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Blue Sox Even Series with 4-0 Win in Game Two
Lexington, MA- Drew Brzozowski threw a complete game shutout, turning back scoring chances all night long, as the Blue Sox took Game Two of the Championship Series 4-0 in Lexington on Tuesday night.
With the win, the Blue Sox even up the series at a game apiece with Game Three scheduled for Thursday night at Maplewood Park at 8:00 PM.
Brzozowski allowed nine hits and three doubles but pitched his way out of each jam. The former Brandeis right-hander was aided by some dazzling Lexington defense to help the Chiefs strand eight men on base.
Tony Deshler got the first of the Chiefs hits with one out in the top of the first inning but he was erased when Juan Portes bounced into a 4-6-3 doubleplay.
Lexington took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Ross Curley set the tone when he fouled off five Tim Dunphy pitches before lining a single to right. Jeff Vigurs followed with an infield grounder that moved Curley to second. Steve Gath’s single to right scored Curley and Gath went to second when the ball scooted by Matt Boleski for an error. Dunphy got Dan Graham to ground out before Dave Ahern’s single to center scored Gath with the second run of the inning.
The Chiefs missed the first of their scoring opportunities in the top of the second inning. Mike Andre and Nate Witkowski both singled to center with one out. Paul Yanakopoulos was next and he hit an infield grounder that forced Witkowski at second and sent Andre to third. With runners on the corners, Brzozowski got Boleski to ground out to Curley at third base to end the inning.
Dunphy struck out Josh Klimkiewicz and Tommy McKenna, sandwiched around a Tom Haugh single, before getting Curley to ground out to end the Blue Sox second.
The Chiefs missed another scoring chance in the top of the third inning. Nick Leva led off with a sharp single to left. Brzozowski then struck out Tony Serino looking and got his former Brandeis teammate Deshler on an infield fly. Portes then drilled a single to left but the runners were left stranded when Peter Copa got caught looking at strike three.
Gath and Graham both singled with one away in the Lexington third before Ahern bounced into a doubleplay.
The Chiefs got another runner in scoring position in the top of the fourth on Witkowski’s two out double, but Boleski grounded out to Haugh at first to end the frame.
The Blue Sox went in order in the bottom of the fourth while the Chiefs left another runner in scoring position in the top of the fifth. After Leva grounded out and Serino popped up, Deshler lined a double to right-center. Curley then turned in the defensive gem of the night when he robbed Portes of extra bases when he leaped high to snag a liner that was headed for the leftfield corner.
The Blue Sox doubled their lead in the bottom of the fifth. McKenna beat out an infield chopper to first base, stole second, and went to third when Leva’s throw went into centerfield. Curley flew to right and Dunphy struck out Vigurs for the first two outs of the inning. Three straight singles by Gath, Graham and Ahern, then gave the Blue Sox some breathing room at 4-0.
Andre doubled and Witkowski singled with one out in the Chiefs’ sixth. Brzozowski thwarted yet another prospective scoring chance when he struck out Yanakopoulos and got Boleski to ground out.
Dunphy, kept the Sox off the board in the bottom of the sixth and Brzozowki got the Chiefs’ side in order in the seventh to seal the win.
Deshler and Andre had a double and single each and Witkowski had two singles for the Chiefs. Gath was three for three and Graham and Ahern each had two hits for Lexington.
Brzozowski struck out three and didn’t walk anyone. Dunphy allowed ten hits, two earned runs, and struck out a season high seven batters.
More Championship Series coverage coming soon.
Freni & Portes Give Chiefs 1-0 Lead in Championship Series
Malden, MA- The Chiefs took the opening game of the Intercity League’s Best of Five Championship Series with a 4-2 win over the Lexington Blue Sox at Maplewood Park on Monday night.
If you were caught in traffic or simply arrived a few minutes late to the yard, you probably missed all the scoring.
There was nothing new in the pitching department for the Chiefs. Jared Freni overcame a rocky second inning to toss five consecutive scoreless frames. The right-hander earned his twelfth straight decision of the year and his second straight in the postseason.
