Andre Chiefs

With their game one win on Monday night the defending champion Chiefs assured themselves a berth in the ICL’s post season. Along with clinching a playoff spot, the Chiefs guaranteed the franchise a winning season for the 48th time.

The Chiefs will return to the playoffs for the sixth straight year. They failed to qualify in both 2006 and 2007 after returning from a two year hiatus from ICL play. It will be 21st time in 23 seasons, since assuming the Andre name in 1989, that they will be in the playoffs.

From 1957 to 1983 the Chiefs were owned by legendary car dealer John Hosmer and participated in the Suburban Twi League and the Intercity League. The franchise was vacated in 1984 and reborn in 1989 when it was awarded to Andre Realty.

Six teams will qualify for the ICL postseason with the top two regular season finishers getting a first round bye. In the first round of the playoffs team 3 will play team 6 and team 4 will meet team 5 in a best of three series. The winners of those series will advance to the best of five semi-finals against the top two seeds. The winners will play in the best of five ICL Championship Series.

Medford, MA- The Chiefs battled back from a 2-0 fifth inning deficit, scoring single runs in the fifth and sixth, eventually taking a 3-2 extra inning win over the Lexington Blue Sox at Tufts University.

In the process, Jared Freni overcame a rough first inning and pitched his way out of a few tight spots to throw blanks the rest of the way and pick up his eighth win of the season.

The Blue Sox jumped out to a quick 2-0 first inning lead on singles from Tommy Bourdan, Ross Curley and a double from Dave Ahern.

It stayed a 2-0 game as Steve Bodnar kept the Chiefs off the board until they scratched out a run in the bottom of the fifth inning. Mike Barbati led off with a single, went to second on Paul Yanakopulos’ grounder and to third when Nick Leva bounced out to Curley at third. He scored the Chiefs’ first run when Bodnar threw a wild pitch with Tony Serino at the plate.

The Blue Sox threatened in the top of the sixth when they got leadoff singles from Curley and Steve Gath. Freni escaped to keep it a 2-1 game when he got Jeff Vigurs to fly to Tony Deshler in left and then Ahern to bounce into a 6-4-3 doubleplay.

The Chiefs tied it up in the bottom of the sixth. Deshler led off with a walk. Juan Portes was next and he hit a ball down the leftfield line that Tommy McKenna made a nice diving catch on for the first out. The Chiefs caught a break when Copa hit an infield grounder, forcing Deshler at second, before the relay to get him at first was thrown into the Chiefs dugout allowing Copa to go to second. The Chiefs took immediate advantage as Nate Witkowski then singled up the middle, scoring Copa, to tie things up at 2-2.

Neither team could score in the seventh and the game moved to extra innings.

In the Blue Sox eighth, Dan Capra led off with line shot down the right field line and Matt Boleski, who had come into the game a half inning earlier as a pinch runner for Leva, turned in the defensive gem of the day when he robbed Capra of extra bases with a diving catch. Freni then struck out Bourdon before walking Curley, who then moved into scoring position by stealing second. The scoring threat went by the board when Freni got Gath to fly to Serino in center.

The Chiefs won it in the bottom of the eighth. Bodnar hit Deshler with the first pitch of the inning and he then stole second. Portes then drilled a single to right with Deshler being held at third with nobody out. Sean Gustin came out of the Sox bullpen and Copa was issued an intentional walk to load the bases for Witkowski. The count went full before Gustin walked Witkowski, on a very close pitch, to force in Deshler with the game winning run.

Freni, allowed six hits, walked one, and struck out four while raising his record to 8-0.

Bodnar (1-2) took the loss despite surrendering just five hits and striking out two. The righty however walked four and hit two batters.

The Chiefs play the Melrose Americans at Maplewood Park (Malden Catholic) in a doubleheader on Monday with the first game scheduled for 6:30 PM.   

Lexington, MA- Drew Brzozowki threw six shutout innings to lead the Blue Sox to a 7-0 win over the visiting Chiefs on Wednesday night.

Brzozowski and Justin Silvestro, who worked the seventh, frustrated the Chiefs all night long, allowing seven hits, walking four, and stranding a dozen runners on base.

The Chiefs appeared poised to make some noise in the top of the first after Tony Deshler walked but was thrown out by centerfielder Tommy Bourdon as he attempted to go first to third on Nate Witkowski’s single.

