Chiefs Sweep Americans
(Malden, MA)- The Andre Chiefs got three RBI’s each from Byron Woodman, Teddy Dziuba, and Anthony Perry, on the way to beating the Melrose Americans 13-7 at Maplewood on Thursday night.
The win gives the Chiefs a 3-0 semi-final series sweep and a ticket to the ICL’s Championship Series where they will have the opportunity to defend their 2023 title. They will await the winner of the Middlesex Expos-Lexington Blue Sox series which remained tied at 1-1 after last night’s rainout.
The Chiefs never looked back after Woodman gave them a quick 3-0 lead when he drilled a three run homer in the bottom of the first inning scoring Teddy Dziuba and Mitchell Schroeder, who had both singled, ahead of him.
Aidan Barry’s RBI single, off Chiefs’ starter Evan Walsh, cut the lead to 3-1 in the top of the second.
The Chiefs put up three more runs and took a 6-1 lead in the bottom of the second on an RBI single from Tyler Ferdinand and a two RBI double from Dziuba.
Chris Klein’s RBI groundout made it a 6-2 game in the top of third.
It became an 12-2 affair when the Chiefs tallied six more times in the bottom of the third inning on singles from Woodman, Nate Witkowski, Perry (2 RBI), a Dziuba sacrifice fly, and a Schroeder double.
The Americans closed the gap to 12-7 when they put up a couple of runs in the top of the fifth and then added three more in the sixth. The Chiefs scored the game’s final run in the bottom of the sixth to account for the 13-7 final.
Klein (2 hits) led the Melrose 14 hit offense with three RBI’s and Nestor, Ian Libby, and Ted Giardina had two hits each.
Evan Walsh went five innings to record the win. The lefty gave up nine hits and struck out three. A.J. Rourke (1 inning, 5 hits, 3 runs, 1K) and Cameron Breault, who threw a hitless seventh, also worked for the Chiefs.
Brandon McMahon went two innings and took the loss. Bailey Taylor Black, David Hunter, and Ronnie Luke also pitched for the Americans.
The Chiefs will enter the ICL finals with an overall record of 22-6 .
The Americans finish the 2024 campaign with an overall record of 16-10-1 which included an eight game winning streak to conclude the regular season.
Games three and four of the Expos-Blue Sox series are now scheduled for Minuteman Vocational in Lexington on Friday at 7:00 PM and Sunday at 6:45 PM. If a game five is required it will be played on Monday at a time and location to be determined.