Freni started strong and struck out both Tommy Bourdon and Steve Gath to end the Blue Sox first inning.
The Chiefs touched up Blue Sox starter Borja Jones-Berasaluce for a first inning run to give their ace a 1-0 lead. Tony Serino drew a leadoff walk and the Chiefs played some immediate small ball when Tony Deshler sacrificed him to second. Juan Portes made that move pay a quick dividend when he doubled to deep center to score Serino. When the Blue Sox cut the throw back to the infield they caught Portes with a wide turn at second and veteran shortstop Steve Gath tagged him out for the second out. Peter Copa drew a walk but Mike Andre lined out to center to end the inning.
The Blue Sox came right back to take a 2-1 lead off Freni in the top of the second inning. Danny Graham drew a leadoff walk and Dave Ahern dropped a single to left. Lexington played a little small ball of their own when Josh Klimkiewicz moved both runners up with a sacrifice bunt. Tommy Haugh was next and he lined a single to left that scored Graham to tie the game at 1-1. With runners on the corners and one out, Northeastern catcher John Puttress pushed a suicide bunt towards Freni that easily scored Ahern putting the Sox up 2-1. Lexington left two runners on base when Tommy McKenna and Ross Curley both flew out to Deshler in leftfield.
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The Blue Sox got Graham to second base with two outs in the top of the third when he beat out a high chopper infield single and a wild pitch. Freni kept it 2-1 game when Ahern grounded out to Portes at shortstop with Copa making a run saving pickup of his low throw ending the inning.
Andre led off the Chiefs’ third with a line single to right but nothing came of it after Jones-Berasaluce got Witkowski, Yanakopoulos and Barbati on three consecutive infield grounders.
Freni got the Blue Sox side in order in the top of the fourth and Jones-Berasaluce did the same to the Chiefs in the bottom of the inning.
Lexington made their last run at Freni in the top of the fifth inning after two were out. Tommy Bourdon reached on an infield single to the right side and Gath drew a walk. Freni went full to Graham before striking him on a breaking ball to end the threat.
The Chiefs appeared ready to add to their lead in the bottom of the fifth when Portes was hit by a pitch and Copa singled. But Portes was picked off second when Andre missed a sacrifice bunt attempt. Andre ended up grounding out and Witkowski lined out to,left to end the inning.
Ahern and pinch-hitter Justin Wright both flew out to Yanakopoulos in right and Haugh bounced out to Barbati in Lexington’s uneventful sixth.
Jones-Berasaluce got Yanakopoulos, Barbati, and Leva to ground out in succession in the bottom of the sixth to send the game to the Lexington seventh with the Chiefs leading 4-2.
Freni came out strong and struck out pinch-hitter Jason Twomley and McKenna before getting Ross Curley on a comebacker to end the game.
Freni struck out eight and walked two batters in a 117 pitch complete game effort. Jones-Berasaluce, the righty from Guilford College in North Carolina, surrendered seven hits, struck out three, walked two, and hit a batter.
The Blue Sox and Chiefs will be right back at it on Tuesday night when they meet in Game Two of the series at Lexington High starting at 8:00 PM. B.T.
Blue Sox & Chiefs Vie for ICL Title Again
By Bruce Tillman
www.andrechiefs.com
It’s become a ritual of late August.
For the third year in a row, and the fourth time in the last five years, the Lexington Blue Sox and the Andre Chiefs will meet to decide the Intercity League Championship.
The Blue Sox earned a spot in the finals with a 6-0 win over the Watertown Reds on Sunday at Bentley College to win their semi-final series three games to one. The Chiefs completed their three game sweep of the Reading Bulldogs with 9-3 win on Friday night.
The Best of Five Championship Series will begin on Monday night at 8:00 PM at Maplewood Park, located on the campus of Malden Catholic. Game Two will be played at Lexington High on Tuesday at 8:00 PM. The teams will take Wednesday off so that players, coaches and fans can attend and participate in Steve Buckley’s Annual Old Time Baseball Game at St. Peter’s Field in Cambridge. Game Three will be back at Maplewood on Thursday at 8:00 PM and Game Four, if necessary, will be in Lexington on Friday night. If a Game Five is required, it will be contested at Maplewood on Sunday, with the starting time to be determined.
