Andre Chiefs

By Bruce Tillman
Malden, MA- The Chiefs jumped out to a 10-0 fifth inning lead and first beat the rain, and then Reading Bulldogs, 10-4 at steamy Maplewood Park on Monday night. The game was delayed 37 minutes at the start to accommodate the early evening showers.

Lefty Tim Dunphy went six innings to pick up his league best sixth win of the season. For the Chiefs, it was their eighth win in the last nine games, with the only blemish coming in an 8-7 walk off loss in Watertown last week.

Dunphy struck out the side in the top of the first and the Chiefs struck quickly against Reading starter Jack Burke picking up three runs in the bottom of inning. After Tony Serino grounded out, Paul Yanakopoulos reached on an infield error. Juan Portes drilled a single to left and clean-up man Johnny Welch drew a walk to load the bases. Mike Andre then gave the Chiefs a 1-0 lead when he laced a single off Burke’s leg to score Yanakopoulos. Peter Copa legged out the back end of an attempted double play for an RBI and a 2-0 lead. Nate Witkowski followed and reached on Reading’s second infield error of the inning, scoring Welch, to make it 3-0.

After Mike Taylor, who was 4-4 on the night, led off the second with a seed single, the Chiefs turned a 4-6-3 doubleplay and Dunphy got Aaron Santos to groundout to send the game to the bottom of the second.

The Chiefs doubled their lead to 6-0 when they added three more runs. Former Chicago Cub draftee Billy Mottram and Serino both drew walks. Paul Yanakopoulos then dropped a perfect bunt. When the Bulldogs were late in covering first, Yanakopoulos beat the throw, which was high, for a bunt single. The play was scored as a hit and an error on the throw, which allowed Mottram to score the Chiefs’ fourth run. After Burke got Portes to ground out, Welch picked up an RBI on an infield grounder to third. Andre gave the Chiefs a 6-0 lead with a line single to right, scoring Serino.

Mottram got his first hit in a Chiefs uniform with an opposite field double in the bottom of the third.

It went to 8-0 in the the fourth. Yanakopoulos led things off with a single and scored on Welch’s long double to left. Copa then delivered pinch-runner Mike Burgoyne with a single to center.

The Chiefs added two more runs in the bottom of the fifth. Mike Barbati singled and scored on a Serino opposite field and “Maplewood artificial turf bounce” triple to left. Yanakopoulos then brought Serino home with an RBI infield grounder to up the lead to 10-0.

The Bulldogs got to Dunphy for three runs in the top of the sixth on singles by Taylor and Kyle Devin and a double from Andrew Haser.

Reliever Dante Padovani kept the Chiefs off the board in the bottom of the sixth.

Reading added a run off reliever Mitchell Clegg in the seventh, who struck out two batters in the inning, on singles by Darren Hartwell, Devin, and Taylor.

Dunphy (6-1) allowed nine hits and struck out six.

Chiefs Chatter…..Clegg made his second appearance of the year. The former 6’ 5 UMass southpaw was the 21st round selection of Washington Nationals back in the 2009 MLB draft. He had a 28-26 record in the 101 professional games that he appeared in. He suffered an oblique strain after facing just one batter (a strikeout) against the Americans on June 2….. Mottram made his Chiefs debut. The former Dowling star was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in 2007. After spending time in the Chicago organization, Mottram moved on to Florence (AA) of the Frontier League where he hit 23 homers in 2009. In 414 professional games, he hit 55 career homers, knocked in 249 runs, and was a career .275 hitter….For Dunphy, it was his 27th win in a Chiefs uniform….The Chiefs are off on Tuesday and travel to Morelli Field in Melrose on Wednesday at 7:30 PM to visit the Americans……
(Jim Valente Photos)

Manager Rick D'Angelis has named the starters for the EMASS All-Star Classic that will be played on Saturday at Campanelli Stadium in Brockton. 

 INTERCITY LEAGUE STARTING LINEUP
CF-Kyle LaVigne, Reds, .424, 1 HR, 3 RBI
RF-Greg Wilson, Americans, .400, 1 HR, 5 RBI
SS-Juan Portes, Chiefs, .447, 3 HR, 14 RBI
3B-Johnny Welch, Chiefs, .447, 3 HR, 16 RBI
C- Sean Callahan-Montague, Reds, .413, 1 HR, 14 RBI
DH-Mike Andre, Chiefs, .340, 0 HR, 12 RBI
1B-Justin Forman, Reds, .359, 0 HR, 14 RBI
LF-Mike Hart, Blue Sox, .333, 0 HR, 4 RBI
2B-Will Brennan, Reds, .321, 0 HR, 15 RBI

P- Jared Freni, 5-1, 0.35 ERA, 51 K’s

By Bruce Tillman
Watertown, MA- The Watertown Reds rallied back from a 7-4 seventh inning deficit to beat the Chiefs 8-7 in walk off style at Victory Field. The Reds scored four times against three Chiefs’ pitchers, who didn’t record an out in the inning. In the process, they put an end to the Chiefs’ seven game winning streak.

It was a game of turnarounds, as the Chiefs rallied back from a 3-0 first inning hole.

