Andre Chiefs

Lexington, MA- Leadoff man Nick Valdario had two hits and scored two runs to lead the Chiefs to a 3-2 win over the Blue Sox in Lexington on Thursday Night.

The Chiefs grabbed a quick 2-0 lead in top of the first inning against former Merrimack College star and Minnesota Twins lefty Ryan O’Rourke. Valdario started things off with a single to right, stole second, went to third on a wild pitch, and scored an unearned run on an infield error off the bat of A.J. Johnson. John Collette gave the Chiefs a 2-0 lead when he singled home Andrew Caulfield who had walked.

It stayed a 2-0 Chiefs lead until the Blue Sox knotted things up after two were out in the bottom of the third off starter Tim Dunphy. Catcher Luke Hall singled and came around to score on an Alex Krylov triple to right field. When Krylov came across to score on a passed ball, the game was tied heading for the top of the fourth inning.

Silas Reed came on came on for Dunphy and struck out the side in the top of the fourth.

The Chiefs pushed across what proved to be the winning run in the top of the fifth against reliever Mark Maestri. Valdario singled up the middle with one out, moved to third on a Brendan Albert single, and scored on a wild pitch.

Reed and Lexington reliever Jake Vesling kept it a 3-2 game heading into the bottom of the seventh.

Tommy Leone struck out the first two Blue Sox batters in the bottom of the seventh before Hall walked and Krylov singled. Leone secured the win when he got Drew Michaud to fly to Valdario in center to end the game.

Chiefs Chatter…. The now 2-0 Chiefs are off until Sunday evening when they play the Malden Maddogs at Trum Field in Somerville at 8:30 PM…..

Malden, MA- R.J. Libby’s walk off solo homer in the bottom of the ninth inning broke a 2-2 tie and gave the Chiefs a 3-2 opening night win over the Reading Bulldogs at Maplewood.

It was the first Chiefs’ win for new manager Jim McConville.

Chiefs’ pitching was dominant on the night as four hurlers combined to strike out 18 batters and scatter just three hits.

Lefty Evan Walsh got the starting nod and things started out a little shaky in the top of the first. The Bulldogs used a walk, an infield error, and a RBI double from Tyler Cedeno to take a 1-0 lead before an out was recorded. Walsh settled in and struck out the next three batters to leave Cedeno stranded and end the inning.

Walsh struck two more batters in the top of the second before Jonathan Richard came on in the third and worked two scoreless innings. The Reading lead went to 2-0 in the sixth when Richard surrendered an unearned run on an outfield error and a Cedeno RBI single.

Tommy Leone spelled Richard in the top of the sixth and promptly struck out the Reading side.

The Chiefs took advantage of Bulldogs’ wildness and evened things up at 2-2 in the bottom of the sixth without the benefit of a hit. Walks to Nate Witkowski, Andrew Caulfield, A.J. Johnson, John Collette and Brendan Albert, sandwiched around a Ryan Noone fielder’s choice, accounted for the two runs.

Graham Seed (1-0) took the mound in the top of the seventh and was lights out. The big right-hander struck out eight batters and didn’t allow a hit, setting the stage for Libby’s two out heroics in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Chiefs Chatter…. The Chiefs are back in action on Thursday evening when they travel to Lexington to meet the Blue Sox at 8:00 PM. Veteran southpaw Tim Dunphy is expected to get the start…..The 18 strikeouts: Walsh (5 K’s, Richard 2 K’s, Leone 3 K’s and Seed 8 K’s) are the most a Chiefs’ staff has had in game since Walsh’s record setting 20 strikeout performance on June 22, 2019…..New Pitching Coach and ICL Hall of Famer Dave Caiazzo certainly had to be pleased with performance of his staff in his Chiefs’ debut….

After taking the 2020 season off due to Covid-19 concerns, the Chiefs and the ICL will be back in full action starting June 2.

The Chiefs will open their campaign and host the Reading Bulldogs at Maplewood Park on Wednesday at 8:15 PM. On Thursday, the Chiefs travel to Lexington to meet the Blue Sox at Lexington High in an 8:00 PM start.

The ICL Board of Directors and each of its teams are eagerly looking forward to the 2021 season. Last season’s interruption was the first time since 1950 that the ICL did not conduct a season.

The league will play an slightly abbreviated 24 game regular schedule with a full slate of playoffs to follow. The 24 game campaign will allow for some flexibility in the schedule as well as accommodate the later than usual local high school baseball season which the ICL shares some fields with.

Let’s play ball!!

(July 6, 2020) The Intercity League has officially announced that its 2020 season has been cancelled due to COVID-19.
The ICL made the announcement on Monday morning after conducting the latest in a long series of remote meetings that was held with the Board of Directors on Sunday evening.

The ICL released the following statement: “After exploring every avenue for months, the ICL has made the extremely difficult decision to cancel the 2020 season. The Intercity League has enjoyed an outstanding and continuous tradition in Massachusetts amateur baseball since 1950 and we look forward to coming back stronger than ever in 2021. We make this decision out of an abundance of caution and after careful consideration of all factors. The safety of our players, their families, managers, coaches, umpires, administrators, and fans, remained paramount in all of our discussions. This was an exceedingly difficult choice, but we felt it was the best decision at this time. Given the ongoing situation and the ever-growing time constraints, we felt the window to conduct a meaningful ICL season this summer has become too narrow.”

Although the ICL season has been cancelled, players that choose to do so, may participate in a memorial tournament that is being organized by the Lexington Blue Sox. The tournament is being named after two former Blue Sox players that have passed away. Known as the PF-3 and DA-41 Tournament, it will honor Pete Frates, who lost a courageous battle with ALS in 2019 and Dave Ahern who died in 2016.

The ICL joins the Cape Cod League and the NECBL in the cancellation of their 2020 campaigns.

Details on the PF-3/DA-41 Tournament, and how players, teams or groups that choose to do so can participate, will be announced this week. Those interested can email Rick DeAngelis at fjdeangelis1@comcast.net.

(June 26, 2020) The Intercity League Board of Directors met again on Thursday, June 25. It was the latest in a long series of meetings to continue our discussions regarding the possibility of conducting a shortened 2020 season.

Massachusetts remains in Phase 2 of the reopening plan, which prohibits any games or scrimmages to be played. Phase 3, which was originally scheduled to begin on June 29, has been pushed back by at least a week. Per Governor Charlie Baker, the earliest that Phase 3 could now begin would be July 6.

As a result of the above, and in order to give teams time to prepare should Phase 3 begin on July 6, the best case scenario would now be an eight game regular season. If this becomes a reality, all of the nine teams would play each other once, followed by a tournament. The earliest start date would now be Monday, July 13.

In addition to the above, we must await Board of Health approval, guidelines and field availability and permits, from each of the cities and towns where ICL games could be played. These cities and towns are also subject to both the timeline and regulations that will be implemented by the Commonwealth.

The ICL’s Board maintains its position that the safety of players, managers, coaches, administrators, umpires, and fans remains our number one priority. Any decision made moving forward will certainly be reflective of this.

All sports at every level across the country are facing uncertainty at this point. The ICL is no different. These are challenging times.

We remain optimistic but are aware that the window for summer baseball may narrow.

We will keep everyone immediately informed as events evolve.

Please stay well.
ICL Board of Directors