Andre Chiefs

Medford, MA- Forget the dead ball era! Welcome to Huskins Field where pitchers frolic and hitters frown. 

ICL observers are starting to ask the question, “why can’t anyone hit or score runs at Huskins Field”, home of the Chiefs. 

Prevailing summer wind always seeming to blow in?  Quality pitching? Wood bats? Humungous dimensions? 354’ down the left field line? 379’ plus in the gaps? 410’ to center? Poor hitting? A thick carpet like lush infield? Great defense? Lots of room in foul ground? Take your pick. 

There is no doubt that the perfectly manicured field on the campus of Tufts University in Medford is one of the finest natural grass surfaces in New England. It has just become a place where offensive baseball is virtually non-existent come the summertime. 

Consider this - the ICL’s batting average at Huskins Field is 52 points less than any other field in the ICL, 59 points below the ICL average and 106 points less than what ICL batters hit at Ferullo Field in Woburn. Toss in the fact that all batters are close to the Mendoza line, hitting a paltry .205, with an on base percentage of just .294 and slugging percentage of .260, which are all league lows. 

If you throw aside the Chiefs’ 12-7 opening night win against the Tanners and the Americans 11-5 win in early July, when the wind was blowing out on both occasions, there have been a total of 42 runs scored in the other twelve games. Without having everyone reach for the calculator, that number translates into the fact both teams are combining for 3.5 runs per game.

Aside from the aforementioned two games, there have only been 84 hits in the remaining dozen games or an average of 7.0 per game. In league like the ICL that is stacked with outstanding hitters, those numbers are staggering! The average linescore at Huskins has been 1.75 runs and 3.5 hits per game, per team. 

The Chiefs have played 26 games so far this season, 13 at Huskins and 13 on the road. Here's how the numbers stack up.

Astute observers would argue that a field with such big dimensions would have plenty of room in the alleys and therefore yield plenty of gap shot extra basehits. Not so! At Huskins there have been only 15 doubles, two triples and just four home runs, all to right field.

Incredibly, ICL batters strike out with less frequency at Huskins than any other field in the ICL. Simply said, batters are making contact but the ball is going nowhere. That provides solid reasoning as to why the average ICL game at Huskins takes less than an hour and a half.

2009 Intercity League Batting by Field

So batters beware and pitchers rejoice! Huskins is ready to humble you. - Bruce Tillman 

Medford, MA- Jack Laurendeau and Dan Graham hit back to back first inning doubles, resulting in the only run of the game, as the Lexington Blue Sox nipped the Chiefs at run starved Tufts University on Monday. 

With the win the Blue Sox clinched the 2009 regular season pennant. 

The game featured an outstanding pitching match up between Lexington’s Steve Bodnar (5-0) and the Chiefs Dylan Ellis (3-1). Both pitchers allowed just four hits. Ellis struck out six while Bodnar struck out three. 

Ellis struck out Ross Curley to open the top of the first inning. Laurendeau then hit an opposite field double down the left field line. Graham followed with a long blast off the base of the fence in right scoring Laurendeau. Ellis walked Matt McEvoy but escaped further trouble when Sean McElroy flew out and Ben Hewett bounced out. 

That was all the Sox were to get off Ellis on this night as he surrendered just a second inning triple to Eric Poling and a seventh inning infield hit to Anthony Coscia. The southpaw retired 16 batters in a row before Coscia’s infield hit, which came with two outs in seventh. 

The problem for the Chiefs was that they could not break through against the always tough Bodnar.

In the bottom of the first, Brendan Pyburn hit a bloop single down the left field line but was erased on Jeff Bercume’s fielder’s choice. Bercume was then thrown trying to steal second by Poling. 

Peter Copa led off the Chiefs’ second with a seeing eye single that fell between the mound and first base. But Bodnar retired the next three batters in a row when Mike Andre lined to center, Justin Crisafulli struck out swinging and Dario Pizzano flew to right. 

The Chiefs’ had their best scoring opportunity in third inning when Brian Macrina and Bob McCarthy both singled putting runners on first and second with nobody out. Hal Landers followed, and after two unsuccessful sacrifice bunt attempts, Bodnar struck him out swinging. Pyburn then hit into a fielder’s choice forcing McCarthy out at second and leaving runners on the corners with two away. Bodnar got out of it when Jeff Bercume flew to left ending the inning. 

