2024 Intercity League Champions – Andre Chiefs
Chiefs Get Wednesday Win as ICL Heads to Fourth of July Break
INTERCITY LEAGUE NEWS & NOTES
Middlesex Blanks Lexington to Win Game One of Finals
Melrose – The Middlesex Expos took a 1-0 lead in the Intercity League Finals with a 7-0 win over defending champion Lexington. In a rematch of last year’s finals in which the Expos were swept by the Blue Sox, the same will not this season. The Expos scored all they would need in the first inning when they scored four quick runs and Lexington was down 4-0 before it came to bat. The first five Expos batters reached base by hit or walk with Leon Paulino singling to center for two RBI for a 3-0 lead. The final run scored on a double play for the first two outs of the inning. Roland Mendez was making his first postseason start for Middlesex and made the decision look good. He pitched five shutout innings with 10 strikeouts. He struck out six straight Sox batters from the third through fifth innings. From the last out in the second inning through the second out in the fifth Mendez struck out eight of ten Sox hitters. Mendez walked one, and scattered six hits, stranding five Sox baserunners. He left Sox runners on second and third in the first. A runner on third in the second and third innings and in the fifth a runner on second. Of the nine baserunners left on by Lexington, six of them were in scoring position. Jose Paulino (second inning) and Mike Golankiewicz (fifth inning) each hit solo home runs for Middlesex stretching the lead to 6-0 nothing. Lexington had its chances but could not come up with a big hit when it was needed. After two outs in the first Julian Alvarez single and Andrew Selima followed with a double that one-hopped off the fence putting runners at second and third., but they were left there. In the second the Sox had runners at the corners with one out when Matt Chatelle (single) was picked off first on a strong throw by catcher Dionys Quezada. The Blue Sox were only retired in order one time in the fourth inning, all on strikeouts. Game two is Tuesday night at Morelli with first pitch set for 7:45 pm. From the Stat Sheet – This is the Expos second year in the league. They have finished in second place both seasons and have reached the finals in both seasons. These finals are the fourth playoff series for Middlesex. In each of the first three series, two semifinals and one final’s, the Expos lost the first game of the series, in both semifinals they came back and won. In the 2021 finals they were swept by Lexington. Middlesex is now 5-5 in the playoffs. The 7-0 loss was the eighth postseason shutout inflicted on the Sox. It was the first shutout loss for the Sox since August 26, 2014 vs. Andre in the finals in the first year the finals were held at Morelli. The Sox had gone 44 straight playoff games without being shutout. The 7-0 loss was the biggest playoff loss the Sox have suffered since 2006. The previous mark was 6-0 accomplished twice by the Andre Chiefs in 2014 and 2009. Written by Bruce Hack, Lexington Media Relations Director Historical and Statistical research provided by Sportstats. – 30 –
Lexington Wins, Advances to Finals
Lexington – The headline is very familiar to Blue Sox fans. The Blue Sox defeated Melrose 6-2 to take the semifinal series 2-1 and advanced to the Intercity League finals for the 15th consecutive season. For the second straight game it was the second and fourth innings that the Blue Sox offense put up crooked numbers. Alex Voitik opened the second with a walk. Consecutive ground ball outs to second moved him to third with two outs. Ernie Little kept the inning alive as he beat out a ground ball to short for a hit and RBI as Voitik scored to cut the Melrose led to 2-1. Dom Zaher walked and he and Little scored on Josue Feliciano’s two-run double to left and the Blue Sox had the lead for good at 3-2. In the fourth Matt Chatelle started the inning with a line single to center. After an out, Little bunted and Melrose pitcher Mike Peters fielded the ball and his throw sailed into right field allowing Chatelle to go to third and Little to second. Zaher grounds out to short to bring home Chatelle for a 4-2 lead. Feliciano comes through again swinging at the first pitch and singles to center scoring Little. Melrose changes pitchers and brings in game one starter Bobby Tramondozzi. He hits Julian Alvarez and walks Andrew Selima to load the bases with two outs. Cam Meyer is hit with the first pitch and Feliciano comes home with the sixth run and a 6-2 lead. Eric Lopes started for Lexington getting the win. He pitched five strong innings. He gave up two runs in the first as the first four Melrose batters reached base. He then set down the next eight Americans batters, the longest such streak for the Sox in the series. Gianni Zarilli doubles to lead off the fourth and is stranded at third. Pat Costigan has his second of three hits in the fifth but is left on base as Lopes retired six of the last seven batters he faced and 14 of the last 16. The Americans started off quickly as Costigan (single), John Jennings (walk), Cory Bright, single and RBI and Zarilli, triple and RBI, started off the first. Costigan was picked off first by Lopes for the first out or the Americans could have done more damage. Zarilli was 2-for-3 with a triple and double, RBI after going 1-for-7 in the first two games of the series. Costigan with three hits had his third straight multi hit game of the post season. Game three was the first time he did score for Melrose. Ryan Joyce started for Melrose and took the loss. He pitched 1.2 innings, giving up three hits, three runs and walked four. Feliciano went 2-for-4, with 3 RBI, a double and a run. Ryan O’Rourke (6th) and Manny Delcarmen (7th) closed out the game for Lexington. O’Rourke walked one and struck out one in his inning of work. Delcarmen gave up two hits but did not allow a run. This was the second time since 2006 that these two teams met in the semifinals. Lexington swept in 2009 outscoring the Americans 29-3 in three games (the semis were a best of five series). Though the Sox won this year it was a little different. It was not a sweep and the Sox outscored Melrose 21-15. The Americans out hit Lexington 33 to 26. For the eighth straight season the ICL Finals will be held at Morelli Field in Melrose. First game is scheduled for Monday August 8 with first pitch at 7:45 pm. It will be a rematch of the 2021 finals as Middlesex won its game three 3-0 over Andre to advance. Last season Lexington swept the Expos though game three was played at Victory Field in Watertown due to rain in Melrose. Written by Bruce Hack, Lexington Media Relations Director – 30 –
Expos Advance to Championship Series with 3-0 Win
(MELROSE, MA) – The Middlesex Expos beat the Andre Chiefs 3-0 in the deciding game three of the Intercity League semifinals on Friday night at Morelli Field. The Expos will now move on to play the Lexington Blue Sox, who beat the Melrose Americans 6-2 for the ICL crown starting on Monday at 7:45 PM at Morelli. Expos starter Matt Josselyn went the distance with a complete game shutout, striking out nine. It was a hard-fought contest between the two clubs as the score was 0-0 entering the bottom of the fourth. That is when the Expos belted two home runs, a solo shot from Ryan Stellato, and a two run opposite field homer from Idelson Tavares, accounting for all the scoring. Chiefs’ starter Evan Walsh kept the visitors in the contest with five innings of work allowing seven hits and striking out four. Paul Frisoli spun a scoreless 1-2-3 sixth with two strikeouts. Offensively, the team saw both leadoff hitter Juan Parra and Tyler Ferdinand each collect two base hits as the team left nine runners on base in the contest. It will be the second straight year the Expos and Blue Sox will meet in the ICL Championship Series.
Lexington Powers its Way to Win, Knots the Series
Melrose – Lexington used a six-run second inning to power its way to a 10-6 win over Melrose Thursday night at Morelli Field. The victory evened the best of three semifinal series at 1-1. Game three is Friday night in Lexington with first pitch at 8:00 pm. The first five Blue Sox batters in the second inning reached base via hit or walk with Matt Chatelle closing out the sequence with a three-run home to center, his first in a Blue Sox uniform. Andrew Selima started the rally with a double to right. Cam Meyer, who homered in game one, doubled down the leftfield line and the game was tied at 1-1. Mike Khoury walked, Alex Voitik singled to score Meyer and Chatelle went deep. Americans’ starter Ronnie Luke recorded two outs, but Dom Zaher drove one well over the fence in left for a solo home run and a 6-1 lead. It was Zaher’s third career postseason home run, all which have been hit at Morelli Field. Lexington starter Robbie Cobb (1-0) benefited from the offensive outbreak. He gave up a first inning run on singles by Pat Costigan, John Jennings and with two outs Aidan Barry who drove in Costigan. Cobb stranded runners in the second and third innings before getting a 1-2-3 inning in the fourth. The fourth was part of six straight Melrose batters set down by Cobb before the Americans final broke through in the fifth. With one out, Costigan (his second hit) singled, Jennings singled, Bright singled to score Costigan. Jennings scored on a wild pitch and Gianni Zarilli hit a sacrifice fly to right to make it 10-4. Barry’s double ended the night for Cobb. Sean Mahan came in and gave up a single to Scott Searles that scored Barry and it was 10-5. Cobb pitched 4.2 innings, giving up 9 hits, 5 runs, no walks and three strikeouts. It was the second straight year he pitched in an elimination game for Lexington. He pitched in game three against Andre in last season’s semifinal series and went 4.2 innings, giving up 2 hits, an unearned run and struck out two. Zaher lead the Blue Sox 11-hit attack by going 4-for-4 with 2 runs, 3 RBI, a double, and home run. He doubled in his only at bat in game one and now has five straight hits in two games. Lexington added four more runs in the fourth to take a 10-1 lead. The Sox loaded the bases on a walk to Voitik, a single by Jesse McCullough and Ernie Little getting hit by a pitch. With two outs and Zaher at the plate the Blue Sox scored two runs on a ball that didn’t leave the infield. With the runners in motion Zaher hits a one-hop ground ball to short. Zarilli corrals it and throws to second for the third out. Because the runners were in motion with the pitch, Voitik scored easily from third, McCullough scores from second and Little ends up on third as he was past the bag when Melrose made the attempt for the force out. Zaher scores the 10th and final run on an error. Following Cobb on the hill for Lexington was Sean Mahan, Borja Jones-Berasaluce and Manny Delcarmen. The trio combined to pitch 2.1 innings, giving up one hit, an unearned run, walked and struck out one batter. Melrose starter Ronnie Luke (0-1) pitched 2 innings giving up 6 hits, 6 runs, walked and struck out one. Christian Loescher and Nick Colucci pitched the final five innings giving up 5 hits, 4 runs, walked 2 and struck out 6. From the Stat Sheet – The teams combined for 22 hits and 16 runs a night after knocking out 25 hits and scoring 12 runs in game one. The two home runs by Lexington give them 20 home runs in 24 playoff games at Morelli. Written by Bruce Hack, Lexington Media Relations Director – 30 –