BULLDOGS WIN FIRST EVER ICL CHAMPIONSHIP
INTERCITY LEAGUE NEWS & NOTES
Chiefs Tie Up Series with Americans 7-2, Deciding Game 3 Tonight at Morelli Field, 7:45 PM
(Melrose, MA)- The Andre Chiefs got a three run homer from Ryan Petrone, leading to a six run second inning, sparking them to a 7-2 win over the Melrose Americans at Morelli Field on Monday night. With the win the Chiefs tie the series at 1-1 with the deciding game three back at Morelli tonight at 7:45 PM. Ruben Rodriguez Jr added a double and two RBI’s, Miles Reid added a solo homer in the bottom of the fourth inning. and Byron Woodman chipped in with two singles and an RBI. Chris Dion went the seven inning route despite allowing 10 hits. Dion struck out eight and issued two walks. Daniel Ferris (double), Laz Giardina and Jake Barrett (RBI) all had two hits for the Americans. Tyler Nelson (0-1, 1.2 innings), Will Trach (1.2 innings), and Luke Yorba (3.2 innings) all worked for the Americans. The winner of tonight’s game will move on to meet the Lexington Bulldogs in the best of five Intercity League Championship Series. The Bulldogs beat the Lexington Blue Sox 11-4 last night to advance to the finals.
Bulldogs advance to Finals with 11-4 win
By Bruce Hack, Lexington Correspondent Lexington – For the second straight season, the Lexington Bulldogs are headed to the Intercity League finals. The Bulldogs defeated the Lexington Blue Sox 11-4 to win their semifinal series 2-1. Now the Bulldogs await the winner of the Andre versus Melrose series, which is tied at 1-1 with the Chiefs’ 7-2 win Monday night. It was a combination of timely hitting, good pitching, and good defense for the Bulldogs. The Bulldogs took advantage of some uncharacteristic wildness by Blue Sox starter Dan Metzdorf, who walked two, loading the bases with two outs. Reuben Siegel singled to bring in the first run. Peyton Heisner followed with a 2-run single, and it was 3-0 Bulldogs in the top of the first. The Blue Sox responded in the bottom of the second, also scoring three runs. Erick Ramirez and Luis Atiles hit back-to-back doubles to cut the lead to 3-1. Atiles moved to third on a wild pitch and came home on a sacrifice fly by Pat Casserly, whose bid for a home run was robbed at the fence. Craig Corliss walked and moved to third on Jake McElroy’s ground rule double to right. Corliss scored the tying run when Bulldogs starter Brady MacCuthchen was called for a balk. The tie didn’t last long as the Bulldogs took the lead for good in the top of the third. Caleb Cormier walked, Ian Born singled, and Siegel walked, loading the bases with one out. Aidan Murphy took a four-pitch walk to bring in Cormier with the Bulldogs’ fourth run. Matt Marini entered the game in the third and pitched four one-hit, shutout innings for the Bulldogs to earn the win. He faced one batter over the minimum thanks to his defense, which turned two double plays behind him, and also threw out a Blue Sox runner attempting to steal second. Brett Stone doubled in two runs in the fourth, giving the Bulldogs a 6-3 lead. They added two more in the sixth and three in the seventh to score their most runs in a playoff game. Blue Sox bench scored a run in the seventh to account for the final score. Pinch-hitters Max Dushney and Luke Ward walked. Harry Tucker was then hit by a pitch, loading the bases with no outs. Brendan Doyle walked on four pitches, and Dushney trotted home with the fourth Sox run. The 11 runs, 13 hits, 5 doubles, and 8 walks are all playoff highs for the Bulldogs. The teams combined to throw 326 pitches, walk 16 batters, and strike out 15.
Americans Beat Chiefs 6-4 in Game One
(Melrose, MA)- Jake Barrett had a single, double, and two RBI’s, to lead the Melrose Americans to a 6-4 win over the Andre Chiefs in game one of their best of three semi-final series on Friday night at Morelli Field. A Nick Valdario RBI single and a Teddy Dziuba three-run homer got the Chiefs out to a 4-0 lead in the top of the second inning. The Americans came storming back against Chiefs’ starter Matt Doherty and tied things up at 4-4 in the bottom of the inning. Melrose went ahead with a single run in the third and then added an insurance run in the home half of the fifth inning. Daniel Ferris, Laz Giardina, Chris Cimino, and Alex Fernandes (double) all drove in a run for the Americans. Nick Banforth picked up the win going 6.2 innings before giving way to Mike Nestor who got the one out save. Banforth struck out seven, gave up eight hits, and walked just one. Game two of the series is scheduled for Monday, and if a game three is needed it will be played on Tuesday. Both games will be played at Morelli Field starting at 7:45 PM.
Bulldogs Blank Blue Sox Knot Series at 1-1
Lexington – On Friday night, the Lexington Bulldogs evened their semifinal series with the neighboring Blue Sox, 3-0, at Center 1 Field. Ian Born got the call for the Bulldogs and responded with six shutout innings. He scattered 4 hits, walked 3, and struck out 3. Matt Marini closed out the game with the only 1-2-3 inning for Bulldogs pitching. The Bulldogs broke the scoreless tie in the bottom of the fourth. With one out, Seamus Condon went the opposite way and doubled down the left field line. This brought runners to the corners on Matthew Favazzo’s infield single. Following that, Caleb Cormier delivered a single to right, and Condon scored with the only run the Bulldogs would need. After a walk to Aidan Murphy loaded the bases, the Blue Sox got out of trouble with an inning-ending double play. Jack Lee lofted a fly ball into foul territory on the first base side. Sox first baseman Frank Landeiro went after the ball and made the catch, lunging back towards the field. Favazzo tagged up and headed home; Landeiro made a perfect throw to catcher Max Dushney, and Favazzo was easily out, ending the inning. Shane Costello delivered the final two Bulldogs runs in the fifth, hitting a two-run home run to left that scored Peyton Heisner (single) with no outs. It was Costello’s first playoff home run. Michael O’Brien started for the Blue Sox, pitching 5.1 innings. He allowed 6 hits, walked 1, and struck out 4. The lefty retired eight straight from the first through fourth innings before Condon snapped the streak with a single. With each team starting a southpaw, the game began as a battle of lefties. Through the first three innings, the two starters faced a combined 21 batters, three over the minimum. The Blue Sox had at least a runner on base in every inning but the seventh. But ran themselves out of possible scoring opportunities. The Bulldogs threw out two Sox runners attempting to steal. The Sox had a runner thrown out at home, and another one picked off at second. Moreover, the shutout was the second playoff blanking for the Bulldogs. Earlier, the first was on August 11, 2025, in a 7-0 win over Malden in their initial playoff game. Game three will be Monday night, with first pitch scheduled for 7:45 at Lexington High School.