Andre Chiefs

Malden, MA- Jared Freni tossed a complete game two-hitter and Peter Copa drove in six runs, which included a third inning grand slam, to lead the Chiefs to a 9-0 win over the Reading Bulldogs on Wednesday night at Maplewood Park. With the win, the Chiefs take a 1-0 lead in the best of five semi-final series.

Reading got their first hit when Tommy Buonapane drilled Freni’s third pitch of the game to left-field for a single. After Hank Oringer struck out, Freni caught Buonapane leaning the wrong way and picked him off first. Freni struck out Zac Talis swinging to end the inning.

The Chiefs picked up a run in the bottom of the first inning. Tony Serino led off and was thrown out at first on a nice play by Oringer at third. Tony Deshler was next and he hit a ball to left that bounced high on the Maplewood turf and over Dante Padovani’s head, rolling to the fence for a triple. Juan Portes followed and hit a sacrifice fly to right, scoring Deshler. Reading starter Nick Boutoures then got Copa to fly out to end the inning.

Freni struck out the Bulldog side in order in the top of the second and the Chiefs threatened to add to their lead in the bottom of the inning. Mike Andre got things started with the first of his three hits on the night, a single to center. A Nate Witkowski grounder moved Andre to second and Paul Yanakopoulos’ hopper to shortstop pushed him to third. Mike Barbati was next and he drove a ball into the right-centerfield gap. Colin Sitarz turned in the defensive gem of the game when he tracked it down, robbing Barbati of extra bases and ending the inning.

The Bulldogs made a bid to tie the game in the top of third. Padovani singled with one out. Barbati then turned in his own defensive gem when he went far to his left to take a hit away from John Halsey, with Padovani going to second on the play. With Buonapane at the plate, Padovani moved to third on a passed ball before Freni struck him out looking to keep the Chiefs in the lead 1-0.

The Chiefs broke things open in the bottom of the third. Nick Leva and Serino drew consecutive walks and Deshler moved them up a base with a sacrifice bunt. The Bulldogs then intentionally walked Portes to load the bases. Copa quickly unloaded them when he drilled a Boutoures fastball deep over the leftfield fence for a grand slam upping the lead to 5-0. Andre followed with a single before Witkowski lined to left and Yanakopoulos flew to center to end the inning.

Freni got the Bulldogs in order in the top of the fourth on a pop up to Copa and a couple of grounders to Barbati at second base.

The Chiefs got singles from Barbati and Leva to open the fourth and they moved up to second and third on a wild pitch. They came up empty when Boutoures got Serino to fly to shallow left, Deshler to ground out to third with Originer throwing Barbati out at the plate, and Portes to fly to center.

Both sides went in order in the fifth inning.

The Chiefs picked up four runs in the bottom of the sixth. Yanakopoulos drew a walk, stole second, and went to third on Barbati’s single to center. Leva then drew a walk to load the bases. Serino then lifted a single to center, scoring Yanakopoulos and Barbati. After Deshler flew out and Portes grounded out, singles by Copa and Andre accounted for the Chiefs’ final two runs.

Freni retired the Reading side in order in the seventh for the fourth straight inning to seal the shutout win.

Game Two of the series will be played at Endicott College in Beverly, MA on Thursday night at 7:45 PM with Game Three back at Maplewood/Malden Catholic on Friday at 8:00 PM.

 For fans looking to make the trip to Endicott College on Thursday, the GPS address is 376 Hale Street, Beverly MA, 01915. -B.T.
(Photos by Jim Valente)

The Chiefs will begin their Best of Five Semi-Final Series vs. the Reading Bulldogs on Wednesday night at Maplewood Park (Malden Catholic), with the first pitch scheduled for 8:00 PM.

Game Two will now be played at Endicott College in Beverly on Thursday at 7:45 PM with Game Three back at Maplewood on Friday at 8:00 PM. Game Four, if necessary, will be played at Reading High School (Morton Field) on Sunday at 4:00 PM. The day, location and time for Game Five, if necessary, has yet to be determined.

The Bulldogs advanced to the semi-finals with a 5-2 win over the Arlington Trojans at Endicott College on Tuesday night.

