Andre Chiefs

Medford, MA- Veteran righty Dave Marsters settled down and kept the Medford Americans scoreless over the last three innings as the Chiefs and Medford Americans battled to a hard fought 4-4 deadlock on Friday night at Tufts University.

The Americans jumped out to 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Steve Tahmoush led things off with a single to center and after a strikeout, ICL veteran Mike Kalfopoulos drew a walk. Mike Delponte chased them both home with a long double to left center to provide the Americans with a quick 2-0 lead.

Americans starter Zack Rubin held the Chiefs scoreless in the home half of the first and the Medford lead went to 3-0 in the top of the second on a Steve Panza single and a Tahmoush double to right field.

It stayed 3-0 until the bottom of the the third inning when the Chiefs came up with four runs to take the lead. After Joe Martini grounded to short, Brendan Pyburn and Nicky Dunn drew consecutive walks. Matt Lawlor then hit a grounder that was scooped up by Panza at shortstop and he was able to force Pyburn at third for the inning's second out. Justin Crisafulli followed and got the Chiefs on the board with a line RBI single to center that scored Dunn. Mike Andre then drew a walk and Phil Costello tied the game at 3-3 when he doubled to right center scoring Lawlor and Crisafulli. Matt Boleski gave the Chiefs their only lead of the night with a line single to center that scored Andre. Righty Kevin Hayes, who replaced Rubin on the hill for the Americans, averted further trouble when he got Chiefs rookie Nick Leva to bounce out to second base.

The Americans wasted no time and came right back to tie it up at 4-4 in the top of the fourth on a Panza double, a sacrifice bunt and a deep sacrifice fly to center off the bat of Jim Moriera.

The Chiefs threatened in the bottom of the fourth inning but could not score. Pyburn hit a one out double into the right field corner and Dunn drew his second walk of the game. Lawlor followed with a fielder's choice groundout that forced Dunn at second. Crisafulli was issued a walk to load the bases and the Americans escaped the jam when when Moriera made a nice play on a hard Andre one hopper to end the inning.

Marsters got Mike Burgoyne to fly out and Kalfopoulos to ground out to start the fifth. Delponte then singled but was gunned out by Lawlor trying to steal second to end the Americans inning. Hayes got the Chiefs in order in the bottom of the fifth, including a long warning track fly out by Boleski to the 379' sign in rightcenter, and Marsters held the Americans scoreless in the top of the sixth.

Pinch hitter Paul Crisafulli led off the Chiefs sixth with a line single to left and Connor Bishop came on to pinch run. Bishop went to second on a wild pitch and was sacrificed to third by a Pyburn bunt. That was as far as Bishop got as Hayes got both Dunn and Lawlor to pop up to end the inning.

Marsters struck out the first two batters of the seventh before Tahmoush singled and swiped second and then third. Marsters left Tahmoush stranded when he struck out his third batter of the inning.

Hayes got Crisafulli to pop up to begin the bottom of the seventh and Andre gave the Chiefs some hope to pull out the win when he followed with a single to center. Forbes pinch ran for Andre and Hayes ended things when Costello laced a line drive right at Panza at shortstop who easily doubled up Forbes, who was running on the pitch, at first.

Marsters allowed eight hits and struck out seven while walking three.

The Chiefs are back in action on Sunday at 8:00 PM when they travel to Pine Banks in Melrose to meet the Gately A's before returning to Tufts for a rematch with the Americans on Monday at 6:00 PM.

Somerville, MA- Lefty David Garcia tossed a complete game and veteran slugger Justin Crisafulli belted two home runs to lead the Chiefs past the Cassell Club 10-3 at Trum Field on Tuesday evening.

For Crisafulli, who went three for three and reached base four times, it was the 84th and 85th home run of his illustrious ICL career. The veteran slugger also had three RBI's to move his career total to 356 tying Mike Langston at the top of the Chiefs all time list.

Crisafulli gave Garcia and the Chiefs a quick 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning off Cassell starter and loser Bryan Lambert, a former Washington National farmhand. Nate Leva led the game off with a single to right and Mike Barbati sacrificed him to second. Following a Paul Koslowski ground out, Crisafulli launched a two run bomb to left giving the Chiefs the lead.

Garcia got the side in order in the bottom of the first and the lead went to 3-0 in the top of the second when Phil Costello, who had walked, scored on an infield error off the bat of Barbati.

Garcia escaped a mild Cassell rally in the bottom of the second when Jeff Paquette and Aaron Santos both singled but he got out of it on a 4-6-3 doubleplay, one of three DP's the Chiefs turned, and a fly out.

Crisafulli led off the top of the third with his second round tripper of the night, this one to left center, giving the Chiefs a 4-0 lead.

Cassell cut the lead in half to 4-2 in the bottom of the third inning on a Tim Dempsey double, singles from Teddy O'Reilly and Josh Mackey, and a sacrifice fly from Ted Dziuba.

Cassell reliever Drew Brzozowski got the Chiefs in order in the top of the fourth and the Cassell Club chopped the lead to 4-3 in the home half of the inning when Paquette launched a long triple to center and was plated on a Bob McCarthy sacrifice fly.

The Chiefs came right back in the top of fifth to make it 6-3 when Mike Andre drilled a two out double down the right field line scoring Crisafulli and Matt Lawlor who had both singled ahead of him.

