SteepleCats rally falls short 6-4
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The National Team jumped out on top in the first inning. After the first two batters walked, Kentrail Davis singled to load the bases. On the first pitch to Hunter Morris, Tim Norton uncorked a wild pitch scoring Christian Colon and moving up the other two runners. Two batters later, Dustin Coleman lined a single back through the box, plating both Matt den Dekker and Davis to make it 3-0 in favor USA Baseball.
The SteepleCats wasted no time in getting back at USA starter Justin Marks. With two down in the bottom of the first, Kevin Carby walked and stole second. Paul Hoilman then laced a double into right-centerfield to score Carby and cut the advantage to 3-1.
It would remain that way until the fourth when with runners on first and second, den Dekker doubled into left center. Brian Fletcher came around to score. Rounding third and holding was Colon, but he raced home after the ball bounced away from North Adams catcher, Rob Noe. Alertly backing up the play, Matt Sommo picked the ball near the SteepleCats dugout and threw it back to Noe who was able to apply the tag on Colon for the final out of the inning and limiting the National Team to a 4-1 lead.
After a pair of sixth inning runs made it 6-1 in favor of USA Baseball, the SteepleCats got back on the board in the bottom of the sixth inning. Kevin Carby led off with a walk and moved to second on a passed ball. Paul Hoilman walked to put runners on first and second. Two batters later, Mike Donato came up as a pinch hitter and lined a single into left, scoring Carby and making it 6-2 USA.
The ‘Cats continued to claw back in the eighth as the drew to 6-4 on three USA Baseball errors; a throwing error by catcher Ben Petralli allowed Kevin Carby to score his third run of the game. Two batters later, Greg Van Horn grounded a ball to short that rolled up Dustin Coleman’s arm, allowing Paul Hoilman to come home, cutting the lead to 6-4. After a groundout moved runners to second and third, a walk to T. J. Greig loaded the bases. On a 2-1 count, Nick Shaw hit a popup into foul territory that was caught, falling over the tarp, by third baseman Derek Dietrich to end the threat.
In the ninth, Blake Smith, shut down the SteepleCats, striking out the side in order.
Justin Marks got the win, while Tim Norton suffered the loss for North Adams. Smith picked up his first save on the exhibition tour.
The SteepleCats remain at home for Monday’s game against Torrington. It is the makeup from the June 6th rainout and has been dubbed “Opening Day – Take Two”. Craig Crumbly (0-0, 6.75) will start against Manchester. The weekend concludes on Sunday with a Father’s Day game against Team USA. All three games start at 7:00 p.m.
New England Collegiate Baseball League
For more detailed results and statistics, please visit http://www.necbl.com/nutshell.htm.
Results for Sunday, June 15th
Torrington 4, Manchester 0
Lowell 1, Holyoke 0
North Shore 8, Sanford 4
Keene 3, Vermont 1
Team USA 6, North Adams 4 (Exhibition Game)
Schedule for Monday, June 16th
Sanford @ Lowell 6:30pm
Manchester @ Newport 6:35pm
Torrington @ North Adams 7pm
Team USA @ Pittsfield 7pm (Exhibition Game)
