Andre Chiefs

Melrose, MA- Time to exhale!!!

For the second time in three seasons, and the 19th time since 1961, the Chiefs are League Champions!!!!

This championship came on Tuesday night at Morelli Field in a 4-0 win over the Lexington Blue Sox in a winner take all Game Five before a large crowd at the Melrose ball yard.

The Chiefs took a familiar path to the ICL crown, riding the right arm of ace Jared Freni, who took a no-hitter into the sixth inning before settling for a three-hit shutout.

For Freni, it was his straight third win in the 2014 postseason.

Mike Barbati and Mike Gedman set the defensive tone for the evening on Freni’s first pitch of the game. Barbati went far to his right to glove Jeff Vigurs’ hard hit grounder and fired to Gedman, who made an outstanding pickup, for the first out. Freni then struck out Ross Curley on a 2-2 breaking ball in the dirt but catcher Paul Yanakopulos’ throw was wide of first. With Curley standing at first on the throwing error, Gedman teamed up with third baseman Johnny Welch as the Chiefs continued to throw the leather on the next play. Steve Gath hit a liner at Welch, who made the catch, and fired to first with Gedman making his second strong pick-up of the inning as Curley was doubled up.

The Chiefs threatened but could not score against Lexington starter and loser Matt Karis in the bottom of the first. Tony Serino drilled Karis’ first pitch of the night into centerfield for a single. Billy Mottram was next and he flew to Dave Ahearn in right for the first out. Juan Portes then hit a fielder’s choice with Serino being forced at second. Welch followed with a single to center before Gedman bounced back to Karis to end the inning.

Freni walked Ahearn to begin the top of the second before retiring the next three hitters in succession.

The Chiefs got what proved to be the game winner, without getting the ball out of the infield, in the bottom of the second. Yanakopulos got things started with a perfect bunt single. Mike Andre then dropped a sacrifice bunt that moved Yanakopulos to second. Barbati followed and reached on a dribbler-single down the third base line to put runners on the corners with one out. Mike Burgoyne then hit an RBI chopper to Tommy Haugh at first with Yanakopulos coming across the plate for a 1-0 lead. Karis got Serino on a comebacker to mound to end the inning and strand Barbati at second.

It was three up and three down for the Blue Sox in the top of the third and the Chiefs extended their lead to 2-0 in the home half of the inning. Mottram led off with a bloop single to left. Portes then lined a 0-2 Karis pitch to Ahearn in left-center for the first out. With the count 2-1 on Welch, Mottram attempted to steal second but was gunned out by Vigurs for the second out. Welch then hit Karis’ next pitch over the 385’ sign in left-center, for 2-0 lead. For the Chiefs’ cleanup man, it was his first homer of the playoffs and his ninth of season. Karis got Gedman to groundout to Curley at third to end the inning.

Curley bounced out to Welch to begin the Lexington fourth before Freni struck out both Gath and Ahearn ending the inning.

Yanakopulos opened the bottom of the fourth with a single but the Chiefs couldn’t add to their lead after Andre grounded into a doubleplay and Barbati grounded out to Haugh.

Freni kept the no-hitter going and added two more strikeouts to complete a 1-2-3 top of the fifth.

In the Chiefs’ fifth, after Burgoyne grounded to Gath for the first out, back to back doubles from Serino and Mottram jumped the lead to 3-0. Portes then grounded out for the second out with Mottram taking third. With Welch at the plate, Vigurs picked Mottram off of third base to end the inning.

Lexington mounted their biggest threat of the game after two were out in the top of the sixth. Freni struck out Mike Hart and then retired Tommy McKenna on grounder for the first two outs of the inning. Vigurs drew a walk before Curley broke up the no-hit bid with a single to left, just out of the reach of the leaping Portes at shortstop. Gath then came to the plate suddenly representing the tying run. After running the count to 2-2, including a couple of foul balls back to the screen, Freni put the Chiefs three outs away from the championship when he struck out the veteran on a low breaking ball.

Gedman gave the Chiefs a little more breathing room, with one away in the bottom of the sixth, when he hit a 2-0 Karis pitch over the centerfield wall to increase the lead to 4-0.

