malden, MA- Tim Dunphy threw ground balls, Johnny Welch hit the long ball, and the Chiefs defense smothered every ball, all leading to a hard fought 1-0 win over the Reading Bulldogs at Maplewood on Wednesday night. For the Chiefs, it was their seventh consecutive win and raised their record to 7-0 on the season.

Dunphy recorded 16 groundball outs as the Chiefs’ infield flung the leather around all night long.

The only run of the game came in the bottom of the fourth inning when Johnny Welch sent a 3-2 Sean O’Neill breaking ball over the left-field fence and half-way to Linden Square. For Welch, it was his first dinger of the season and the tenth in his Chiefs’ career.

Neither team could muster any other scoring threats until the Bulldogs appeared poised to do some damage against Dunphy in the top of the sixth inning. Consecutive singles from Bentley’s Burton Deady and Endicott’s Cody Hall, set Reading up with runners on first and second and nobody out. Dunphy got tough and struck out Darren Hartwell looking for the first out, then got Corbin Hyde on a grounder to Peter Copa at first for out number two. With Reading runners now at second and third and Zac Talis at bat, a low 2-1 pitch was blocked by catcher Chad Conner but the ball squirted a few feet away. Conner quickly recovered and flipped to Dunphy who applied the tag on Deady, who was coming home on a close play at the plate to end the inning.

The Bulldogs made some noise again in the top of the seventh but couldn’t push the equalizer across. Zac Talis put the visitors in business when he led off with a line single to center. Enter the defense of Copa from that point on. The first baseman made a nice stop on a Mike Taylor chopper and threw to Nate Witkowski, forcing pinch runner Cam Farnham at second for the first out, with the relay to complete a 3-6-1 doubleplay being a step late. Ryan O’Conner was next and Copa took a similar path, gloving his grounder and forcing Taylor at second for out number two. Copa saved his best for last when he made a diving stop on a Josh Drew hard hit one-hopper and scrambled to his feet in time to beat him to the bag to end the game.

Copa had 13 putouts to go along with his two assists and second baseman Mike Barbati was perfect in five defensive chances.

Welch’s infield single in the first inning and Barbati’s one out liner in the fifth inning were the Chiefs only other hits off O’Neill who fell to 1-2 on the year. The former Brandeis ace struck out seven.

Dunphy (1-0) allowed five hits and struck out a couple. He didn’t walk a batter and added four assists and a putout to aid his own cause. It was the 31st career win in a Chiefs' uniform for the former Brandeis standout.

The Chiefs are expected to send righty Jared Freni (3-0) to the mound when they travel to Morelli Field to visit the Melrose Americans on Thursday at 8:00 PM. (Bruce Tillman, 400hiter.com)