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Reds Eliminate Chiefs from Playoffs

Posted by Andre Chiefs on Aug 12 2018 at 05:00PM PDT in 2010 Season
Malden, MA- And so it ended.

The Watertown Reds unceremoniously brought the curtain down on the Chiefs’ disappointing 2018 season with a convincing 10-3 win on Sunday night at Maplewood. With the win, the Reds sweep the best of three series 2-0 and will now advance to meet the #2 seeded Wakefield Merchants starting Tuesday in the semi-final round.

For the Chiefs and their injury riddled pitching staff, it was their earliest exit from the ICL playoffs in over a decade. For the franchise, it was only the third time in 53 years that they concluded a season with a sub .500 record, ending up the campaign at 14-17. The only other losing marks in Chiefs’ seasons past were in 2006 and 2007 when they returned to the ICL with one of the youngest teams in league history after taking a two year hiatus.

Now to Sunday’s game.

The Chiefs actually held early leads of 1-0 and 3-1 before the Reds’ rallied and took advantage of some Evan Walsh wildness, with a couple of clutch doubles mixed in, to score five times in the fourth inning. They then added four more runs in the sixth, to take the series clinching win in going away fashion.

The Chiefs took a 1-0 lead when Matt Nuzzo hit a solo homer off Reds’ starter Nate Beck in the bottom of the first. The Reds tied things up at 1-1 in the top of the second. Josh Miller led of with a flare double off Nuzzo’s glove down the right field line and came around to score when Peter Copa airmailed a throw to third, trying to double up Miller after an infield grounder.

It looked like it could be the Chiefs night when they used three Watertown errors, a Juan Portes double, and a Leivi Ventura RBI single, to take a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the third inning.

It was not to be when the wheels came off the Chiefs’ wagon in the top of the fourth. The Reds sent 10 men to the plate and scored five runs, despite getting only two hits. Walsh experienced sudden wildness, walking four batters, hitting another, and giving up big doubles to Ben Johnston and Dan Chaisson in between. When the smoke cleared, the Reds had chased Walsh and had a 6-3 lead. Injured staff ace Jared Freni gamely came out of the Chiefs' bullpen in an attempt to relieve Walsh. But after throwing just two pitches something apparently gave out and Freni was forced to leave the game with what appeared to be an upper leg injury. Rookie Jack Fargo took his warmups from the mound after Freni’s departure and kept the Chiefs in the game for the time being when he got Logan Gillis on a long fly ball to Tony Serino, with two men on, to retire the side.

Beck walked Shane Stande to open the bottom of the fourth and was relieved by southpaw Nate Espelin. Serino greeted Espelin with a line single but the Chiefs’ last real threat of the night went by the boards when Nuzzo grounded into a doubleplay and Ben Waldrip flew out to deep left.

Fargo worked a sharp top of the fifth, aided by a doubleplay, and Espelin only allowed a two single to Ventura in the bottom of the inning.

The Reds put the dagger in the Chiefs’ season in the top of the sixth. A leadoff double by Sean Callahan-Montague, followed by a line single from Steve Tramontozzi, set the Reds up with runners on second and third with nobody out. The left-handed Waldrip replaced Fargo and a Kyle LaVigne single made it 8-3. A batter later Will Breenan put the game out of reach with a two-run homer to center that accounted for the 10-3 final. 

Chiefs Chatter…..The Reds-Merchants best of five series will start on Tuesday at Trum Field at 8:15 PM….Alibrandis beat the Reading Bulldogs 7-3 to win that series 2-1 and advance to meet the Blue Sox in Lexington also on Tuesday…..Watch for the Chiefs’ season ending recap which is coming soon
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