Ahearn grounded out to Welch for the first out of the seventh. Graham singled to center before Justin Silvestro grounded out to Gedman, who threw to Portes to force Graham, for the second out. Haugh was next and he dropped a single into right, just out of the reach of Gedman, to put two runners aboard. John Puttress pinch hit for Hart and after going down in the count 0-2, grounded to Gedman, who flipped to Freni to end the game and secure the championship.

Freni struck out nine and needed 97 pitches in his complete game effort.

Karis allowed ten hits and didn’t strike out or walk a batter.

Melrose, MA-The deciding game of the Intercity League’s best of five championship series will be played tonight (Tuesday) at Morelli Field in Melrose, MA starting at 8:00 PM.

The Lexington Blue Sox and the Chiefs are tied up at two games each.

The Chiefs won the series opener 6-0. The Blue Sox took Game Two by a score of 3-2. The Chiefs came back to take Game Three in extra innings 2-1, before the Blue Sox won Game Four 3-1.

In each of the first four games, the home team has emerged victorious.

The Chiefs will be the home team tonight by virtue of winning the regular season pennant and receiving the #1 seed in the ICL’s playoff tournament.

The Blue Sox enter the game with an overall record of 26-8-2 while the Chiefs come in at 27-10-0.

Matt Karis (5-1 overall, 2-0 in postseason) will start for the Blue Sox while the Chiefs will counter with Jared Freni (10-2, 2-0 in postseason).

Melrose, MA- For the fourth consecutive season it will come down to a fifth and deciding game.

Did any anyone really expect anything less from these two teams?

The Lexington Blue Sox vs. The Andre Chiefs.

The Andre Chiefs vs. The Lexington Blue Sox.

And on and on and on it goes…..

Before discussing the particulars of Sunday’s game, a 3-1 Blue Sox win, here is the tale of the tape.

The two ICL heavyweights have played the maximum of 19 games in the Championship Series since 2011 and now they will play a 20th, on Tuesday night at Morelli Field, to crown the 2014 winner.

Over the span of those last 19 championship games, and what is fast becoming a late summer ritual in these parts, the Blue Sox have won 10 times and the Chiefs nine times.

The Blue Sox won the rubber game in 2011 and 2013 and the Chiefs won in 2012.

The teams have already met nine times this season.

Matt Karis for the Blue Sox and Jared Freni for the Chiefs, which (who else?) will be the pitching match-up in Game Five.

The Chiefs franchise has won 18 titles dating back to 1960 and the Blue Sox have taken 10 championships since their first in 1998, including eight of the last ten.

Stay tuned and tie yourself on.

Another chapter in the history of these two storied franchises will be written on Tuesday.

And, oh yes, there was a Game Four on Sunday night.

If you missed the first two innings then you missed all of the night’s scoring.

From the third inning on the game was dominated by Lexington’s Aidan Freeburg and the Chiefs’ Tim Dunphy. Freeburg actually retired 15 of the last 16 batters he faced and Dunphy probably deserved a better fate due to some early defensive lapses. But the truth be told, the Chiefs just could not get much going against Freeburg all night long.

Freeburg got both Tony Serino and Billy Mottram to line out for the initial two outs in the top of the first. Juan Portes and Johnny Welch both followed with singles before Freeburg denied the scoring opportunity when Mike Gedman grounded out to Tommy Haugh at first to end the inning.

The Blue Sox took advantage of three Chiefs’ defensive lapses to take a 2-0 lead in their first at bat. Dunphy opened the bottom of the first by getting Jeff Vigurs to ground to Portes at shortstop. Ross Curley followed and hit a hard grounder to Welch at third who came up with the ball but threw low to first for an error. Steve Gath was next and he hit another grounder to Welch, who went diving to his left to make a great stop, and recovered quickly enough to begin what looked like a 5-4-3 inning ending doubleplay. Mike Barbati appeared to take his eyes of Welch’s throw to second and the ball went into right field, with Curley going to third and Gath taking second on the error. Dave Ahern made the miscues hurt when he singled to center, scoring Curley, for a 1-0 Blue Sox lead. Dunphy then recorded a big out when he caught Dan Graham looking at strike three for the second out of the inning. The third defensive lapse came when Dunphy threw a two strike wild pitch, with Justin Silverstro at the plate, allowing Gath to come across with the second run. That stung a little bit more when Dunphy struck out Silvestro on the next pitch. The early damage was done the Chiefs were looking at a 2-0 deficit heading for the second.

