Gilchrist, Yanakopulos Lift Chiefs Over East Boston
Gilchrist Leads Chiefs to 2-0 Win
Yanakopulos, McCarthy Deliver Key RBI Singles
Southpaw Kevin Gilchrist (Tufts University via Malden Catholic) turned in a lights out, four inning, one hit relief performance as the undermanned Chiefs shutout the Testa Corp. Bombers 2-0 at East Boston Stadium on Tuesday night.
Gilchrist came on to begin the fourth inning for Chiefs starter Jared Freni with the game tied at 0-0 and came up huge, allowing only an infield single, as he retired 12 of the 13 batters he faced.
Freni and Bombers hard luck loser Glen Misho traded zeros over the first three frames. Freni struck out six batters but was not at his sharpest as he walked two, allowed four singles and hit two batters.
The Chiefs threatened to score in the top of the first inning. After Misho struck out Bob McCarthy and got Paul Yanakopulos (also an MC grad) to ground out, Tim Dempsey reached on an infield error and stole second. Rookie Justin Sencabaugh (another MC grad) then hit an infield single to deep shortstop to put runners on the corners with two out. With Mike Andre (Merrimack College and Medford High) at the plate, Misho uncorked a wild pitch and Dempsey tried to score but was tagged out on a nice recovery by catcher Derek Sturkel.
Freni struck out Mark O’Flynn and Pete John to open the bottom of the first before allowing consecutive singles to Josh Klimkiewicz and the red hot Mike Addesa. The count went full on Stan DeMartinis and, with the runners in motion a tad early, Freni stepped off the rubber and caught Klimkiewicz going to third with Andre applying the tag.
Misho got the Chiefs 1-2-3 in the second (Andre flyout, Anderson and Boleski groundouts).
The Bombers missed a huge scoring opportunity in the bottom of the second inning when Freni pitched out of a bases loaded, nobody out fix. DeMartinis got things started when he led off the inning with a single. Freni hit Anthony Serino with a pitch and walked Lamarre Rey to fill the bases. Freni reached back and came up big, striking out Chris Smart and Sturkel for the first two outs, before escaping the jam when he got O’Flynn to fly to Sencabaugh in shallow left.
Misho stayed tough in the top of the third, striking out Eric Rosenberg and getting Mike Barbati on a groundout to Klimkiewicz at first, before walking McCarthy. The game moved to the bottom of the third when Misho got Yanakopulos to ground sharply to Addesa at third.
The Bombers kept the pressure on in the bottom of the third but Freni again denied them, pitching out of another bases loaded predicament. Freni hit John with a fastball and Klimkiewicz followed with a single. He then recorded another huge strikeout, getting the dangerous Addesa swinging. DeMartinis followed and drew a base on balls to load the bases with one out. Freni got the second large strikeout of the inning, and his sixth of the night, when he K’d Serino. Still not out of the inning, he kept it a scoreless game when he got Rey to ground to Barbati at second.
Misho again got the Chiefs in order in the fourth when Dempsey grounded out, Sencabaugh struck out and Andre flew out. Gilchrist came out of the bullpen to start the bottom of the fourth and immediately seized control of the game retiring the Bombers in order, including a strikeout of Sturkel.
The Chiefs took advantage of a little Misho wildness and played some small ball to score the game’s only runs in the top of the fifth. Anderson (MHS and Franklin Pierce) drew a full count walk and Boleski (MHS and Mass Bay) was hit by a pitch while attempting to sacrifice, putting runners at first and second with no outs. Rosenberg then laid down a text book sacrifice bunt, moving the runners to second and third with one away. Barbati followed and hit a sharp grounder to the drawn in Klimkiewicz at first for the second out with the runners forced to hold. McCarthy was next and he just beat out an infield single on a bang-bang play at first, allowing Anderson to score the game’s first run. Yanakopulos followed with a line RBI single to center scoring Boleski with the second run. Misho averted further trouble when he struck out Dempsey swinging to end the inning.
In the bottom of the fifth, Gilchrist got John to ground to Yanakopulos at shortstop, struck out Klimkiewicz, and got Addesa to fly to Sencabaugh, as he worked his second straight 1-2-3 frame. Misho returned the favor and set the Chiefs down in order in the top of the sixth.
Gilchrist stayed poised and perfect in the sixth, striking out DeMartinis and Serino both looking for the first two outs before Rey flew out to left, the ninth consecutive batter he retired.
With two outs in the top of the seventh, the Chiefs got a runner in scoring position when Barbati drew a walk and went to second on a wild pitch. Misho sent the game into the home half of the seventh at 2-0 when McCarthy grounded out to end the inning.
The Bombers got their first hit off Gilchrist to open the seventh. Smart hit a hard grounder over the third base bag which Andre dove and came up with, but the throw from his knees was half a step late. Unfazed, Gilchrist bore down and got Sturkel on a fly to Boleski in right, O’Flynn on a grounder to Yanakopulos at short and ended things when he got John to fly to Dempsey in center.
Gilchrist (2-0), a Medford resident, picked up the win and combined with Freni, his fellow Malden Catholic alum, to strikeout ten batters.
Misho (3-1) of Cathoilc Memorial and UMass-Amherst, allowed just three hits, struck out five and walked three, while suffering his first ICL defeat.
The Chiefs are off until Saturday when they host the Watertown Reds at Tufts University at 5:30PM.
– Information from www.andrechiefs.com and www.intercityleaguebaseball.com
Pictured above: Kevin Gilchrist and Paul Yanakopulos. Courtesy photos.