Medford Native Harding Tosses One-Hitter

The Andre Chiefs could not solve the riddle of Medford's Brendan Harding last night, managing just one hit in seven innings against the Arlington Trojan starter in a 2-0 loss at Tufts University’s Huskins Field.

With their second defeat to Arlington in five days, the Chiefs have sputtered to a 1-2 start in the Intercity Baseball League, leaving their head coach searching for new ways to generate runs.

“We’re missing a lot of offense right now, due to injuries and other things,” said Chuck Andre, who is in his 21st year at the helm. “We need to find some consistency on the offensive end.”

The one hit Harding allowed came in the second inning, when the Arlington Catholic grad gave up a one-out single to Chiefs shortstop Dave Scioli. Otherwise it was smooth sailing as Harding, now a senior at Colby-Sawyer College, finessed his way through the Andre lineup all night.

He kept the Chiefs off-balance with a dazzling array of off-speed pitches and allowed just one walk to go along with two strikeouts in an efficient 80-pitch, seven-inning effort.

“I think the key was getting comfortable early,” Harding said. “I was able to stay within myself and control my off-speed pitches. I didn’t get many strikeouts, but the guys behind me made a bunch of great plays.”

Harding, who had a 3.46 ERA in eight appearances this spring at Colby-Sawyer as a reliever, improved to 2-0 in his new role as an Arlington starter.

“He really was in command tonight,” Arlington head coach Joe Hart said. “I had a closer ready, but I didn’t need to use him.”

A two-out, two-run Trojan rally in the top of the first inning provided all the wiggle room Harding needed to seal Arlington’s fourth win of the season. After Andre starting pitcher Mike DiCato retired the first two Trojan hitters he faced, a Pete Creamer single was followed by a Jim Roche RBI double in the left-centerfield gap. Don Walter followed with an RBI single to put Arlington up 2-0.

Harding’s stellar performance overshadowed some strong pitching by DiCato, who settled down to allow only three more hits after the Arlington outburst in the first frame. The Andre starter, who spent four years in the rotation at UMass Amherst,allowed the two runs over seven innings pitched, with neither a strikeout nor a walk in a tough-luck losing effort.

The pitchers’ duel resulted in an extraordinarily swift contest that lasted just one hour and 18 minutes, just in time for fans, players and coaches alike to jet home and catch another shutout -- the Boston Bruins’ 4-0 victory over the Vancouver Canucks in Game 7 of the NHL Stanley Cup Final.

The Chiefs continue their season tonight on the road against the Mooney Dental Tanners at 6 p.m., while the Trojans, who at 4-2-1 currently own first place in the Intercity League standings, will face the Wakefield Merchants in a home game tonight at 7 p.m.