Medford’s Chiefs Top Arlington, 8-1
Tim Dunphy (pictured) pitched out of trouble all evening long, getting 13 outs via the ground ball, and Mike Andre drove in three runs with a triple and a single, when the Chiefs turned back the Arlington Trojans 8-1 at Maplewood on Monday night.
After Dunphy got the Trojans’ side in order on three groundouts in the top of the first the Chiefs picked up a run without the benefit of a hit in their first at bat. Mike Burgoyne drew a one out walk, stole second, moved to third on Paul Yanakopulos’ infield out, and scored when Arlington starter Nolan Brennan uncorked a wild pitch.
Seth Coiley led off the Arlington second with a single but was erased when Morgan Brown popped up an attempted sacrifice bunt to Dunphy who gloved the ball and trotted to first for a doubleplay.
Brennan got the Chiefs’ side in order, including two K’s, in the bottom of the second. Dunphy surrendered a two out double by Joe Bradlee but kept it a one run lead when Conner Reensterma lined to Mike Barbati to end the Trojans’ third inning.
Nick Leva worked a walk to begin the bottom of the third and Tony Serino flew to short left for the first out. Brennan put his second 1-2-3 inning in the book when Burgoyne bounced into a 5-4-3 doubleplay.
The Trojans got a single from Kyle Bourdias to open the top of the fourth. When Peter Copa slipped fielding Kyle Hood’s bunt the Trojans were in business with two on and nobody out. Coiley moved the runners up to second and third with another bunt but Dunphy kept the shutout intact when he got Brown, with the infield drawn in, then Dave Cunningham, to both ground to Barbati at second base.
The Chiefs gave Dunphy some breathing room in the bottom of the fourth. Billy Mottram reached on an infield single and Peter Copa drew a walk. Yanakopulos then moved both his mates up a base with a sacrifice bunt. With the infield drawn in, Andre fought off a Brennan pitch and singled to left-center, scoring Mottram for a 2-0 lead. Barbati was next and Brennan got a glove on his hard grounder and deflected it to Reensterma forcing Andre at second with Copa scoring the Chiefs’ third run on the play.
After a scoreless fifth, Dunphy weaved his way out of another jam in the top of the sixth. For the second time in the game, Bourdias and Hood both reached on singles to begin an inning. The Chiefs’ then came up with their second doubleplay of the night when Coiley grounded into a Barbati to Witkowski to Copa doubleplay with Bourdias going to third. Arlington got on the board when Brown lined a single to right that cut the margin to 3-1.
The Chiefs put the game away in the bottom of the inning. Mottram led off with a base on balls before Bourdias tracked down Copa’s warning track liner to right-center for the first out. Yanakopulos then singled and Andre followed and drove a 1-2 pitch from Brennan into the right field corner for a triple, clearing the bases and jumping the lead to 5-1. Breenan then issued his sixth and seventh walks of the game to Barbati and Witkowski to load the bases and was lifted in favor of Dan Csaplar. Leva greeted Csaplar with a bloop single to center to bump the lead to 6-1. A Sernio sacrifice fly and a Burgoyne RBI single to left completed the five run frame that pushed the final score to 8-1.
Dunphy goes to 3-0 on the season with his complete game effort. It was the 33rd win in a Chiefs’ uniform for the veteran lefty.
The 13-3 Chiefs are off on Tuesday and will travel to Victory Field in Watertown on Wednesday at 7:45 PM to visit the Reds.
– Information and photo from the Andre Chiefs