The Chiefs threatened to tie it up in the seventh but came up empty. Andre drew a leadoff walk and Mike Barbati pinch ran for him. Crisafulli then hit a ball back at Bodnar which he knocked down and recovered in time to get Crisafulli by a step at first with Barbati taking second on the play. Pizzano followed and flew to shallow center for the inning’s second out. With Macrina at the plate, Bodnar uncorked a wild pitch that sent Barbati to third. That was as far as Barbati got when Bodnar got Macrina to fly to center to end the game. 

The Chiefs have a rare day off on Tuesday and resume ICL play on Wednesday at 6:00 PM when they travel to Playstead Park to face the Americans. The Blue Sox are back in action tonight when they host the Wakefield Merchants in an 8:00 PM start in Lexington.     

Medford, MA- Mike DiCato took a no-hitter and shutout into the seventh inning as the Chiefs held on to beat the Testa Corp. Bombers in "suddenly" dramatic fashion 3-2 at Tufts University on Sunday afternoon. 

DiCato, the former Malden Catholic All-American and UMass-Amherst standout, raised his personal season mark to 5-2. 

After DiCato set the Bombers down in order in the top of the first inning, including strikeouts of Vin Eruzione & Josh Klimkiewicz, the Chiefs struck for a run in bottom of the frame. Bombers starter Bobby Giarrantani (Bishop Fenwick/Denison College) got Hal Landers to fly to center for the first out. Giarrantani walked his former high school teammate Brendan Pyburn and the Chiefs shortstop promptly stole second. Jeff Bercume flew to center for the second out before Peter Copa, who was newly inserted into the clean-up slot, made that move pay immediate dividends when he roped a single to left scoring Pyburn. 

The Bombers went 1-2-3 again in the second and Giarrantani got Justin Crisafulli to pop up,  Mike Andre to fly deep to right and Bob McCarthy swinging on strikes in the Chiefs half of the inning. 

DiCato came out throwing smoke in the top of the third as he struck out the side in order (Boston College quarterback Alex Atiyeh, Colin Quirk & Joe Papa).

Giarrantani returned the favor in the home half of the frame getting Landers and Bercume to groundout and Pyburn on a fly ball. 

It was twelve up and twelve down for DiCato in the fourth, retiring Jay DeFilippo on a groundout, Eruzione looking and Klimkiewicz on a bouncer to Pyburn. 

Giarrantani looked as if he was getting stronger as he had a rocking chair bottom of the fourth.The right-hander got Copa on a groundout, Pizzano to line to first and Crisafulli on a warning track fly ball to centerfield. 

Nick Martinho’s walk to start the fifth broke up DiCato’s perfect game. DiCato then picked his former Malden Catholic teammate off first base, before getting Mike Adessa to fly out and catcher Steve Wadsworth to line to Pyburn, to keep the Bombers at the minimum fifteen batters through five innings. 

The Chiefs came up with a big run to take a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the fifth. Andre led off and roped his fifth double off the season into the right field corner. After two unsuccessful sacrifice bunt attempts, Giarrantani struck out J.P. Pollard swinging for the first out. Things worked out for the Chiefs when Andre scampered to third on a wild pitch. That proved to be big when Bob McCarthy hit the next pitch to centerfield for a sacrifice fly that allowed Andre to tag up and score the second run of the game.

Nothing doing against DiCato for Testa in the top of the sixth as he set down Atiyeh (groundout), Quirk (fly to right) and Papa (lineout to center) to keep the Bombers at the minimum eighteen batters sthrough six innings. 

Rookie Dario Pizzano delivered what proved to be the game winning run, when he singled home Copa, who had walked and stole second, with two outs in the sixth to make it 3-0 heading into the seventh.

DiCato walked DeFilippo leading off the seventh. Eruzione then hit a chopper to Pyburn at shortstop who flipped to Copa for the force at second with the relay to first being a half step late. It looked as if DiCato was going to get his no-hitter when Klimkiewicz hit a hard grounder headed for Copa in doubleplay depth at second. DiCato got a piece of the ball as it went by the mound and it deflected just to left of Copa for an infield single. Trouble was begining to brew when Martinho drew the second walk of the inning to load the bases. Adessa did his best to spoil DiCato’s gem, as well as the afternoon for Chiefs fans, when he unloaded a shot to the right-centerfield gap that scored Eruzione and Klimkiewicz and sent Martinho barreling around third with the potential tying run. A perfect relay from Landers to Copa to McCarthy cut down Martinho at the plate on a very close play as the Chiefs clung to the 3-2 lead. With Adessa at second, DiCato finished his day’s work by getting Wadsworth to ground to Pollard at first preserving the win. 

