Andre Chiefs

Malden, MA- Jared Freni picked up his fourth consecutive win of the year and his former Malden Catholic and UMass-Amherst teammate Peter Copa supplied all of the offense when the Chiefs turned back the Reading Bulldogs 3-0 at Maplewood Park on Wednesday night.

Freni again was superb, allowing only a two out triple to Darren Hartwell in the sixth inning. The right-hander struck out fourteen batters and walked just one.

The Chiefs got all of the runs they would need in the bottom of the first inning. Tony Serino reached on an error, Tony Deshler drew a walk, and after a Juan Portes flyout, Copa chased both Serino and Deshler home with a double into the left-centerfield gap.

It went to 3-0 in the bottom of the second inning on consecutive singles from Nick Leva, Serino and Deshler, and a bases loaded walk to Copa.

That was the scoring for the night with the Chiefs managing to strand nine baserunners as Reading starter Nick Kelley (4 innings) and reliever Brian Pedrotti (2 innings) kept the host team off the board the rest of the way.

The Bulldogs best scoring chance came in the sixth when Hartwell drilled a long triple into the right-centerfield gap before Freni struck out Steve Buitkus to end the inning.

The home and home series will continue on Friday night when the Bulldogs and Chiefs are scheduled to meet again, this time at Endicott College in Beverly, starting at 7:45 PM. On Sunday, the Chiefs will host the Mooney Dental Tanners at Tufts University in Medford at 5:00 PM. The Watertown Reds visit Maplewood on Monday night at 8:00 PM before the annual ICL Fourth of July break begins.

Lexington, MA- Matt Karis (3-0) picked up his third win of the season, outdueling Chiefs' veteran Mike DiCato, to the lead the Blue Sox to a 2-1 win on Tuesday night. With the loss the Chiefs' winning streak was ended at seven games.

The Blue Sox took a 1-0 lead in the third inning when Dave Ahearn singled, went to second on a wild pitch and scored on a Justin Wright RBI single.

In the Blue Sox fourth inning, Steve Gath drew a leadoff walk and tried to score on a Josh Klimkiewicz double to right but was erased at the plate on a Matt Boleski to Mike Barbati to Nick Leva relay. Klimkiewicz went to third on the throw home and Dan Capra pinch ran for him when he pulled up a bit sore. After Ahearn popped out to Mike Barbati at second base, Jason Twombley drew a walk before Wright drilled a double to right that scored Lexington’s second run.

The Chiefs cut the lead in half to 2-1 in the top of the sixth when Tony Serino drew a walk and scored on consecutive singles by Tony Deshler and Nate Witkowski. Karis left the tying run on base when he got Peter Copa and Mike Andre to both ground out.

The Chiefs threatened to take the lead in the top of the seventh. Karis struck out Paul Yanakopoulos for the first out before Boleski beat out an infield single up the middle. Barbati followed and reached when his grounder was kicked at first base. Leva was next and hit a chopper back to mound and he was thrown out at first with Boleski and Barbati, representing the tying and go-ahead runs, moving to second and third. Karis slammed the door on the Chiefs when he got Serino swinging on a cut fastball to end the game.

Karis allowed five hits, struck out five, and walked just one. DiCato (0-1), who was making his first start of the year, struck out four and surrendered seven hits.

Both teams are back in action on Wednesday. The Blue Sox stay at home and host the Arlington Trojans while the Chiefs return to Maplewood at Malden Catholic to entertain the Reading Bulldogs.

Lexington, MA- The Chiefs jumped out to 4-0 second inning lead and southpaw Tim Dunphy was perfect for four innings as the Chiefs held off a late Wakefield rally to beat the Merchants 5-3 in the opening game of Saturday’s Jerie D’Angelis Memorial Day of Baseball at Lexington High School. For the Chiefs it was their seventh consecutive win.

After Wakefield starter Conar Mahon and Dunphy matched zeros in the first the Chiefs got what would prove to be the winning runs in the top of the second inning. Mike Andre got things started with a single to right. Nate Witkowski was next and he flew out to center for the first out. Matt Boleski then reached on an errant throw on an infield grounder before Mahon struck out Mike Barbati for the inning’s second out. Eckert bound Jon Byrne followed and chopped an infield single up the middle to load the bases. Paul Yanakopulos quickly unloaded them when he drilled a Mahon pitch deep to left for a bases clearing 3 RBI triple and a 3-0 Chiefs lead. It went to 4-0 a pitch later when Tony Deshler lined a single to left scoring Yanakopulos.