The Chiefs enter the series with an overall record of 27-6-0 while the Blue Sox come in at 21-11-2. As history has shown in the championship series over the years, regular season records can be tossed aside.
The Blue Sox and Chiefs are back on familiar turf in the finals. The Blue Sox are making their seventh straight appearance in the ICL’s late summer showcase. For the franchise, it will be their eleventh appearance in the championship series since 1998. Over that stretch they have won nine ICL titles under Manager Rick DeAngelis.
The Chiefs organization will be in search of their nineteenth league championship and the sixth since they became the Andre Chiefs in 1990. The Andre/Hosmer Chiefs have won thirteen ICL crowns since 1968 and as well as five championships in the Suburban Twilight League from 1960-1967. It will be appearance number twenty-two for the Chiefs in the ICL finals, and ironically, just like his counterpart DeAngelis, the eleventh championship series for Manager Chuck Andre.
The franchises, with a combined 33 appearances in the finals, 27 league titles, and two managers with 22 championship series between them, all add up to a wealth of experience in both dugouts.
The Chiefs ended a run of five straight Lexington championships last summer when they took the crown in five games. In 2011, the Blue Sox also won the title in five games.
Adding some flavor to the series and the success of both clubs is the fact that DeAngelis and Andre are very close friends. “Ricky and I are very tight”, said Andre last night. “We talk almost everyday year round and he is one of my best friends. There is no question that he wants to beat me as much as I’d like to beat him, but the nice thing about us is that no matter the outcome, it doesn’t change our friendship that goes far beyond baseball. I know that if we win Rick is happy for me and I feel the same way for him.”
Let the games begin.
Chiefs Sweep Reading to Advance to ICL Championship Series
Malden, MA- For the third year in row, and the fourth time in the last five years, the Chiefs will be playing in the Intercity League’s Championship Series.
Matt DiCato and his mates assured that the franchise would be making yet another trip to the ICL Finals with 9-3 win over the Reading Bulldogs at Maplewood Park. With the victory, the defending ICL Champs complete a three game sweep of their semi-final series and raise their overall record to 27-6 on the season. They now move on to finals with a chance to grab the nineteenth crown for the storied franchise and the sixth since the club assumed the Andre Chiefs name in 1989.
The Bulldogs came out of the corner with a flurry to take a 2-0 lead against DiCato in the top of the first inning. Billy Cataldo and Hank Oringer both singled and Zac Talis drew a walk to load the bases with nobody out. Mike Taylor gave Reading a 2-0 lead before the fans settled into their seats when he drilled a DiCato offering into right that scored Cataldo and Oringer. With Taylor at first and Talis at second and still nobody out, Peter Copa charged Dante Padovani’s sacrifice bunt attempt and threw a strike to force the sliding Talis at third for the first out of the game. That proved to be huge as DiCato then got Colin Sitarz to hit into a 5-4-3 doubleplay to get the Chiefs out of the inning relatively cheaply, trailing by two runs.
The Chiefs chipped a run off the lead in the bottom of the first inning on Paul Yanakopoulos’ single and a Copa double. For the torrid Copa, it was his seventh RBI of the series.
DiCato walked Ryan Wolfsberg to open the top of the second before settling in nicely to retire Paul Crehan, Zac Conti and Cataldo on three consecutive infield grounders.
The Chiefs went ahead for good when they picked up three big runs after two were out in the bottom of the second. Mike DiCato was hit by a Kevin Church pitch and went to third on Matt Boleski’s single to right. Church experienced some wildness and walked Tony Serino and Yanakopoulos to force in DiCato to tie the game at 2-2. Portes put the Chiefs in front when he drilled a seed single to left scoring Boleski. With Copa at the plate, Church uncorked a wild pitch that allowed Serino to score to put the Chiefs up 4-2. Church then recorded his biggest out of the night when he caught Copa looking on a low fastball to end the inning and strand two runners in scoring position.