“I was in perfect position on Klimkiewicz’s grounder in the seventh”, said Copa after the game. “It was hit hard enough that we would have had a great chance to turn the doubleplay and get Mike his no-hitter. It is a natural reaction for any pitcher, especially one like him who has played so much infield, to try and get his glove on the ball. Once Mike deflected it I had no chance,” Copa added. 

DiCato finished with a two-hitter, striking out six, while lowering his ERA to 2.16. It was his fifth complete game of the season. Giarrantani was almost as good allowing just three hits, (Copa & Pizzano RBI singles & Andre’s double) while fanning one and walking a couple. 

The Chiefs are right back at it on Monday when they host the first place Lexington Blue Sox at Tufts at 6:00 PM. Southpaw Dylan Ellis (3-0) will draw the starting pitching assignment.   

(Courtesy of medfordamericans.com) 
Medford, MA- After former Tufts University captain Brian Casey shut out the Andre Chiefs Wednesday night at Huskins Field, Dave Martin had a jumbo act to follow when the Americans' second former Tufts pitcher took the mound on his college field in a rematch with the Chiefs Thursday night.

Not to be outdone, the veteran righthander overcame first inning hamstring tightness and nearly matched Casey's effort. Martin lowered his earned run average to a lilliputian 0.26 and improved his record to 3-0-1 with the win, allowing just one unearned run on five hits and two hit batters while striking out seven and walking three in a seven inning, route going performance.

The Chiefs' Robert Machado, pitching on three days rest, was almost as good, surrendering just one hit and two walks with a strike out through five full innings before tiring in the sixth when Medford pushed across both of their runs to hand him the loss.

Mike Dicato, a former Malden Catholic and current UMass Amherst teammate of Machado, allowed a run scoring single after being summoned from the pen by Chiefs' skipper Chuck Andre with two men out in the sixth, a run in, and runners at first and second. He walked one and struck out one in one and one third innings.

Following a lead off walk to Jonathan Pollard in the top of the second, Pete Copa singled with two outs and Bob McCarthy was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Martin powered his way out of the jam by striking out Hal Landers. He wasn't as fortunate in the third when the Chiefs took a 1-0 lead. Brendan Pyburn doubled to right leading off, advanced to third on a passed ball and scored on a Jeff Bercume sacrifice fly to Steve Tahmoush in right. He surrendered a lead off single to Brian Macrina in the fourth. Macrina promptly stole second with nobody out but he was stranded there when Martin got the next three Chief hitters in order, striking out Kevin McKenzie for the third out.

The Chiefs threatened again in the fifth when Landers lead off single was followed by a Pyburn walk. With runners at first and second, Martin struck out current Intercity League runs batted in leader Jeff Bercume and got 2008 Intercity League runs batted in leader Justin Crisafulli to fly out to center before reaching back for a little extra to strike out Pollard and end the inning.

While Martin battled to get out of innings, Machado cruised. He allowed a lead off single to Tahmoush in the first and saw him sacrificed to second by Luke Begley before retiring Mike DelPonte on a grounder to second and Mike Kalfopoulos on a ground ball to first. Machado set the Americans down in order in the second and third. He walked Begley leading off the fourth but retired the next three hitters. With one out in the fifth, Jay Olson walked but was thrown out trying to steal second and Bill Smeglin struck out.

Machado ran out of gas in the sixth and the Americans rallied for the two runs they needed to win the game. Mike Burgoyne led off with a single to right. He stole second with nobody out and moved to third when Steve Tahmoush grounded out to second for out number one. Machado nearly escaped by getting Begley to foul out to Pollard at first but he couldn't get Mike Delponte whose line drive base hit to center drove in Burgoyne with the tying run.

Mike Kalpopoulos kept things going when he singled to right, sending DelPonte into scoring position at second. DiCato took over and the red hot K.C. McCarthy welcomed him with a liner down the left field line that kicked up chalk and drove in DelPonte with the go ahead and what proved to be winning run. The run batted in by McCarthy, who joined the team July 8, was his twelfth in nine games played.

The resilient Chiefs refused to go easily as they mounted a rally of their own in the bottom of the sixth. Mike Andre doubled to deep right center with one man out and Mike Barbati was inserted as a pinch runner. Copa's ground ball to Martin resulted in the second out and moved Barbati to third. Pinch hitter Dario Pizzano made it first and third when he worked a walk, but Martin wiggled out of it when he got Landers to ground out to Mike Ferriero at short. In the seventh, Martin set the Chiefs down one, two, three to secure the win.

