Veteran lefty Tim Dunphy spun a complete game five-hitter to keep the Andre Chiefs alive and tie up their semi-final series with the Reading Bulldogs 9-2 on Friday night at Morelli Field.  The deciding game of the best of five series will be played on Sunday night at 7:30 PM at Pine Banks Park on the Melrose-Malden line.

Johnny Welch led the Chiefs’ 12-hit attack with three hits, including a double, and three RBI. Tony Serino had two hits and scored four runs. Shane Stande knocked in a couple of runs with a single and a double, Matt Nuzzo had a two RBI single, Mike Andre had an RBI double, and Mike Gedman pitched in with a double and drove in a run with a sacrifice fly.

Darren Hartwell had two of the Reading hits and scored both runs.

Dunphy struck out five while throwing only 75 pitches in the game. Colby Morris took the loss before giving way to Alex Mandrus in the 5th inning.

The winner of Sunday night’s game five at Pine Banks will move on to meet the Lexington Blue Sox in the ICL’s Championship Series that is scheduled to begin on Tuesday night. The Blue Sox swept the Somerville Royals 3-0 in their series that concluded on Wednesday.

Fans who plan to attend Sunday’s game are asked to bring their own lounge chairs.
Kezer Field at Pine Banks Park is located at 101 Main St, Melrose MA 02176.

The Reading Bulldogs got a three-run homer from Chris Bosco and a two RBI double from Zac Talis to knock off the Andre Chiefs 6-4 to go up two games to none in their best of five series. Colby Morris spelled starter Jack Burke in the 4th inning and got the win with three innings of hitless relief.  Mitchell Clegg, who struck out nine, took the loss.

In the conclusion of game one from Monday night, Mike DeDonato doubled in two runs, and Talis hit a two-run homer, when the Bulldogs scored four times in the top of the 11th inning to break a 2-2 tie and go on to a 6-2 win.

In Somerville, the Lexington Blue Sox got six shutout innings from Ryan Filipowicz to paste the Royals 9-0 at Trum to also take a 2-0 series lead. Jeff Costello, with two doubles and three RBI’s, led the Lexington 10 hit offense. Jonathan Richard went 5.1 innings and was tagged with the loss.

Both the Bulldogs and Blue Sox will be looking to sweep their respective series’ on Wednesday night and move on to meet in the ICL Championship. The Bulldogs will visit the Chiefs at Pine Banks and the Blue Sox will host the Royals at Lexington High.

The games will both begin at 8:00 PM.

The Lexington Blue Sox erased a 2-0 Somerville lead and went on to take a 3-2 win in game one of their best of five semi-final series on Monday in Lexington. Game two will be played at Trum Field in Somerville on Tuesday at 8:00 PM.

Matt Karis went six innings for Lexington to get the win while Jeff Blount picked up the save.
Aaron Barbosa (single, stolen base) scored the winning run in the bottom of the sixth on an error to give Lexington the win.

Somerville scored two in the second inning on an RBI single by Luke Ronchi and a run scoring double by Jake Cintolo. Thomas Russo drove in Lexington’s first run with a sacrifice fly in the fifth.
Barbosa’s single drove in Jeff Costello (single, stolen ) with the tying run in the sixth.

Soren Hanson went the distance for the Royals and struck out nine while allowing just four hits.

The Reading Bulldogs and the Somerville Royals both took a 1-0 lead in their respective best of three series on Thursday night.

The Bulldogs got a strong effort from Jack Burke to beat the Watertown Reds 6-2 at Victory Field. Burke allowed just four hits and struck out seven in six innings as the Bulldogs jumped out to 6-0 fourth inning lead. Kevin Marciano drove in two of the Reading runs and Zac Talis, Darren Hartwell, and Rosario Missiti also had RBI’s. Dan Chassion and Logan Gillis drove in the Watertown runs in the bottom of the sixth inning.

The Royals scored three runs in the top of the 11th inning to beat the Wakefield Merchants 5-2 in a marathon at Lexington High. Brian Campbell, John Collette, and Sean Harrington each had a couple of hits for the Royals. Soren Hanson got the win with three innings of work in relief of Chuck Gibson. Joseph Maguire went the first nine innings for Wakefield and allowed just two runs. Paul McGunigle and Ryan Collins drove in the Merchants’ runs.

Both series continue on Friday night. The Bulldogs and Reds meet at Lexington High and the Merchants and Royals will tangle at Morelli Field in Melrose. Both games will start at 8:00 PM.

The Somerville Royals clinched the fifth seed in the upcoming ICL Playoffs with darkness shortened 6-4 win over the Arlington Trojans at Summer Street Field. Toby Stern (2-0) allowed just three hits. Wagner Gomez went 3-3 with three RBI’s and Sean Harrington added two hits for the Royals.

In Melrose, Jared Freni (7-2) scattered two hits and struck out ten in 6.2 innings when the Chiefs beat the Americans 8-0 at Morelli Field. Peter Copa hit a grand slam and Johnny Welch had a solo homer for the Chiefs who scored seven times in the top of seventh to break open a 1-0 game. Zeke Berg (0-3) pitched a strong six innings for the Americans.

The Lexington Blue Sox won their 11th straight game with a 4-1 victory over the Wakefield Merchants. Kevin Scanlon (1-0) went four innings to get the win as the Blue Sox got homers from Ross Curley and Dan Graham. Andrew Auld (1-2) look the loss.

The regular season will conclude tonight when the Chiefs and Blue Sox meet in Lexington starting at 7:30 PM. The teams will first finish a suspended game with the Chiefs leading 4-2 in the bottom of the seventh inning. Following that game, the regularly scheduled game will be played. The results of these two games will determine who will get the top playoff seed.