Announcement
Third Straight Shutout for Lexington's Karis as Chiefs Silenced on Two Hits, 3-0
Lexington, MA- Mike DiCato was untouchable for the last four innings.
The bad news is that Matt Karis (4-0) was once again flawless for a full seven.
Such was the story in a first place showdown in Lexington on Monday night when Karis reached some rarified air and tossed his third consecutive ICL shutout on the way to chalking up his fourth straight decision in the Blue Sox 3-0 win over the Chiefs.
The right-hander out of Gettysburg College previously blanked the Medford Americans on June 16th and 26th and beat the Testa Corp. Bombers back on June 2nd. So far this season the Southboro native has only allowed a stingy nine hits in 27.0 innings of work.
The Chiefs Mike DiCato certainly pitched well enough to win, allowing six hits and tossing zeros over the last four innings.
If you got there a bit late you missed all of the scoring in this one. In top of the first inning Karis got Brendan Pyburn swinging and catcher Bob McCarthy to pop up. Jeff Bercume followed with a line single to right but Karis picked him off first to end the inning.
The defending champs went right to work in the bottom of the inning scoring the only runs they would need. DiCato got Jack Laurendeau (Holy Cross) to ground to Mike Baillargeon at second. Former Boston College standout Pete Frates got things going for the Sox when he doubled into the right field corner. Danny Graham then singled to center scoring Frates and when Bercume’s throw to the plate went to backstop, Graham scampered all the way to third on the error. Steve Gath followed with a ground out to Pyburn at shortstop with Graham scoring on the play. DiCato got Sean McElroy to ground to Baillargeon to end the inning.
The Chiefs went quietly in the second and the Sox added their third and final run of the night in the bottom of the frame. Dan Haugh led things off with a tough hop single to center but DiCato picked him off first. Tom Haugh then worked a full count walk and Eric Polling (Greenville College/Pickneyville, IL) hit a soft grounder to Baillargeon pushing Haugh to second. Former UMass-Lowell star Anthony Santos then drilled a RBI single to left making it 3-0.
The Chiefs made a little noise in the third but could not score. Peter Copa reached on a throwing error and went to third on Hal Landers single to right. Pyburn then bounced into a 1-6-3 double play with Copa remaining at third. He was stranded there when McCarthy grounded out to Santos at second base.
DiCato reteird the Sox side in order in the third and Karis returned the favor in the top of the fourth. Gath walked to start the Lexington fourth but DiCato struck out McElroy and Dan Haugh in succession. Tom Haugh then lined a single to center and Bercume fired a strike to third baseman Mike Andre gunning down Gath trying to go to third to end the inning.
Veteran Brian Macrina reached on an error to start the fifth and Karis got Andre to fly out for the inning’s first out. Peter Copa grounded into a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning.
A two out Laurendeau single was all the Sox could muster against DiCato in the bottom of the fifth.
In the Chiefs sixth, McCarthy hit a two out ground ball just inside the third base bag (that was officially scored as a two base error) but Karis got Bercume to bounce out to end the inning.
Graham was hit by a DiCato pitch to begin the Sox sixth and was promptly thrown out by McCarthy trying to steal second. Gath grounded to Pyburn and DiCato struck out pinch hitter Matt McEvoy swinging to close the inning.
The Chiefs looked poised to finally break through against Karis in their final at bat. After Justin Crisafulli grounded out sharply to third both Baillargeon and Macrina drew walks. Andre then drilled the Chiefs hardest hit ball of the night to right-center field but the frustration continued when Frates had him played perfectly and gloved it for the second out. Karis completed his shutout trifecta when he got Copa to ground out to put an end to the night’s proceedings.
Karis struck out four and issued three walks while lowering his ERA to 1.30. DiCato, now 2-1, surrendered just the six hits while striking out five and walking a couple.
Dan Lozeau will get the start for the Chiefs on Tuesday when they travel to East Boston Stadium at 8:00 PM to face the Bombers.