Tim Dunphy set the Sox down in order in the bottom of the inning and the Chiefs threatened in the top of the second. Mike Barbati reached on an error and Paul Yanakopoulos singled before Brzozowski got out of it when first baseman Tommy Haugh made a nice play on a Matt Boleski grounder that was headed for the right field corner.

Lexington took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second when Dave Ahern singled and came around to score on Danny Graham’s bad hop triple on a ball that took a huge bounce over Boleski’s glove in right.

The Chiefs left two more men on base in the top of the third after Witkowski walked and Copa singled.

The Blue Sox lead went to 2-0 in the bottom of the third when Ross Curley doubled and scored on Steve Gath’s single that went off Barbati’s glove into short right field.

The Chiefs left the bases loaded in the fourth and two more on in the fifth before the Blue Sox put the game away in the bottom of the inning. Curley led things off with a single to center and Gath followed with another single down the left field line. Jeff Vigurs then dropped a bunt that Nate Witkowski threw wide of first, allowing Curley to score and moving Vigurs and Gath to second and third. Dunphy then got Justin Wright swinging for the first out of the inning before walking Ahern to load the bases. Dunphy then hit Graham with a pitch to force in Gath in make it 4-0. Haugh then hit a chopper over the mound that Dunphy fielded and had to go to first on the play scoring Vigurs with the fifth Blue Sox run. Rob Machado came on for Dunphy and walked Dan Capra and Bourdon in succession to force in Ahern to make it 6-0.

Brzozowski got the Chiefs’ side in order in the top of the sixth before the Sox added another run to make it 7-0 against reliever Dan Bonito.

With the win the Blue Sox go to 8-7-1 on the year while the Chiefs fall to 14-5.

The Chiefs are off until Sunday when they meet the Blue Sox again, this time at Tufts University in Medford, starting at 5:00 PM.  

Malden, MA- The DiCato Brothers (Matt & Mike) each picked up a win as the Chiefs took both ends of a doubleheader from the Wakefield Merchants, 5-1 and 3-1, at Maplewood on Monday night.

Matt went the distance in a dominating first game performance, allowing just four hits, to get the Chiefs the win in the opener. Mike tossed 3.1 innings of one hit baseball to give his team the sweep in the nightcap.

Game One Recap
The Chiefs jumped out to a 2-0 first inning lead and never trailed in the game. Three consecutive singles from Tony Serino, Juan Portes and Peter Copa, along with fielder’s choice RBI from Nate Witkowski, led to the two runs off Merchant starter Connor Mahon.

The Chiefs lead went to 3-0 in the bottom of the third inning. Mike Andre led things off and reached on an infield chopper over the mound. Nick Leva followed and singled to right. Mike Barbati then moved both runners up with a sacrifice bunt. After Mahon got Paul Yanakopoulos to ground out to Scott Searles at short, Tony Serino laced a single to right-center scoring Andre. When Serino tried to stretch it to a double he was thrown out at second before Leva crossed the plate to end the inning.

The Merchants broke through against Matt DiCato in the top off the fifth inning. James Ramsey led things off with a gap double to left-center. After Brooks Townsend grounded out, veteran Steve Langone doubled deep to right-center scoring Ramsey to cut the Chiefs’ lead to 3-1. Jon Davison was next and he flew to Yanakopulos in right and when Langone tagged and tried to go to third, he was thrown out for an inning ending doubleplay.

The Chiefs picked up a couple of more runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. Barbati led things off with a single and was sacrificed to second by Yanakopoulos. Serino then beat out a bunt single with Barbati moving to third. Portes followed and reached on an infield error allowing Barbati to score with Serino going to third. Copa then delivered Serino with a long sacrifice fly to left to make it a 5-1 ballgame.

DiCato got the Wakefield side in order in the top of the sixth and allowed a two out single to Ramsey in the seventh to close out his third straight win of the season. The righty struck out six and did not issue a walk.Mahon (0-3) struck out three and allowed just three earned runs.

The Chiefs picked up two runs off Wakefield starter Christian Ferlan, courtesy of Juan Portes, in the bottom of the third. Ferlan got Matt Boleski and Paul Yanakopulos to both ground out for the first two outs of the inning. Tony Deshler then drew a walk, stole second, and moved to third when catcher Joe Barry’s throw went into centerfield. Portes then gave the Chiefs the lead when he hammered a long two run homer to left-center.