The Reds went right to work against Chiefs’ starter Mike DiCato. The hosts scored three times in the bottom of the first inning on a walk, a hit batsman, a single from Steve Morganelli, a double by Justin Forman, and a sacrifice fly from Steve Tramantozzi.

The Chiefs scored five times in the top of the fifth inning to grab a 5-3 lead. Johnny Welch singled, Peter Copa drew a walk, and Mike Andre moved them both up with a sacrifice bunt. Nate Witkowski then grounded to third and Dan Chaisson threw low to the plate and to the backstop, allowing both Welch and Copa to score. Mike Barbati and Mike Burgoyne drew consecutive walks and Tony Serino reached on an infield error that scored Witkowski to tie the game at 3-3. After Paul Yanakopoulos popped up, Juan Portes gave the Chiefs a 5-3 lead with a single to center and went to second on the throw home. Aric Dama then intentionally walked Welch before he got Copa to ground out sharply to end the inning.

The Reds got a run back in the bottom of the sixth inning. Forman doubled to left and Morganelli drove him home with a single. Morganelli then was thrown out at second on a disputed play when the Chiefs cut the relay home. DiCato got out of the inning with a fly out an infield grounder.

The Chiefs extended their lead to 7-4 in the top of the seventh. Andre led off with a single to center and Dan Bonito came on to pinch run. Witkowski then dropped a bunt, but Reds’ reliever Nick Ahearn threw wide of first, sending Bonito to third. Barbati then flew out to right, with Bonito holding at third. Mike Burgoyne followed and delivered a RBI grounder to second that scored Bonito to make it a 6-4 game. Serino then singled to left-center, scoring Witkowski upping the lead to 7-4.

DiCato walked Kyle LaVigne to start the seventh and then hit Kevin Kelly with a pitch. Left-hander Evan Walsh came out of the bullpen to face the left-handed hitting Mike Samko. Samko delivered a single to right, scoring LaVigne, and sending Kelly to third. Matt DiCato then came on to face Josue Feliciano who placed a perfect bunt single down the first base line to load the bases. Sean Callahan-Montague was next and he singled to right-center, scoring Kelly, to close the lead to 7-6. DiCato then walked Forman, forcing in Samko to tie the game. With the Chiefs infield now drawn in, Morganelli delivered the game winner with a ground ball single to right.

By Bruce Tillman
Malden, MA- Mike Gedman drilled a three-run homer, and Juan Portes added a solo blast ,when the Chiefs came up with a four run sixth inning to rally past the Mooney Dental Tanners 5-3 on Monday night at Maplewood. For the Chiefs, it was their seventh straight win and the ninth in ten games.

Mother Nature cooperated and provided just enough of a window between torrential downpours for the Tanners and Chiefs to get the game in on the artificial surface. Heavy showers hit the area just prior to game time and again shortly after the last pitch was thrown.

Left-handers Dave Maestri and Tim Dunphy both threw shutout ball over the first three innings.

Dunphy continued the scoreless streak into the top of the fourth and the Chiefs finally broke through and took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the inning.  Peter Copa drove home Johnny Welch, who had doubled, with a line single to left.

The Tanners came right back and took a 2-1 lead in the top of the fifth. Bobby Campbell led off with a single up the middle and Mike Fernandes bunted him to second. Ryson Porter then singled to right putting runners on the corners with one out. Corey O’Neil then hit a grounder that Welch had to range to his left on, looked home, but then fired wide of Copa at first, allowing Campbell to score the tying run. When Chris Brown lifted a sacrifice fly to right, the Tanners had a 2-1 lead.

The Chiefs threatened to tie the game in the bottom of the fifth. Barbati dropped a one out bunt single and Nate Witkowski flew to deep right-center for the second out. Mike Burgoyne then singled, sending Barbati to second. Tanners’ shortstop Chris Ruocco then turned in the defensive play of the night when he made a diving stop of Paul Yanakopoulos’ grounder and tossed to second in time to force Burgoyne.

In the top of the sixth, Jake Cintolo singled with one out but was gunned out by Yanakopoulos trying to steal second.

Portes led off the bottom of the sixth and hit his third homer of the season to centerfield tying the game up at 2-2. Welch followed with a single. Paul Pollano came out of the bullpen and pinch-hitter Tony Serino’s attempted sacrifice bunt was too strong, forcing Welch at second. With Copa at the plate, Pollano uncorked a wild pitch that sent Serino to second. With first base open, the Tanners chose to intentionally walk Copa. Gedman was next and he drilled a Pollano pitch deep over the right-centerfield wall giving the Chiefs a 5-2 lead.

The Tanners didn’t go quietly in the top of the seventh. Will rain falling again, Campbell lined a double into the left-centerfield gap and scored on Alec Leblanc’s single to account for the 5-3 final.

With the win, Dunphy raised his record to 5-1 on the year. The veteran scattered ten hits, struck out one, and didn’t walk a batter. He needed 99 pitches in the complete game effort.

Maestri took the loss and fell to 0-4.

The Chiefs are off on Tuesday and hit the road on Wednesday to meet the Watertown Reds at Victory Field in a 7:45 PM start.