The Watertown Reds defeated the Wakefield Merchants 2 games to 1 to move on to the other semi-final series against the Lexington Blue Sox. Game One of that series will be played on Wednesday in Lexington at 8:00 PM.

Malden, MA- Arlington southpaw Brian Chaput fired a complete game shutout when the Trojans blanked the Chiefs in the regular season finale 3-0 at Maplewood Park on Wednesday night. Chaput struck out a season high 13 batters and in the process brought the curtain down on the Chiefs 10 game winning streak.

The Trojans scored single runs in the third, fifth, and sixth innings off Chiefs’ starter Mike DiCato, who looked sharp despite taking the loss.

Derek Pizaro’s RBI single drove in Justin Mansfield, who had doubled, in the third. Pizaro also drove in Arlington’s second run in the fifth inning when he beat the relay to first on the back end of a doubleplay, scoring Joe Bradlee who led off the inning with a double. The Trojans final run came in the top of the sixth when Marcus Way walked, stole second, moved to third on a fielder’s choice, and scored when Tony Deshler, who was playing third late in the game, threw high to first on Dan Csaplar’s ground ball.

Peter Copa and Chad Conner led the Chiefs with two hits each while Mike Barbati, Corey Brammer and Paul Yanakouplos had a hit each.

Chaput (4-0), the former Eastern Connecticut hurler, who pitched on the Independent League circuit over the past few seasons, earned his fourth straight ICL win. He has struck out 37 batters in 28 innings and has allowed just one earned run.

DiCato (3-3), gave up just six hits, two earned runs, and struck out half a dozen in his six innings. Lefty John Chotkowski came on to work a scoreless seventh, striking out two batters.

The Chiefs wrap up the regular season with a 24-6 record, a regular season pennant, and a first round playoff bye already tucked away. They will await their opponent from the first round of the ICL’s playoffs, which will begin on Sunday.The earliest the defending champion Chiefs could begin their best of five semi-final series would be Tuesday night.

Malden, MA- The Chiefs once again got some outstanding pitching as they swept a doubleheader from the Mooney Dental Tanners 6-0 and 9-0 at Maplewood Park on Monday night. With the sweep, the Chiefs extended their winning streak to ten games and raised their record to 24-5 on the season.

GAME ONE RECAP
In the opener, Jared Freni continued his season long dominance, this time tossing a three hit shutout, in his complete game effort. The right-hander struck out eight Tanners and raised his record to a perfect 10-0.

The Chiefs used singles from Mike Barbati, Paul Yanakopoulos and Tony Deshler, along with a sacrifice fly from Tony Serino, to jump on Tanners’ starter Paul Pollano to take a 3-0 lead in the second inning.

The lead went to 4-0 in the third inning on basehits from Mike Andre, Chad Conner, and Barbati.

Peter Copa drove in Serino with a single to make it 5-0 in the fourth inning.

Serino’s fifth inning RBI single scored Nate Witkowski with the final run of the game.

Barbati and Serino each had two hits to pace the Chiefs’ eleven hit offense.

GAME TWO RECAP
Veteran righty Rob Machado made his first start of the season and allowed just one hit in five innings to pick up the win.

The effort was extremely encouraging for the former Malden Catholic and UMass-Amherst standout (pictured above) who has been hampered with some shoulder issues over the last few seasons. Machado has made 42 appearances for the Chiefs on the mound since 2009 and threw a no-hitter on June 30, 2011, against Reading. He also owns two post season wins for the Chiefs in his career.

The Chiefs jumped out to a 2-0 first inning lead on doubles from Serino and Copa, a Juan Portes sacrifice fly, and an Andre RBI single.

The lead doubled to 4-0 in the third inning on consecutive singles by Portes, DiCato, and Andre.

It went to 7-0 in the bottom of the fourth inning on doubles from DiCato and Matt Boleski, an Andre RBI single, and a sacrifice fly by catcher Jon Byrne.

The Chiefs added the final two runs of the night in the sixth inning on singles by Yanakopoulos and Andre (pictured right), doubles from Portes and Boleski, and a sacrifice fly from DiCato.

