Andre Chiefs

Melrose, MA- Mike DiCato and Jared Freni combined on a five-hit shutout, and Johnny Welch’s sixth inning triple was the difference, when the Chiefs edged the Wakefield Merchants 1-0 in the first game of a three team doubleheader to clinch the Intercity League’s 2014 regular season pennant. In the process they secured the #1 seed as well as an opening game bye in the upcoming double elimination playoff tournament that will eventually lead to two finalists that will play a best of five series.

For the Chiefs, it was their second consecutive regular season crown and the eighth since they became the Andre Chiefs in 1989.

Monday night’s games were switched to Morelli Field after a contractor severed a power line in the parking lot that abuts Maplewood Park late in the afternoon, causing all power to the facility to be lost.

The clincher did not come easy, courtesy of Wakefield lefty Kyle McCarthy who threw an outstanding game and frustrated Chiefs’ hitters all night long.

DiCato, the Chiefs' veteran right-hander, was equally as tough, shutting out the Merchants over the first four innings before giving way to fellow veteran Jared Freni, who blanked Wakefield over their final three at-bats.

DiCato got the Wakefield side in order in the top of the first and the Chiefs’ mounted a mini threat in the bottom of the inning. After two groundouts, McCarthy hit Billy Mottram with a pitch. Welch then singled before McCarthy got Mike Gedman to ground out sharply to second, ending the inning.

The Merchants got two baserunners aboard with two outs in the top of the second when Jon Davison reached on an infield error and Joe Barry followed with a single. DiCato kept it scoreless when he got Anthony Cruz to groundout to Nate Witkowski.

Peter Copa led off the bottom of the second with a single but was erased when Mike Barbati grounded into a 6-4-3 doubleplay.

The Chiefs went the defensive doubleplay route as well in the top of the third when Lou Tarantino led things off with a single but was dispatched when Bobby Lossano bounced into a 5-4-3 twin killing.

The Chiefs got a one out infield single from Mike Burgoyne in the bottom of the third before McCarthy got Paul Yanakopulos to bounce out and then struck out Mottram swinging.

The Merchants had their best scoring chance in the top of the fourth. Scott Searles led the inning off with a single. James Ramsey then flew to Burgoyne in center for the first out before Kevin Mortimer singled to put two runners on with one out. DiCato then got Davison to line to Mottram in left and struck out Barry swinging to send the game to the bottom of the fourth.

Welch began things in the fourth with his second straight single of the night. Gedman then drilled a fly to deep right-center than was tracked down by Lossano for the first out. McCarthy stayed tough and got Copa to ground into a 6-4-3 doubleplay, ending the inning.

Freni emerged out of the Chiefs’ bullpen to begin the fifth inning. He got Cruz to fly to Gedman in right, retired Tarantino on a come backer to the mound, before surrendering a right-center field double to Lossano. He kept the Merchants off the scoreboard when Nick Murray grounded to Welch at third.

McCarthy retired the Chiefs in order in the bottom of the fifth when Barbati grounded out, Mike Andre lined out to Lossano, and Witkowski popped up.

Freni was dominant in the top of the sixth, getting Searles on a groundout, and then struck out Ramsey and Mortimer in succession.

The Chiefs got the game winner in the bottom of the sixth. McCarthy got Burgoyne to line out sharply to right-field for the first out. McCarthy’s only free pass of the night would prove costly when he walked Yanakopulos on a full count. Mottram then struck out for the second out. Welch followed and once again put the Chiefs fortunes' on his back and delivered yet another game changing hit. With Yanakopulos running on a 2-2 pitch, Welch drilled a line shot over Lossano’s head in center for a triple, easily scoring Yanakopulos. McCarthy kept it a 1-0 game when struck out Gedman on a breaking ball.

Freni came out of the gate with a just a little extra on his fastball and never left the issue in doubt. The big right-hander struck out the side (Davison, Barry & Cruz) in order, to secure the Chiefs’ second straight pennant.