DiCato breezed through the Reading third getting Oringer, Talis and Taylor on three straight groundouts. The Chiefs threatened again in the bottom of the third. Nate Witkowski drew a leadoff walk and stole second. After Mike Barbati lined out, Mike Andre sent Wolfsberg to the warning track in right-center to track down his long fly for the second out. Church kept it a 4-2 game with his second straight inning ending strikeout.
The Bulldogs tried to make some noise in the top of the fourth inning. Padovani led off with a single to center but was erased when Sitarz hit into a Barbati (unassisted) to Copa doubleplay. Wolfsberg then was hit by a DiCato on a 3-2 pitch and stole second. Barbati kept Reading off the scoreboard when he tracked down Crehan’s pop up in short right to end the inning.
One out singles by Serino and Yanakopoulos appeared to put the Chiefs back in business in the bottom of the fourth. The resilient Church kept the Bulldogs in the game when he struck out Portes and got then Copa on a grounder to Conti at shortstop to send the game to the fifth inning with Chiefs in front 4-2.
DiCato needed just eight pitches to retire the Bulldogs in the fifth on two ground balls and an infield liner to Witkowski.
The Chiefs punched their ticket to the finals when they batted around and scored five times in the bottom of the fifth. Witkowski led off with an infield single and Barbati followed with a line drive to center. Andre then drove them both home with a long double to right-center that jumped the lead to 6-2. DiCato bunted Andre to third and Boleski delivered him with a laser to center. Serino followed with a long triple to left-center scoring Barbati to make it an 8-2 game. Yanakopoulos’ sacrifice fly scored Serino to make it 9-2. Portes then doubled but Witkowski, who started the inning, ended it, with an infield pop up.
Taylor drew the Bulldogs back to 9-3 when he deposited a solo homer deep over the centerfield fence with one out in the sixth before DiCato retired the next two batters.
The Chiefs had an uneventful bottom of the sixth.
In the Reading seventh, Crehan grounded to Portes and pinch-hitter Nick Conti singled before the night and the series ended when Cataldo hit into a Barbati to Portes to Copa doubleplay.
DiCato allowed six hits and raised his overall record on the season to 6-0.
The Chiefs will now enjoy the weekend off and await the winner of the Watertown Reds-Lexington Blue Sox series. The Reds avoided elimination and forced a fourth game with a 2-1 win in Lexington on Friday night. Game Four of that series will be played on Sunday afternoon at Bentley University at 1:30 PM. If the Blue Sox win on Sunday, the Chiefs will host them in Game One of the finals on Monday at Maplewood at 8:00 PM. If the Reds win on Sunday, Game Five would be contested in Lexington on Monday. The Chiefs would then have to wait until Tuesday to meet either the Reds or Blue Sox at Maplewood. –B.T.
**More Playoff Coverage Soon**
Dunphy Retires Last 16 in a Row to Give Chiefs 2-0 Series Lead
Beverly, MA- Veteran southpaw Tim Dunphy retired the last sixteen batters he faced and the Chiefs took advantage of five Reading errors and rung out ten timely hits on the way to a 7-2 win over the Bulldogs at Endicott College on Thursday night. With the road win, the Chiefs now hold a 2-0 series lead with Game Three scheduled in the best of five match-up for Friday night at 8:00 PM at Maplewood Park.
The game volleyed back and for the first two innings.
The Chiefs came up with the first scoring opportunity with two outs in the top of the first inning. Juan Portes dropped in a single down the leftfield line and Peter Copa followed with a long double to the fence, pushing Portes to third. Bulldog lefty Sean Boyle got out of the inning unscathed when he got Nate Witkowski to ground sharply to Hank Oringer at third.
