Tatro, McCann Tech Roll Over Commerce at Joe Wolfe Field

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. -- The McCann Tech baseball team allowed just one run on Friday night at Joe Wolfe Field, which, for the Hornets, has been pretty typical this season.

 

Friday’s 10-1 win over Commerce lowered McCann Tech’s average runs allowed per game to 2.1 per game as the Hornets avenged their first loss of the season and improved to 9-1.

 

On Friday, it was  sophomore Dalton Tatro’s turn to take the hill, and he struck out 10 while scattering three hits in keeping his earned run average right around one run per seven innings (1.05).

 

“Pound the strike zone, get the strikes, get the win, and that’s what he did today,” McCann Tech coach Pat Ryan said of Tatro.

 

He ran into trouble on a couple of occasions Friday night.

 

In the second, after his offense spotted him a 4-0 lead, Tatro hit a batter, allowed an infield single and gave up a walk -- all with two out -- before getting the next man on a swinging strike to strand three.

 

In the fourth, a one-out walk led to Commerce’s only run of the game.

 

The Hornets offense, which scored four runs without the benefit of a hit, came alive after seeing its lead trimmed to three runs.

 

McCann Tech scored five times in the bottom of the fourth to retake command of the game.

 

“I think coming off the Greylock game the other day, coming into today, we were a little slower,” Ryan said. “We’ve seen these kids before, we know what we’re capable of doing against them, and I think, unfortunately, this is one of those games where you get a little bit of a lead, and these kids felt comfortable and confident enough.

 

“I was doing my best to keep them motivated. If it had gotten closer, I definitely would have had a little more to say.”

 

Caleb Rondeau hit a one-out triple to ignite the five-run rally. After Logan Tower was hit by a pitch, Jacob Field drove in Rondeau with a single to left. Tower and Field then both came home on Robert Matte III’s single up the middle.

 

Matte eventually scored on a three-base error on Billy Bohl’s ground ball to the right side, and Bohl came home on a wild pitch to make it 9-1.

 

Field drove in Rondeau for an extra insurance run in the bottom of the fifth.

 

McCann Tech is home on Tuesday to face Mount Everett. Last month, the Hornets opened the season with a 5-1 win in Sheffield.