DiCato gave up four hits and struck out three in his four innings. Freni went to 8-2 with the win. He worked three innings, struck out the last five batters he faced, and allowed just one hit.
Bruce Tillman for www.andrechiefs.com Photos by Jim Valente.

Melrose, MA- After clinching the regular season crown in the first game, the Chiefs were edged by the Lexington Blue Sox 4-3 in the late nightcap of Monday’s three team doubleheader.

Nick Martinho’s solo homer in the top of the sixth inning proved to be the difference in the game.

The Blue Sox jumped out to a 2-0 first inning lead on singles from Ross Curley, Will Marcal, and Mike Hart, and a double from Danny Graham.

The lead went to 3-0 in the third on singles from Graham and Hart, and a sacrifice fly from Justin Silvestro.

The Chiefs’ tied it up at 3-3 in the bottom of the fourth on singles by Mike Gedman and Dan Bonito, an infield error, and walks to Matt Boleski and Ceccilo Guante.

Martinho provided the game winner when he led off the Lexington sixth with his first homer of the season

Matt DiCato worked the first four innings for the Chiefs. He allowed seven hits and struck out three. Evan Walsh (0-1) went the final three innings, giving up four hits, including Martinho’s homer, and took the loss.

Bonito and Gedman had two hits each for the Chiefs while Adam Lucey and Mike Burgoyne had the other hits.

The Chiefs finished the regular season at 23-7 while the Blue Sox ended up at 22-6-2.
(Bruce Tilman for www.andrechiefs.com Stats and boxscore by Bruce Hack)

Lexington, MA- Mike Gedman came on with the tying run at the plate in the bottom of the sixth inning and proceeded to retire all four batters he faced, including two K’s, to keep the Chiefs’ lead intact in a 5-3 win over the Blue Sox on Sunday night. Gedman’s save preserved the win for fellow southpaw Tim Dunphy, who raised his record to 8-1 on the year.

With the road win, the Chiefs’ secured themselves a playoff bye and leapfrogged both the Blue Sox and Watertown Reds and moved into first place. The regular season concludes on Monday night with a rare three team doubleheader at Maplewood. The Chiefs meet the Wakefield Merchants at 6:45 PM and will play the Blue Sox again immediately following.

In Sunday’s game, the Chiefs jumped on Lexington starter Jimmy Hill for a couple for runs in the first inning. Tony Serino got things underway when he led off the game with an opposite field double down the leftfield line. Paul Yanakopulos then grounded to Steve Gath at shortstop for the first out. Billy Mottram gave the Chiefs a quick lead with a line single to right-center, scoring Serino. Hill then hit Welch and walked Gedman to load the bases. Peter Copa popped up for the second out and Hill’s wildness continued when he walked Mike Barbati with the bases loaded to make it 2-0. Hill escaped further damage when he struck out Mike Andre swinging on a 3-2 pitch to end the inning.

Tommy McKenna was thrown out by Dunphy trying to bunt his way aboard leading off the bottom of the first. Ross Curley then singled before Mottram made a Sports Center worthy stop of a Gath seed to third, fired to second to force Curley, but Barbati’s throw to first was low and skipped by Copa. With Gath at standing at second, Dunphy got Dave Ahern to groundout to Johnny Welch to send the game to the second inning.

Offense abandoned both clubs over the next three frames as Hill settled down and retired the Chiefs in order in the second, third, and fourth. Dunphy was equally as tough, as he faced the minimum of nine batters over the bottom of those innings. The only runner to reach base was when Dunphy walked Gath with one out in the fourth. Gath was dispatched when Ahern hit into a 4-6-3 doubleplay.

The Chiefs made some bigtime two out noise in the top of the fifth inning. Yanakopulos lined a single to left and Mottram followed with a double into the rightfield corner. Welch then send a 1-1 Hill pitch deep into the left-center field night, giving the Chiefs a 5-0 lead. For Welch, it was his league leading 8th homer of the year and his fourth in the last four games.

