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Waves roll past Blue Sox, 7-4

July 23, 2015 - New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL)
Ocean State Waves News Release


HOLYOKE, M.A.-Coming into Wednesday's showdown against the Valley Blue Sox on a two-game losing streak, the Ocean State Waves needed a strong performance to keep up with the pace in the NECBL Southern Division. Backed behind a six-run fifth inning, the Waves edged out the Blue Sox, 7-4, in front of 2,203 fans at Mackenzie Stadium.

Making his sixth start of the summer for the Waves was the southpaw Ryan Gray (Trinity TX). In four innings of work, Gray maintained his All-Star form, allowing just three runs on four hits with a strikeout to his credit. Gray started out his outing by retiring the first eight batters until a single by Brian Wilhite (Indiana) broke up the string in the third.

The Blue Sox jumped on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth inning, snapping a stretch of eight consecutive shutout innings for Gray. With two outs, Jake Lumley (Canisius) blasted a solo home run over the deep porch in right field to put the Blue Sox ahead of the Waves, 1-0.

Despite the quick score for the Blue Sox, the Waves came back with vengeance in the fifth. Facing former Wave Steve Moyers (Rhode Island), the Waves were unable to scorch across a hit for 4.2 innings until Dylan Burdeaux (Southern Mississippi) drove home Nick Dawson (Southern Mississippi) on an RBI single. In the following at-bat, Tim Lynch (Southern Mississippi) drove home Ryan Blanton (Georgia State) on another RBI single, while Chuckie Robinson (Southern Mississippi) cleared the bases with a team record-setting second triple of the summer. After Robinson's historic triple, the Blue Sox turned to new pitcher Billy Worswick (La Salle) with the Waves up, 4-1.

With Worswick on the mound, AJ Ramirez (USC) continued the rally with an RBI single to drive home Robinson from third. Ramirez ultimately came around to score on an RBI single by Mike Corin (Rhode Island), propelling the Waves to a 6-1 advantage over the Blue Sox.

Gray returned to the mound with a comfortable cushion in the bottom of the fifth. However, the Blue Sox were prepared to chip away at the deficit, working a leadoff walk and two singles from Wilhite and Darryn Sheppard (Baylor). With the bases loaded and nobody out, Waves manager Eric Cirella made the call to the bullpen, bringing Brad Applin (Rhode Island) into the game. Applin allowed an RBI fielder's choice by Garrett McCain (Oklahoma State) and a two-run single by Lumley, but bounced back by getting two key outs to keep the Waves ahead, 6-4.

Despite the rocky fifth, Applin dominated in his final two innings of relief to secure his second victory of the summer. Applin finished his outing by retiring seven of the last eight batters he faced, all while striking out two batters.

While Applin dominated out of the bullpen, the Waves offense was kept at bay in the sixth and seventh innings. Worswick only yielded a Burdeaux single in the sixth, but struck out Lynch to end the frame. In the seventh, new pitcher Ross Achter (Toledo) worked around a single by Buck McCarthy (Bryant) to strike out the side, keeping the Waves ahead, 6-4.

However, the Waves would bounce back against Achter in the top of the eighth. After Jake Palomaki (Boston College) worked a leadoff walk, he moved over to third on a wild pitch and a Blanton single. Palomaki came around to score on a fielder's choice off the bat of Burdeaux, giving the Waves a big insurance run and a 7-4 lead.

In the bottom of the eighth, Cirella turned to closer Richard Lovelady (Kennesaw State) to get the final six outs. Despite issuing a leadoff walk to Lumley, Lovelady proceeded to strike out the next four batters while retiring the final six. Loveleady added the exclamation point to his performance by getting Sheppard to ground out to new shortstop Alex King (Saint Louis), clinching the 7-4 victory for the Waves.

With the victory, the Waves improve to 17-15 on the summer. The win snaps a two-game losing streak for the Waves as they pick up their first win since Thursday. As the New Bedford Bay Sox edged out the Mystic Schooners, the Waves inch closer to the second seed in the Southern Division since they trail the Schooners by a game. In the win, Burdeaux went 2-4 with two RBI's, while seven different Waves players picked up hits.

The Waves return to Old Mountain Field on Thursday as they host the NECBL Northern Division leaders in the Vermont Mountaineers. Tony Dibrell (Kennesaw State) makes his sixth start of the summer for the Waves. Tune in as Tim Scott and Joe Hutter bring you the call on the NECBL Broadcast Network and CBS Sports 1240 WSKI (Vermont). First pitch is set for 6:05 in Wakefield.

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New England Collegiate Baseball League Stories from July 23, 2015


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