It stayed 6-3 until the Chiefs put the game away with four runs in the top of the seventh inning. Barbati got things going with a single and Joe Martini, filling in for Koslowski who left the game with a tight quad, dropped a perfect bunt single. An intentional walk to Crisafulli loaded the bases for Lawlor who drilled a RBI single to center scoring Barbati to make it 7-3. Successive walks to Andre and Costello then forced in two more runs making it 9-3. The final run of the night came on a Nick Dunn RBI fielder's choice.

Garcia allowed eight hits, including three of the infield variety, struck out four and walked just one.

Crisafulli, who is 19 for his last 33, .576,  raised his season average to a torrid .423, good for second place in the ICL's batting race.

The win, the Chiefs fourth in a row and seventh in their last eight games, raised their season record to 14-7-5 with just six games remaining in the regular season. The first of those games will be played on Friday when they host the Medford Americans at Tufts University in a 6:00 PM start.

Watertown, MA- The Chiefs swept a doubleheader from the Watertown Reds at Victory Field on Monday night, winning game one 9-1 and then taking the nightcap 8-2.

Righty Keith Forbes went five shutout innings in the opener to pick up the win and raise his record to 4-1-1. Southpaw Dylan Ellis went the distance in game two, scattering seven hits, and upped his season mark to 3-0-3.

In game one, Forbes and Reds starter Chris Dupay matched zeros for the first two frames before the visitors broke through with three runs in the top of the third inning. Phil Costello led off with a walk and Brendan Pyburn singled. Mike Barbati's sacrifice bunt attempt was a bit strong and Dupay was able to force Costello at third. Dupay then struck out Paul Koslowski swinging but torrid Justin Crisafulli picked him up when he drilled a long double to the base of the wall in left scoring Pyburn. Equally hot Matt Lawlor then lofted a single to left center just over the leap of Reds shortstop Brian Shapiro scoring both Barbati and Crisafulli to make it 3-0. Mike Andre then drew a walk but Dupay got nate Leva to bounce out to avoid further damage.

Both teams went scoreless in the fourth inning before the Chiefs picked up a couple of more runs to raise their lead to 5-0 in the fifth. Dupay got Barbati to fly out to right and Koslowski got things started with one out when he laced a double to right center and Crisafulli was intentionally walked. Lawlor then doubled to deep left scoring Koslowski and pushing Crisafulli to third. Andre followed with a long RBI sacrifice fly to right scoring Crisafulli and giving Forbes a 5-0 lead.

Forbes held the Reds scoreless in the bottom of the inning and the Chiefs added two more runs to take a 7-0 lead in the sixth off Reds reliever Mike Guanci. Matt Boleski led things off with a walk and after Costello flew out, singles from Pyburn and Barbati (RBI) and a wild pitch accounted for the runs.

Carlos Dela Cruz came on for Forbes in the bottom of the sixth and retired the Reds side in order, including two strikeouts. The Chiefs made it a 9-0 game in the top of the seventh on basehits from Andre, Leva and Pyburn.

The Reds averted the shutout against Dela Cruz in the bottom of the seventh when Brian Casey singled, Scott Ciccone reached on an error by Pyburn, Matt McEvoy flew out to left, and two more singles from Jason Hoye and Shapiro. Dela Cruz ended the game by getting Jay Olson to hit into an Andre (3B) to Pyburn (2B) to Koslowski (1B) doubleplay.

Forbes (5 innings), allowed four hits and struck out six while walking five.

In the nightcap, Ellis got stronger as the game went on to pick up his third win of the season. The Chiefs handed him a 1-0 lead in the first inning against Watertown lefty Andrew LeBrun when Pyburn reached on an infield error, stole second, went to third on a Barbati grounder and scored on a Koslowski sacrifice fly.

Ellis kept the Reds off the board in the bottom of the first and the Chiefs rewarded him with three more runs and a 4-0 lead in the top of the second. Andre was hit by a LeBrun pitch and Leva followed with a single. Boleski was then hit with another LeBrun offering to load the bases. Costello then grounded a single just inside the first base bag to score both Andre and Leva with the second and third runs of the game. The Chiefs added their fourth run when Boleski scored on an infield error off the bat of Pyburn.

The Reds got one back in the bottom of the second on a Hoye single, a base on balls to Ciccone and a RBI single from Annese. The Chiefs went in order in the third and the Reds cut the lead in half to 4-2 in the bottom of the inning on singles by Brian Casey and Shapiro and a long sacrifice fly to left from Hoye.

It stayed 4-2 until the Chiefs put the game away with four runs in the fifth inning. Barbati got things going with a single to center and Koslowski drew a walk. Crisafulli followed with a RBI single before Lawlor doubled scoring Koslowski to make it 6-2 and leave runners on second and third. LeBrun got Andre and Leva for the first two outs before Boleski lined a single to right center scoring both Crisafulli and Lawlor to bring the score to 8-2. Aram Manoukian held the Chiefs scoreless in the sixth and seventh innings.

Ellis held the Reds at bay the rest of the way, including retiring the last seven batters in a row. He struck out five and walked two.

The Chiefs, now 13-7-5, head to Trum Field in Somerville on Tuesday night for a 6:15 PM date with the first place Cassell Club. Lefty David Garcia is expected to draw the starting assignment for the Chiefs.

Three more Intercity League games were postponed on Wednesday night, bringing the number of games scrapped due to the wet weather since Sunday to eleven.

The ICL will continue to work to have all regular season games completed by Friday, August 8. The best three out five semi-final round of the playoffs are scheduled to begin on Sunday, August 10.

The first four finishers in the regular season standings qualify for the ICL playoffs. The ICL championship series will also be a best three of five.