Americans Beat Bulldogs, Chiefs Win Coinflip to Get #3 Seed

The Melrose Americans beat the Reading Bulldogs 5-2 in the ICL Regular Season final on Sunday at Morelli Field.

With the Melrose win, the Andre Chiefs and Americans finished with identical 12-12-1 records. The first two tiebreakers, number of wins and head to head (the teams were 2-2-1 against each other in 2022) failed to break the tie.

A coinflip was used and the Chiefs won and will receive the #3 seed and face the #2 Middlesex Expos in a best of three series starting on Wednesday.

The #4 Americans will host the #5 Bulldogs in a play-in game on Tuesday at 7:30 PM at Morelli Field. The winner of that game will advance to play the #1 Lexington Blue Sox in Lexington on Wednesday at 8:00 PM.

In the Americans’ 5-2 Sunday win, Mike Peters (1-1) got the victory and Bobby Tramondozzi picked up his third save. Gianni Zarrilli led the way at the plate with a homer and two RBI’s and Nick Longo knocked in two runs. Jack Morin had a solo homer for the Bulldogs.

Valdario Gives Chiefs Walk-Off Win, Melrose Pitching K’s 13

Nick Valdario’s single in the bottom of the seventh inning gave the Andre Chiefs a 5-4 walk-off win against the Lexington Blue Sox on Friday night at Maplewood. The Chiefs overcame a 4-1 deficit and tied the game when they scored three times in the bottom of the sixth. Andrew Caulfield (double, 2 RBI’s) and Chris Klein each had two hits for the Chiefs. Tommy Leone (1-1) tossed 2.1 innings of shutout ball to get the win in relief of starter Anthony Del Prete (4.1 innings, 5 K’s) and Jonathan Richard (0.1 inning). Chris Aufiero had a double and two RBI’s for the Blue Sox.

The Melrose Americans got a combined 13 strikeout effort from starter Christian Loescher (4 innings, 8 K’s) and winner Ronnie Luke (1-1, 3 innings, 5 K’s) and edged the Middlesex Expos 3-2 at a game played a Trum Field in Somerville. Gianni Zarrilli (double) had two hits for the Americans while John Jennings and Cory Bright had RBI’s. Dionys Quezada hit his league leading sixth homer for the Expos in the bottom of the fourth inning. Shawn Carlson (0-1) took the loss.

The ICL regular season will conclude on Sunday when the Americans host the Reading Bulldogs at Morelli Field at 4:00 PM.

Blue Sox and Maddogs Win on Thursday

Mike Khoury and Matt Chatelle each had a two-run double in the top of eighth inning to break a scoreless tie and lead the Blue Sox to a 5-1 extra inning win over the Reading Bulldogs in Lexington. Steve Bangs (1-1) picked up the win with four innings in relief of starter Sean Mahan. Bulldogs starter Adam Vining went 7.1 innings, gave up only five hits, and struck out seven.

At Maplewood, the Malden Maddogs overcame a 6-3 fifth inning deficit on the way to edging the Melrose Americans 9-8. Quinton Copeland (1-0) got the win in relief of starter Matt Tyman. Joe Klingensmith picked up the save. Jake Hatch and Lawrence Tang each drove in two runs for the Maddogs. Shawn Nestor, John Jennings, and Cory Bright had two hits each for the Americans.

On Friday, the Andre Chiefs host the Blue Sox at Maplewood at 8:00 PM and the Americans visit the Middlesex Expos at Trum Field in Somerville at 8:30 PM.

The regular season concludes on Sunday when the Americans and Reading Bulldogs meet at Morelli Field at 4:00 PM.

The ICL’s Play-in game, pitting the #4 and #5 seeds, is scheduled to be played next Tuesday. The semifinals will start on Wednesday.

Americans, Blue Sox and Maddogs Win on Wednesday

Gianni Zarilli drove in all three runs with a single and double and Chris Mitchell picked up his league leading sixth win when the Melrose Americans edged the Andre Chiefs 3-2 at Morelli Field on Wednesday night. Mitchell now 6-1, went six innings allowing just five hits while striking out four. Bobby Tramondozzi struck out two in the seventh to grab the save. Teddy Dziuba drove in both of the Chiefs’ runs when they tied the game at 2-2 in the top of the fifth inning. Cal Carroll (1-3) took the loss.

In Lexington, the Blue Sox got five shutout innings of one hit pitching from Jake Vesling and blanked the Middlesex Expos 5-0. The Blue Sox put this one away early when they had six straight hits and scored four times in the bottom of the first inning after two were out. The big blow was Alex Voitik’s two run homer. Vesling (2-0) struck out seven. Borja Jones-Berasaluce and Manny Delcarmen combined to throw a scoreless sixth and seventh inning. Kevin Michael (0-1) was tagged with the loss.

In Wednesday’s final game, the Malden Maddogs edged the Reading Bulldogs 4-3 at Maplewood.

Tonight the Bulldogs and Blue Sox meet in Lexington and the Americans and Maddogs meet at Maplewood. Both games will start at 8:00 PM.

Bulldogs, Expos Behind Cloutier, Get Tuesday Wins

Todd Stawiecki (2 RBI) had a triple and three hits and Evan O’Rourke (2 RBI) homered when the Reading Bulldogs knocked off the Malden Maddogs 10-4 at Maplewood on Tuesday night. Andrew Croteau and Joe Cacciatore each drove in two runs for the Bulldogs. Madison Dina (1-1) picked up his first win of the year in relief of starter Griffen Cofsky.

