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Bay Sox Lose

August 1, 2016 - New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL)
New Bedford Bay Sox News Release


The two month NECBL season will not be enough to determine the final playoff spot in the Southern Division, as the New Bedford Bay Sox and the Ocean State Waves will need a 45th game to determine who claims the last playoff berth.

Ocean State scored three runs in the top of the eighth on an error by Alex Mata (St. Leo) with the bases loaded, which broke a tie ballgame and gave the Waves a 5-2 victory on Monday night at Paul Walsh Field.

The loss put the Bay Sox into a three-way tie for third place in the South with Danbury and Ocean State. The Westerners had clinched a playoff spot after their 12-5 win over the Bay Sox last night, as they hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over both teams. Due to the NECBL's rules, where the fourth and final playoff spot must be determined on the field, New Bedford (21-23) and Ocean State will battle yet again for the right to play postseason baseball.

The Bay Sox, who got off to a terrible start last night, broke through to take an early lead in the bottom of the first inning. Andrew Penner (Los Angeles Valley) roped a double into the right field corner from the leadoff position, and moved to third on a balk from Waves starting pitcher Jack Perkins. Chandler Debrosse (Central Connecticut State) drew a walk to put runners on the corners, and Penner scored on a 4-6-3 double play hit into by Jakob Goldfarb (Oregon).

Debrosse made an outstanding play in left field in the top of the second inning, which prevented second baseman Dean Lockery from scoring on a single by DH Matt Cogen. Debrosse, who has started in the infield for the majority of the season, gunned down Lockery at the plate with a perfect throw. The New Bedford defense, which had seven errors on Sunday night, committed another costly miscue which tied the game at 1-1. Ted Shaw (Sacred Heart), who is normally sure-handed at second, let a grounder by Ryan Blanton escape his grasp, which allowed catcher David Real to score from second base.

The Waves, who had lost 12 of their previous 14 games prior to tonight, took a 2-1 lead in the top of the third, as cleanup hitter Austin Upshaw drove in Nick Angelini with a double to the right field wall. Upshaw saved the Waves' playoff hopes on Sunday, blasting a grand slam in the eighth inning for the eventual game-winning runs in Ocean State's 8-7 win over Sanford.

New Bedford tied the game at 2-2 in the fifth inning, taking advantage of an error by Blanton in center field. Blanton misplayed a fly ball hit by Mata, who took a wide turn at first but wisely retreated. After both Ryan Baldwin (Barry) and T.J. Dixon (Samford) were retired, Connor Hoover (North Georgia) barely missed hitting his second home run in less than a week. Hoover ended up with a double which plated Mata for the Bay Sox' second run.

New Bedford starting pitcher Nick Miceli calmed down in the middle part of the game, allowing just two hits and one walk after the double to Upshaw in the third. He gave up a one-out single to Blanton in the seventh and was replaced by Phil Reese (Holy Cross), as the Wesleyan pitcher/catcher surrendered six hits and four walks in 6.1 innings, striking out four Waves in his start. It was just the second time Miceli had tossed more than four innings this season, as he was the unlucky loser in a 4-2 defeat to Sanford on July 14th after going six strong innings.

Reese allowed a hit and a walk in 0.1 innings of relief, leaving with the bases loaded in place of Matthew Leon (Seton Hall). Leon, who was named the NECBL Pitcher of the Week last week, got Upshaw to ground to Mata at third after a lengthy and contentious at-bat, keeping the game tied at 2-2.

Leon was living dangerously in the eighth inning, allowing a single and two walks to load the bases with one out. After getting Blanton to strike out looking, the Bay Sox defense unraveled yet again. Thomas Buonopane hit a slow roller to Mata at third base, and he rushed an errant throw to first that allowed all three runners to score. Mata had spent most of the year in either the outfield or as the team's designated hitter, but had played solidly at third base prior to the untimely error, which was the tenth error in the last two games.

The Bay Sox attempted to mound a late charge in the bottom of the ninth, with Ted Shaw (Sacred Heart) and Mata singling to start the frame, but could not plate either runner. Leon was saddled with the loss even though he did not allow an earned run in his 1.1 innings of work.

With the crushing loss, the Bay Sox will host the Waves in a winner-take-all game on Tuesday night at Paul Walsh Field. The winner will travel to Mystic to face the top team in the Southern Division in a best-of-three playoff series that starts on Wednesday night. The loser will be eliminated and their season will end tomorrow night.

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New England Collegiate Baseball League Stories from August 1, 2016


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