The Blue Sox closed the gap to 5-3 in the bottom of the fifth. Dan Graham led things off with a single to left. Mike Hart then lined a single to right with Graham stopping at second. The Blue Sox then caught a break when Justin Silvestro’s potential doubleplay grounder took a bad hop and Lexington was in business with the bases loaded and nobody out. In one of the more bizarre plays of the year, Tommy Haugh hit a chopper off the plate that went over Copa’s head at first and into short rightfield with Graham and Hart scoring. When Haugh got caught and then was tagged out in a rundown between first and second, Silvestro broke for the plate and scored the third Lexington run. Dunphy regained his form and got John Puttress and McKenna to both ground out as the game headed to the sixth with Chiefs’ holding a 5-3 lead.

Aidan Freeburg came out of the Lexington bullpen and got Copa and Barbati on fly balls and Andre on a groundout in a 1-2-3 top of the sixth.

Curley lined a single to left to begin the Blue Sox sixth. Serino turned in what perhaps is the Chiefs’ defensive play of the year, when he made a spectacular diving grab of a Gath shot that was labeled for the right-center field gap. Serino got to his feet and fired a strike to Barbati, who made a perfect relay to Copa to double off Curley at first. That play turned out to be even bigger when Ahern lined Dunphy’s next pitch for a double. That signaled the end of the night for Dunphy who gave way to Gedman. Gedman went 2-2 on the always dangerous Graham before getting him swinging to end the inning.

Mike Burgoyne reached on an error by Silvestro to lead off the Chiefs’ seventh. Serino then bunted Burgoyne to second and he went to third on a wild pitch. Freeberg recorded two big strikeouts and kept it a two run game when he got both Yanakopulos and Mottram both swinging.

Gedman was in control in the seventh striking out Hart swinging and then getting Silvestro and Haugh on infield grounders.

The Chiefs in winning their seventh straight game, saw their record climb to 22-6 on the year.
(Bruce Tillman for www.andrechiefs.com, Bruce Hack- boxscore & stats, Jim Valente-photos)

Melrose, MA- Johnny Welch hit two homers, including a sixth inning grand slam, and drove in six runs, to power the Chiefs past the Melrose Americans 11-3 on Thursday night at Morelli Field.

The Chiefs broke open a 3-3 tie, sending 10 men to plate in the sixth inning, when they scored seven runs.

Chiefs’ starter Mitchell Clegg and the Americans’ Gianni Esposito were locked in a scoreless duel until the Americans took a 1-0 in the bottom of the third. The run came on an opposite field double by Austin Masel and an RBI infield single from Greg Wilson.

The Chiefs came right back and scored three times in the top of the fourth. Juan Portes reached on an infield error and Welch gave the Chiefs a 2-1 lead when he drilled a two run homer to center. A Peter Copa walk and singles from Mike Barbati and Matt Boleski jumped the lead to 3-1.

The Americans tied the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the fifth. Shawn Doyle led off with a single off Welch’s glove at third. Masel followed with a single to left. Bobby Rosano moved the runners up with a sacrifice bunt before Mac Singleton drove them both home with a gap shot double to right-center. Clegg got Wilson on an infield grounder and then retired Mike Addesa on fly out to keep it a tie game.

Rosano made a nice sliding catch on a Peter Copa liner to leading off the sixth before Barbati doubled into the right field corner. Paul Yanakopulos then reached on a throwing error with Barbati scoring on the play. Matt Boleski and Tony Serino drew consecutive walks and Mike Burgoyne lined a single to right to give the Chiefs a 5-3 lead. Boleski scored the sixth run on a passed ball. Mike Peters came out of the Americans’ bullpen and issued a walk to Portes. Welch made it 10-3 when he crushed a grand slam deep over the left-field fence.