In other action the Middlesex Expos banged out 19 hits on the way to beating the Blue Sox in Lexington 10-1. Ryan Cloutier led the way with four hits and Kebler Peralta and Richie Williams added three each. Leon Paulino drove in three runs. Cloutier (2-1) also got the pitching win striking out three in three innings. Jack Schwartz (1-2) got the loss.

A full slate is on tap for Wednesday. The Andre Chiefs visit the Melrose Americans at Morelli Field at 7:30 PM, the Bulldogs and Maddogs meet again at Maplewood at 8:00 PM, and the Expos and Blue Sox have a rematch in Lexington also at 8:00 PM.

Chiefs & Blue Sox Grab Monday Wins

Andrew Caulfield hit his third homer of the season, and had two RBI’s, and the Chiefs took advantage of eight walks to edge the Melrose Americans 6-5 at Maplewood on Monday night. Tim Dunphy (5-2) went six innings to get his fifth win of the season. Ryan Joyce (1-2) took the loss. Four Melrose pitchers allowed only two hits in the game. Pat Costigan had three of the Americans’ eight hits. Gabriel Valdez picked up his first save when he worked a scoreless seventh inning.

At Brandeis, Pete John, Matt Chatelle, Jesse McCullough and Ernie Little had two hits each to lead the Lexington Blue Sox to a 7-4 win over the Middlesex Expos. Eric Lopes (2-0) got the win and Nick Godfroy the save. Roland Mendez (2-2) struck out six in four innings but took the loss. Idelson Tavares and Ryan Cloutier each had a couple of hits for the Expos.

Tonight the Expos and Blue Sox meet again in Lexington and the Malden Maddogs host the Reading Bulldogs at Maplewood. Both games will start at 8:00 PM.

Middlesex Expos, Intercity League

Expos Get Win Over Americans at Morelli, 5-4

Dan Shaw (2-0) went six innings in relief of Emmanuel Saint Hilaire to get the win when the Middlesex Expos held off the Melrose Americans 5-4 on Sunday afternoon at Morelli Field. Americans’ starter Greg Johnson (0-1) struck out three in three innings but took the loss. Leadoff man Pat Costigan had three hits, including a triple, for Melrose.

It was the only game on the ICL’s Sunday schedule.

On Monday, the Americans visit the Andre Chiefs at Maplewood starting at 8:00 PM and the Expos host the Lexington Blue Sox at Brandeis University in Waltham at 8:15 PM.

Lexington Blue Sox

Blue Sox Edge Americans 7-6 in Lone Friday Game

The Blue Sox broke a 6-6 tie and when they scored a run in the bottom of the sixth inning on the way to a 7-6 win over the Melrose Americans on Friday night in Lexington. Ernie Little reached on a bunt single to start the sixth. He stole second and took third on an infield out and came home on a throwing error with the winning run. Lexington scored six runs over the first three innings for a 6-4 lead. The Sox got RBI from Julian Alvarez and Andrew Selima in the first, Josue Feliciano in the second, and Matt Chatelle and Chris Aufiero drove in runs in the third. Aidan Freeburg (1-0) pitched a 1-2-3 sixth for his first win since 2016. Brendan King earned his first save.
Aidan Barry doubled in two runs in the third to give Melrose a 4-3 lead. Jack Beverly and Scott Serles drove in the runs in the fifth for the Americans to knot the game at 6-6. Nick Colucci (1-2) took the loss in relief.

The Americans-Blue Sox tilt was the only ICL game on the Friday schedule. The league is off on Saturday. Play will resume on Sunday at 4:00 PM when the Americans host the Middlesex Expos at Morelli Field.

Middlesex Expos, Intercity League

Expos Walk-Off Blue Sox in Extra Innings, 6-5

Jose Paulino’s ground ball with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning proved to be the difference when the Middlesex Expos edged the Lexington Blue Sox 6-5 on Thursday night at Brandeis University. The Expos pitching duo of Junior Montero (4 innings) and winner Ryan Cloutier (4 innings) allowed just one hit but walked seven Blue Sox as the Expos committed three errors. Montero and Cloutier (1-1) struck out six batters each. Gavin Dauer (2-2) took the loss in relief of Jake Vesling, who went the first five frames, and Aidan Freeburg, who worked the sixth.

One game is on the ICL agenda for Friday when the Blue Sox entertain the Melrose Americans at Lexington High starting at 8:00 PM.

Mitchell Gets 5th Win for Americans, Expos Beat Bulldogs

Chris Mitchell went 4.2 innings to get his league best fifth win when the Melrose Americans beat the Malden Maddogs 6-2 at Morelli Field. Aidan Barry led the Americans with two hits and two RBI’s while Gianni Zarrilli chipped in with a couple of hits and an RBI. Mitchell, now 5-1, struck out four and allowed just three hits. Jack McLaughlin (1-3) took the loss.

In Wednesday’s other game the Middlesex Expos knocked off the Reading Bulldogs 9-6.

The Expos host the Lexington Blue Sox at Brandeis University in tonight’s only game starting at 8:15 PM.