The Bulldogs took advantage of their scoring chance in the bottom of the first inning to take a 1-0 lead. Tommy Buonopane got things started when he led off with a single to right and went to second on Oringer’s groundout. Zac Talis was next and he singled to center sending Buonopane to third. Tony Serino’s throw back to infield skipped away far enough away to allow Talis to go to second on the error. With runners at second and third and the Chiefs’ infield drawn in, Mike Taylor grounded out to Copa at first for the inning’s second out. Dante Padovani followed and beat out an infield single up the middle, scoring Buonopane with the first run of the game. Dunphy escaped further damage when he got Colin Sitarz to fly to Paul Yanakopoulos in right to end the inning.
The Chiefs came right back, capitalizing on two Reading errors, to take a 2-1 lead in the top of the second. Yanakopoulos and Mike Barbati both reached on consecutive infield errors. Mike Andre then moved them both up with a sacrifice bunt. Chad Conner, who was handling the catching duties for the Chiefs in the game, then delivered Yanakopoulos with a single to left that tied the game at 1-1. Serino followed and legged out the back end of 6-4-3 doubleplay attempt for an RBI that scored Barbati, giving the Chiefs a 2-1 lead. Boyle then got Tony Deshler to fly out to end the inning.
Reading tied the game up in the bottom of the second but could have come up with much more. Dunphy struck out Nick Conti on a low breaking ball in the dirt to start the inning. Conner recovered quickly but his throw to get Conti at first sailed into rightfield for an error. With Conti now standing on second, Brandon Bingel singled to put runners on the corners with nobody out. Paul Crehan then plated Conti with another single, tying the game up at 2-2. Buonopane sacrificed Bingel and Crehan up to second and third before Dunphy got Oringer on a comebacker for the second out. The Chiefs then opted to intentionally walk Talis to face the left-handed hitting Taylor. The strategy worked when Taylor bounced to Copa to end the inning to keep it a 2-2 contest.
The Chiefs batted around and came up with a huge four-spot in the top of the third inning, scoring all of their runs after two were out. Boyle got Portes to pop up to start the inning before Copa singled to left. Witkowski was next up and he flew to center for the second out. Yanakopoulos then came up large when he drove a Boyle pitch into deep right-center for a triple, scoring Copa for a 3-2 lead. The Chiefs then caught a break when the throw to first on Barbati’s grounder was low, allowing Yanakopoulos to score and putting Barbati at second. Barbati stole third and scored when Andre drilled a Boyle pitch to center for an RBI single and 5-2 Chiefs lead. Conner then followed with another single and Serino reached on another Bulldog error to load the bases. Deshler then picked up an RBI when he lined a single to left that scored Andre. Boyle finally put an end to the inning when he got Portes on a grounder to Oringer at third, with the bases loaded, keeping the Bulldogs within striking distance at 6-2.
Dunphy assumed complete control from that point, setting the Bulldogs down in order in third, fourth, fifth, and sixth innings. Boyle meanwhile was frustrating the Chiefs hitters as well, getting them 1-2-3 in both the fourth and fifth innings. Deshler finally broke up the consecutive out streak for both teams when he reached on a misplayed pop up to short right field with one out in the sixth. Deshler was promptly erased when he was gunned out by Crehan trying to steal second.
A little offense resurfaced when Copa led off the Chiefs’ seventh with his third hit of the night and Rob Machado came on to pinch run for him. Witkowski moved Machado to second with a perfect sacrifice bunt and he went to third on Yanakopoulos’ infield grounder. Barbati gave the Chiefs a little more breathing room when he drilled a double into the left-center field gap, scoring Machado, and opening the lead to 7-2.
In the Reading seventh, Bingle grounded out and pinch-hitter Billy Cataldo lined out to Witkowski at third for the first two outs of the inning. Dunphy ended things when he beat the speedy Darren Hartwell to the first base bag, unassisted, on a chopper between first and the mound to end the game and retire his sixteenth batter in succession.
Dunphy, allowed one earned run, struck out one, and walked one batter intentionally. Boyle surrendered ten hits and only two earned runs. He struck out three and did not issue a walk.
The Chiefs are expected to send righty Matt DiCato (5-0 in the regular season) to the mound on Friday night at Malden Catholic.