The Chiefs responed and cut the lead in half in the top of the second. Paul Yanakopulos singled to left and Mike Andre followed with a single to right. Barbati then dropped a well placed sacrifice bunt that moved both runners into scoring position. Freeburg then got a big out when he got Mike Burgoyne to pop up. Serino was next and he delivered with single to short left, scoring Yanakopulos and sending Andre to third. Mike Hart then tracked down Mottram’s well hit liner in the left-centerfield gap to retire the side.

The Blue Sox got that run right back in the bottom of the second. Haugh singled down the left field line and Hart followed with a line single to right, putting runners on the corners with nobody out. Will Marcal then hit a missle at Gedman. The big first baseman got a glove on the potential, but extremely difficult to handle, 3-unassisted doubleplay ball, but it got just far enough behind him for an infield single and a 3-1 Lexington lead. Barbati then turned in the defensive gem of the game and saved a run when he made a diving stop of a Vigurs liner that was labeled for centerfield. The Chiefs finally got their doubleplay, albeit in an unconventional manner, when Curley flew to Serino in deep center and Hart tagged up from second but left the base a bit early and was doubled off to end the inning.

That was it in the scoring department for the evening although both teams had a few more chances.

The Chiefs last scoring opportunity came in the top of the third. Portes drew a walk and Welch reached on a what was scored a single to left when his sky high pop up got above the lights. Freeburg escaped the jam when Gedman and Yanakopulos both popped up and Hart tracked down Andre’s liner in the right-centerfield gap.

The game moved quickly in the bottom of the third, the top of the fourth, and the top of the fifth, as Dunphy and Freeburg didn’t allow a base runner.

Marcal led off the home half of fifth with a single, but Lexington couldn’t add to their lead when Dunphy got Vigurs to fly to Mottram and Curley to hit into a 6-4-3 doubleplay.

It was another 1-2-3 inning for Freeburg in the top of the sixth.

The Blue Sox threatened but didn’t score in the bottom of the sixth. Gath drew a leadoff walk and Ahern followed with a single. Graham then bunted them into scoring position before two comebackers to Dunphy, off the bats of Silvestro and Haugh, sent the game to the seventh.

Freeburg got Barbati on a grounder to Gath and Burgoyne on bouncer back to mound to send the Chiefs down to their last out. Serino kept the game alive when he singled up the middle before Mottram struck out swinging to end the game.

Freeburg, the rookie right-hander from WPI, allowed seven hits and struck out three.

Dunphy gave up just one earned run, also allowed six hits, and struck out a couple. (Bruce Tillman, Bruce Hack-Stats & Boxscores-www.Pointsteak.com, Jim Valente-Photos)

 

MORE PLAYOFF COVERAGE ON MONDAY.

Melrose, MA- Billy Mottram’s two out opposite field single down the left field line scored Paul Yanakopulos, who had tripled in the bottom of the eighth inning, to give the Chiefs a 2-1 extra inning walkoff win in Game Three of Intercity League’s best of five championship series on Friday night at Morelli Field.

With the win, the Chiefs take a 2-1 series lead over the Lexington Blue Sox with Game Four scheduled for Sunday at 7:30 PM at Morelli Field.

The Chiefs got the opportunity for the win thanks to the lights out pitching of Mitchell Clegg. The big lefty scattered just three hits and was virtually untouchable after Lexington got an unearned run in the top of the first inning. The Washington Nationals product retired the last eleven batters of the game in a row.

The Chiefs got off to an ominous start when Mike Barbati bobbled Jeff Vigurs grounder on the first pitch of the game for an error. Clegg struck out Ross Curley before walking his only batter of the game when he issued a free pass to Steve Gath on four pitches. The Blue Sox took advantage and a quick 1-0 lead when Dave Ahern doubled to right, scoring Vigurs and sending Gath to third. With runners at second and third and one out, the Chiefs escaped pretty cheaply when the Blue Sox ran themselves out of the inning. With the Chiefs infield playing halfway, Dan Graham was thrown out at first on a bouncer to Juan Portes at shortstop. After the putout, Ahern got hung up in a rundown between second and third before being tagged out by Portes to end the inning.

