2024 Intercity League Champions – Andre Chiefs
Chiefs Get Wednesday Win as ICL Heads to Fourth of July Break
INTERCITY LEAGUE NEWS & NOTES
Americans Advance to Semifinals vs Blue Sox, Chiefs-Expos Series Also Begins Tonight
Chris Mitchell allowed just one run in six innings to lead the Melrose Americans to a 10-1 play-in game win over the Reading Bulldogs on Tuesday night at Morelli Field. The Americans got two hits each from Gianni Zarrilli (2 doubles, 3 RBI), Cory Bright, Jack Beverly and Jackson Stanton. Mitchell, who picked up his seventh overall win of the year, struck out eight. Reading starter Griffen Cofsky took the loss. The Americans now advance to the semifinals and will meet the Blue Sox in a best of three series that begins tonight in Lexington at 8:00 PM. The Andre Chiefs and Middlesex Expos will also begin their semifinal series tonight. They will play at Morelli Field starting at 8:00 PM.
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.