Clegg retired the side in order in the bottom of the sixth, including two K’s.

The Chiefs added their final run in the seventh against Ryan Covelle on a Burgoyne infield hit and an error.

Clegg (3-0) allowed six hits and struck out nine. –Bruce Tillman for www.andrechiefs.com

Wakefield, MA- Jared Freni limited the Merchants to two singles, and his mates backed him with ten hits, when the Chiefs turned back Wakefield 4-1 at Walsh Field on Wednesday night.

After a scoreless first inning, the Chiefs got to Wakefield starter Scott Searles for a couple of runs in the top of the second. Mike Gedman got things started with a single to right-center. After Mike Barbati bunted Gedman to second, Paul Yanakopulos tripled to left, scoring Gedman for a 1-0 Chiefs’ lead. With the Merchants’ infield drawn in, Matt Boleski singled past shortstop Nick Murray to score Yanakopulos giving the Chiefs their second run. Searles got Adam Lucey to ground out and Tony Serino to pop up to end the frame.

A two out single from Anthony Cruz is all the Merchants could generate against Freni in the bottom of the second.

The Chiefs’ lead went to 3-0 in the top of the third when Johnny Welch hit an absolute moon shot solo homer into the trees beyond the left-field fence. For Welch, it was his league leading fifth round tripper of the season.

The Merchants narrowed the margin to 3-1 in the bottom of the third. John Grossi drew a leadoff walk and Bobby Lossano blooped a single to right. Both runners moved up a base on Nick Murray’s sacrifice bunt. Mike Sorrentino then hit a chopper to right of the mound that scored Grossi, with Freni throwing out Sorrentino at first on the play. Freni ended the threat when he got James Ramsey swinging to end the inning.

Freni and Searles matched blanks over the next two innings before the Chiefs added a run in the top of the sixth. After Gedman grounded out, Barbati doubled into the left-centerfield gap. Yanakopulos followed with a line single to center, scoring Barbati, increasing the lead to 4-1. Boleski then singled to center before Searles kept it a three run game when he got pinch-hitter Billy Mottram to pop up and Serino to fly to Sorrentino in left.

Freni walked Sorrentino to lead off the Wakefield sixth before Ramsey grounded out, Kevin Mortimer struck out, and Jon Davison on lined out to Mike Burgoyne in right.

Burgoyne led off the top of the seventh with a long double to left-center but the Chiefs couldn’t capitalize. Seales got Juan Portes to fly out, struck out Welch swinging, and retired Gedman on a deep fly to Lossano in center.

Freni sealed the win when he dispatched the Merchants in order in the bottom of the seventh by getting Cruz to fly to Serino in center, and then striking out Joe Barry and Grossi in succession to end the night.

Freni struck out seven and walked three. With the win, he raised his season mark to 7-2 on the year. Searles (0-1) surrendered ten hits, struck out four, and didn’t walk a batter.

Chiefs Chatter….. Wednesday’s win was the Chiefs fifth in a row….The Chiefs hit the twenty win (overall) plateau for the seventh year in a row and for the 20th time since they became the Andre Chiefs in 1989….Mike Barbati remains torrid at the plate and has taken over the top spot in the ICL batting race. The veteran second baseman currently checks in at lofty .441, ahead of the Watertown duo of Kyle LaVigne (.423) and Sean Callahan-Montague (.406) as the only three ICL hitters above the .400 mark….. The Chiefs have four of the top six hitters in the league as Mike Andre (.375), Juan Portes (.375) and Johnny Welch (.373) occupy the fourth, fifth, and sixth spots…..Welch leads the league in homers with five and RBI’s (tied) with 22. Andre is third league-wide with 20 RBI while Portes is sixth with 18…..The Chiefs played Wednesday’s game without Peter Copa or Andre in the lineup…..The Chiefs travel to Morelli Field in Melrose to meet the Americans on Thursday at 7:30 PM…..Bruce Tillman for www.andrechiefs.com