Mottram singled off Blue Sox starter Drew Brzozowski with one out in the bottom of the first before getting both Portes and Johnny Welch to fly out to send the game to the second.

Justin Silvestro led off the Lexington second with a single to left and Tommy Haugh moved him into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt. Clegg left Silvestro at second when he struck out Mike Hart and then retired Tommy McKenna on groundout to Barbati.

Brzozowski enjoyed a rocking chair six pitch 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the second.

The Blue Sox got their final runner of the night into scoring position in their half of the third. Vigurs reached on a tough chance error by Portes in the shortstop hole and Curley bunted him to second. Clegg kept it a one run deficit when he got Gath on a grounder to Welch at third and then put down the side when Ahern flew to Mike Gedman in right.

Brzozowski cruised through the bottom of the third with a strikeout and two grounders and Clegg returned the favor when he got the Lexington side in order in the top of the fourth.

The Chiefs broke into the scoring column and got the equalizer when Portes hit a one out solo homer to left-center, knotting the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the fourth.

Hart recorded Lexington’s last hit of the night when he led off the top of the fifth with a single up the middle. Lexington played small ball again when McKenna dropped a bunt that Clegg fielded but threw late to second, setting them up with two men on and nobody out. Clegg then recorded a big out when he struck out Vigurs on three pitches. The Chiefs got out of the scrape when they turned a Barbati to Portes to Copa doubleplay, off the bat of Curley, to end the inning.

Copa led off the bottom of the fifth and legged out a slow infield roller to the left side. The first baseman went down in a heap after crossing the bag and had to be helped off the field with an apparent quad injury. Mike Burgoyne came on to pinch run and he was promptly sacrificed to second on a text book bunt by Mike Andre. Brzozowski then got Barbati to pop to Haugh for the second out of the inning. Yanakopulos followed and drilled a single to left. McKenna put a charge on the ball and came up throwing and fired a perfect strike to Vigurs who applied the tag on Burgoyne to end the inning and keep it a 1-1 game.

Clegg meanwhile was assuming command on the mound. He retired Gath on a grounder to Portes, struck out Ahern, and then got Graham to foul out to Welch, in an eleven pitch top of the sixth.

Brzozowski was equally as tough in the bottom of the inning when he retired Tony Serino and Mottram on grounders, walked Portes, before Welch lined out to second.

In the top of the seventh, Clegg caught Silvestro looking at strike three, got Haugh to line out to Barbati, and then struck out Hart swinging.

The Chiefs went quietly in the bottom of the seventh. Gedman grounded to Gath and Burgoyne and Andre both flew out to send the game to extra innings.

Clegg set the Sox down in order for the third straight time in the top of the eighth on a grounder and a couple of popups that set the stage for the bottom half of the inning’s dramatics.

Barbati led off the bottom of the eighth and lined to Ahern in right for the first out. Yanakopulos followed and delivered one of the biggest hits of his Chiefs’ career when he sent a line triple to the wall in straightaway center. Serino was next, and after going to a 3-0 count, Brzozowski came up money and struck out the leadoff hitter with a high fastball for the second out. Mottram then stepped to the plate with the series lead on the line and supplied the game winner. The lefty lofted a 3-1 pitch just inside the leftfield foul line and barely out of the reach of McKenna to send the Chiefs pouring out of the dugout as Yanakopulos came across the plate with the winning run.

Clegg, who struck out seven, evened his postseason record at 1-1 and improved his overall season mark to 4-1. The southpaw threw 102 pitches of which 67 went for strikes. In addition to retiring the last 11 batters in a row, he set down 19 of final 20 Blue Sox he faced.

Brzozowski also was impressive. The former Brandeis standout, who entered the game with a 9-1 ICL postseason record dating back to 2009, allowed just six hits and struck out four in 7.2 innings.

Mottram, a Haverhill, MA product, was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in 2007 out of Dowling College. (Bruce Tillman, Bruce Hack-Stats & Boxscores-www.Pointsteak.com, Jim Valente-Photos)