Machado sruck out four, walked two, and allowed only a fifth inning single to Joe Burnham. Matt DiCato came out of the bullpen and allowed just a single and struck out a couple over the final two innings.

The Chiefs conclude their 2013 regular season with a home game against the Arlington Trojans at Maplewood (Malden Catholic) on Wednesday night at 8:00 PM.

Medford, MA- Tim Dunphy weathered a bizarre first inning, a couple of Chiefs’ fielding miscues, and then engineered a trifecta of late game escapes that would have made the Anglin Brothers proud. Dunphy’s effort, a couple of downpours, a rainbow, and a game played in an hour and fourteen minutes, all somehow added up at the end of the day to the Chiefs eighth straight win, a 2-1 victory over the Arlington Trojans at Tufts University.

With ominous skies serving as a fitting backdrop, Dunphy and his Chiefs survived a peculiar first inning. Jeff Freidman led things off with an opposite field double down the right field line. Derek Pizarro followed and blooped a single to right that moved Friedman to third. Dunphy then caught Pizarro off first and a rundown ensued and he was tagged out with Friedman remaining at third. Tommy Lenane then singled to right, and Friedman, thinking the ball may be caught, went to tag up. Matt Boleski fielded the ball so quickly that Friedman had to hold at third. It looked as if Dunphy and the Chiefs may escape the inning without allowing a run when Marcus Way hit a tailor made double play ball to Mike Barbati at second base. The ball hit the lip of the infield grass and bounced high over Barbati’s head for a bad hop single, the Trojan’s fourth straight hit to open the game, and a 1-0 lead. With runners back on the corners again, Dunphy shook off the bad luck and came right back to get Dave Cunningham to hit another grounder. This time the Chiefs turned their second chance into a 6-4-3 inning ending doubleplay.

Joe Curran blanked the Chiefs in the bottom of the first and Dunphy enjoyed a much easier 1-2-3 top of the second.

The Chiefs got the game winning runs in the bottom of the second. Mike Andre walked and Chad Conner reached on an infield single. Barbati moved both runners up a base with a sacrifice bunt before Boleski plated both Andre and Conner with a single to center.

The game moved rapidly over the next two innings as Dunphy retired the Arlington side in order in both the third and fourth. Curran was breezing as well, allowing only a fourth inning single to Andre.

Dunphy pulled escape #1 when Joe Bradlee reached on a Paul Yanakopoulos error leading off the fifth inning. Justin Mansfield bunted Bradlee to second and he went to third on Dan Fitzgerald's grounder. Dunphy kept the Chiefs in the lead when he struck out Matt McDermitt to end the inning.

Curran set down the Chiefs in order in the bottom of the fifth and the Trojans threatened again in the top of the sixth. For the second inning in a row, the Trojans got their leadoff man on base via a Chiefs’ error when Andre booted Friedman’s grounder at first base. Pizarro was next and when Dunphy fielded his bunt, he threw low and actually hit the first base bag and everyone was safe. With runners at first and second, the Chiefs got another big doubleplay when Lenane bounced into a Yanakopoulos-unassisted to Andre twin killing. With Friedman standing at third, Dunphy finalized escape #2 when he struck out Way to end the inning.

Curran had no problem with the Chiefs in the bottom of the sixth and Dunphy saved his best for last in the top of the seventh. The Trojans looked poised to tie things up when Cunningham led off with long triple to straight-away center. With the Chiefs infield drawn in, Dunphy got the first out when Bradlee grounded to Yanakopoulos at shortstop. Dunphy then recorded his biggest strikeout of the game when he K’d Mansfield for the second out. The count went full to Fitzgerald before he hit a chopper in front of the plate that Conner pounced on and threw the DH out at first, ending the ballgame and concluding Dunphy’s escape # 3.

With the win, Dunphy upped his record to 5-3 on the season. He surrendered six hits and struck out four. Curran was the tough luck loser and his record dipped to 0-4.

The 22-5 Chiefs host the Mooney Dental Tanners in a twi-night doubleheader on Monday at Maplewood Park (Malden Catholic) starting at 6:30 PM.