'Cats Scratch Back to Beat Westerners
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| Nick Serino shows form against the Danbury Westerners. [North Adams SteepleCats] |
Danbury took the initial lead of the game on Friday on a solo homer by Melvin Castillo in the second to go up 1-0.
After threatening with multiple baserunners in each of the first two innings, the SteepleCats broke through in the third inning. With Nick Shaw on third and Paul Hoilman on first with two down, Cody Stanley laced a single into centerfield to score Shaw and tie the game at 1-1.
The next batter, Mike Donato, was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Noe made sure the Westerners did not get out of the frame with just one run across as he drilled a double off the base of the right-centerfield fence, scoring Hoilman and Stanley for a 3-1 North Adams lead.
The lead was shortlived, however, as in the bottom of the inning, Danbury pushed across two unearned runs to tie the game at 3-3.
North Adams came right back in the top of the fourth inning. John Malloy and Nick Shaw led off with walks and moved up to second and third on a wild pitch. Greg Van Horn came to the plate and lined a single past the outstretched glove of Tony Patane at shortstop, scoring Malloy for a 4-3 ‘Cats edge. Not content to stop there, two batters later, Paul Hoilman snuck a ball just inside the third base line to bring home Shaw to make it 5-3 North Adams.
Scoreless for the next two innings, the SteepleCats expanded the lead in the seventh on a pair of two-run homers off the bats of Noe and Van Horn to bring the edge to 9-3. Danbury answered with a solo homer off the bat of Vinny Dammann to lead off the seventh, but Nick Serino clamped down to keep it at a 9-4 game.
In the eighth, Serino was able to get the first two outs of the inning, but a two-out rally allowed the Westerners to close to 9-6. With the tying run at the plate, Greg Robinson got North Adams out of the jam by getting Kyle Mahoney to fly out to deep center.
Serino (1-1) picked up the win for the SteepleCats going 7.2 innings, striking out nine in the game. Derek Shaw worked a scoreless ninth for his first save of the year. Travis Ratliff (0-3) took the loss for Danbury.
The 'Cats remain on the road for Saturday's game at Torrington, Conn., against the Twisters and can be heard on the New England College Baseball League broadcast network.
The SteepleCats will host a baseball clinic at The Range on Curran Highway on Sunday, June 29, from 11 to 1. Kids of all ages will have the opportunity to practice batting and throwing fundamentals with the SteepleCats. Take advantage of the opportunity to practice with the coaches and players while practicing in the batting cages at The Range.