With five regular season games remaining, the Americans leap frogged over the Chiefs into second place with the win. At 13-9-3 they have 29 points, one more than the third place Chiefs. At 13-9-2 the Chiefs hold a game in hand on the Americans. Both teams trail the first place Lexington Blue Sox whose 17-4-2 record gives them 36 points.

Chiefs Chatter......All ICL games were postponed on Friday. Saturday, the Americans are home at Playstead Park in a 1:00 PM affair with the Testa Corporation Bombers. The Chiefs entertain the Bombers on Sunday at 1:00 PM at Tufts.....There was a scary moment in the second inning when Chiefs catcher Bob McCarthy was struck on the side on the face with a pitch. McCarthy stayed in the game for another half inning before being replaced by rookie Kevin McKenzie (Arlington, MA/Wentworth). McKenzie threw out the first runner of his ICL career when he gunned out Jay Olsen in the fifth inning. McCarthy was reportedly okay after the game and his status is day to day....Hal Landers took over the Chiefs team lead in batting average. The rookie (Salem, NH/Wheaton) is currently hitting .352 while centerfielder Jeff Bercume is a point behind at .351. Both are in top five of the ICL....Mike DiCato is the Chiefs expected starter on Sunday while lefty Dylan Ellis will get the start on Monday vs. Lexington....

(Courtesy of MedfordAmericans.com) 
Medford, MA - Brian Casey returned to the familiar mound at Huskins Field on the campus of Tufts University where he enjoyed much college pitching success Wednesday night and made himself at home, throwing a rocking chair, complete game, three hit masterpiece to lead the Americans to a 7-0 victory over the host Andre Chiefs. 

In running his record to 5-1, Casey recorded his second shutout on the season and his fourth complete game. He allowed just four Chief base runners on three singles and a walk while striking out seven.

Chief's starter Chris Foundas (1-1) had control problems from the outset and took the loss. He walked three, hit two batters, struck out two, and allowed four earned runs on five hits in three full innings. Matt Boleski worked the Chief's fourth and gave up three earned runs on three hits and two walks. Chris Labriola shut the Americans down in the fifth and sixth on one hit and one walk while striking out three. Connor Bishop struck out one in finishing up a scoreless seventh, working out of a bases loaded one out jam following a pair of walks and a single.

The Americans got all the runs they would need before making an out in the first. Foundas opened the game by hitting Luke Begley and walking Dave Ahern and Mike DelPonte in succession to load the bases. K.C. McCarthy made him pay when he lined a base hit to the opposite field in left to score Begley and Ahern and give the Americans a 2-0 lead. The RBI were McCarthy's tenth and eleventh in just eight games played for the Americans.

They tacked on two more in the fourth. Ahern doubled to deep right with one out and DelPonte followed with a double to center to chase Ahern home with the third run. McCarthy was hit by a Foundas pitch to put runners at first and second. A Mike Kalfopoulos ground ball forced McCarthy at second leaving runners at the corners. Mike Ferriero walked to load the bases before Jay Olson's seeing eye single found its way into right field to drive home DelPonte and make it 4-0 after three.

Boleski took over on the mound for the Chiefs to start the fourth and was greeted rudely. Begley walked to open the frame and Ahern singled to left. DelPonte fouled to the catcher for the first out but McCarthy earned the second walk of the inning to load the bases. Mike Kalfopoulos stepped to the plate and lined a single down the right field line, scoring Begley and Ahern with the fifth and sixth American runs. Mike Ferriero then joined the hit list when he drove a Boleski fast ball over the head of Jeff Bercume in center that easily scored McCarthy with the seventh run. Ferriero was thrown out at third trying to stretch the double to a triple, ending the inning before Kalfopoulos could cross the plate with the eighth run. The rest was all Casey as he cruised to the victory, striking out the side in the seventh to end it.

With six regular season games to go, the Americans find themselves in third place with twenty-seven points, one point behind the second place Chiefs in the standings and nine points behind the first place Lexington Blue Sox.

The Americans return to Huskins Field Thursday when the Chiefs will again host their cross-town rivals. Dave Martin, another former Tufts University Jumbo pitcher, will be on the mound for the Americans in the 6:00 pm start. The Chiefs are expected to counter with rookie right-hander Rob Machado (1-2) of UMass-Amherst.