The Chiefs picked up a run to make it a 5-0 game in the top of the fourth but threatened for much more. Byrne led off with another single and Yanakopulos drew a walk. Deshler followed and dropped a perfect bunt single to load the bases for Juan Portes. Mahon got Portes to ground into a 6-4-3 doubleplay with Byrne scoring from third on the play. Mahon then issued his second walk of the inning to Peter Copa before getting Andre to fly out to right to end the inning and keep the Merchants in the ballgame.

Meanwhile, Dunphy was picture perfect through the first four innings, needing just 39 pitches to retire the first dozen Merchants in row.

The Merchants finally broke through in the bottom of the fifth. Mike Sorrentino tripled to deep right and scored on Ryan Gendron’s sacrifice fly to left cutting the Chiefs’ margin to 5-1.

Jarrod Marchesi came on for the Merchants in the top of the sixth and allowed just a two out single to Portes.

In the bottom of the sixth, veteran John Davison led off with double and Dom Sorrentino pinch ran for him. Sorrentino got as far as third when Dunphy got Joe Barry to fly out and Louis Tarantino and Scott Searles to both ground out to Witkowski at second to keep it 5-1 heading for the seventh.

The Chiefs got a leadoff single from Andre but Marchesi got Witkowski, Boleski, and Barbati on three consecutive infield outs to end the inning.

The Merchants made a big time run at Dunphy in the bottom of the seventh. James Ramsey drew Dunphy’s only walk of the game and Sorrentino followed with his second extra base hit in as many at bats, drilling a double that chased Ramsey to third. Gendron then singled scoring both Ramsey and Sorrentino to draw the Merchants to within striking distance at 5-3. More trouble loomed when Bobby Loscano singled sending Gendron to second and bringing the winning run to the plate in Nick Murray with nobody out. After a missed sacrifice bunt, Murray lined out to Boleski in right for the inning’s first out. Dunphy then got Dom Sorrentino to bounce back to him and he started a 1-6-3 doubleplay to end the game.

Bryne, Portes, Andre and Deshler all had two hits each for the Chiefs.

Dunphy struck out three, walked one, and allowed five hits while raising his record to 3-1 on the season. Mahon, who dropped to 0-2, surrendered eight hits in his five innings of work and struck out two.

The 7-1 first place Chiefs are off on Sunday before hosting the Melrose Americans at Maplewood (Malden Catholic) on Monday night in a game in which the starting time has been changed to 6:45 PM. On Tuesday, the Chiefs travel back to Lexington, this time to meet the Blue Sox, at 8:00 PM. –Bruce Tilman 

Woburn, MA- Jared Freni threw six innings of one hit shutout ball to lead the Chiefs past the previously unbeaten Mooney Dental Tanners 5-0 at Ferullo Field on Wednesday night.

Freni continued his torrid early season strikeout pace and chalked up another fourteen K’s. Matt DiCato worked a scoreless seventh inning for the Chiefs, picking up a strikeout of his own.

Nick Leva had a big night for the Chiefs at the plate with three singles and two RBI’s.

The Chiefs took a 1-0 lead against Mooney southpaw Chris Pessotti in the second inning on singles by Paul Yanakopulos, Mike Barbati and Leva.

It went to 2-0 in the top of the fifth inning when Nate Witkowski and Peter Copa drew one out walks and moved up to second and third on a Mike Andre fielder’s choice. Witkowski scored when Pessotti uncorked a wild pitch with Yanakopulos at the plate.

The Chiefs added three more runs in the seventh. Andre drew a one out walk from reliever Bennett Deady and Dan Bonito pinch ran. Yanakopulos followed and reached on error with Bonito going to third. Matt Boleski’s then dropped a bunt,and when he was thrown out at first Bonito scored to make it 3-0 with Yanakopulos going to third on the play. Barbati walked and Yanakopulos scored on a passed ball with Barbati moving to second before scoring on another Leva RBI single.

Freni was lifted after experiencing some minor torso discomfort at the end of the sixth inning.

The 6-1 Chiefs are off until Saturday morning when they take on the Wakefield Merchants in the first game of the annual Gerie D’Angelis Day of Baseball at Lexington High. The Chiefs-Merchants game will begin at 10:30 AM, followed by the Americans and Reds at 12:45 PM, the Blue Sox and Trojans at 3:00 PM and finally theTanners and Bulldogs in the nightcap at 5:15 PM.