Chotkowski blanked Wakefield over the first three frames. Wakefield came back in the top of the fourth to cut the lead to 2-1 and could have gotten much more. Brooks Townsend drew a one out walk before Steve Langone laced a Chotkowski fastball to deep right for a double. Townsend tried to score on the play and was cut down on a nice relay from Mike Barbati to Leva. Bobby Losanno then drilled a triple to right-center scoring Langone. After Chotkowski issued a walk to Nick Murray, the Merchants had runners on the corners with two out. That was the night for Chotkowski and Mike DiCato was brought in from the bullpen to face the right hand hitting Joe Barry. With Murray running on DiCato’s first pitch, Leva caught Losanno wandering off third just far enough for a huge inning ending pickoff.

The Chiefs threatened but couldn’t add to their lead in the bottom of the fifth. Andre and Barbati both singled and were bunted up a base by Leva. The Merchants and Ferlan escaped the jam when Boleski struck out looking and Paul Yanakopulos grounded out to second on a nice play by Murray.

DiCato gave up his only hit of the night when Scott Searles singled with two away in the fifth inning.

Ferlan kept the Chiefs off the board in the bottom of the fifth, despite a leadoff single from Tony Deshler.

DiCato had a strong 1-2-3 sixth with two K’s before the Chiefs picked up an insurance run for him in the bottom of the inning. Andre drew a four pitch walk and Rob Machado came on to pinch run. Barbati then bunted Machado to second before Ferlan hit Leva with a pitch. Brian DiRuzza came on in relief of Ferlan and Boleski greeted him with a line RBI single to right that scored Machado. When the throw home to get Machado skipped to the backstop Leva tried to go to third but was thrown out.

It was all DiCato again in the seventh as he got Lossano to fly to center, struck out Murray, and ended things when pinch hitter Jon Davison grounded to Barbati at second.

DiCato needed just 31 pitches to retire 10 of the 11 batters he faced, striking out four.

Chotkowski gave up just two hits, struck out five, but also walked five.

The 14-4 Chiefs are off on Tuesday and travel to Lexington to tangle with the Blue Sox on Wednesday at 8:00 PM.

Reading, MA- Jared Freni left runners in scoring position in four innings, including the last three frames, to keep the Bulldogs scoreless and give the Chiefs a hard fought 2-0 win at Morton Field on Sunday evening.

The game featured a fine duel between Freni and Reading right-hander Taylor Robinson.

The Chiefs got their first run in the top of the second inning on a walk to Peter Copa and singles by Paul Yanakopulos and Mike Barbati.

Freni stranded Nick Conti at third in the bottom of the second. The Reading shortstop singled and moved there on two infield grounders before Freni ended the inning with a strikeout.

The Chiefs picked up a big run in the top of the fifth inning.  Nick Leva reached on an infield single but was erased on Tony Serino’s fielder’s choice. Serino moved to second on a passed ball and scored to make it 2-0 when Juan Portes delivered a sharp RBI single just inside the third base bag.

Reading threatened in the bottom of the fifth when Colin Sitarz singled and Brandon Bingel walked. Billy Cataldo moved both runners into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt before Freni got out of it by getting Dante Padovani to pop up and Paul Crehan to line out to Yanakopoulos in right.

Robinson got the Chiefs in order in the top of the sixth inning and the Bulldogs took another run at Freni in the bottom of the inning. Hank Oringer drew a one out walk and Zac Talis singled. They moved to second and third on Conti’s grounder back to the mound. Freni kept it a 2-0 game when he struck out Sitarz to end the inning.

The Chiefs went 1-2-3 against Robinson again in the top the seventh and Reading threatened one more time in their last at bat. Bingel got things started with a single before Freni struck out Cataldo for the first out. Padovani then singled to left to bring the winning run to the plate. Freni escaped for a fourth time when he got Crehan to fly to Serino in center and Tommy Bounapane to pop to Barbati at second to end the game.

Robinson (2-1) took the loss despite allowing just four hits and striking out six. Freni, now a league best 7-0, surrendered five hits and struck out seven.

The Chiefs stay busy on Monday hosting the Wakefield Merchants at Malden Catholic (Maplewood) in a doubleheader starting at 6:30 PM.