Blue Sox Fall to North Adams 3-2
Published on July 5, 2011 under New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL)
Valley Blue Sox News Release
Holyoke, MA - At the end of the night there was only one error on the scoreboard for the Blue Sox, but that one error proved to be the difference between the win and loss on Tuesday night against the SteepleCats.
North Adams capitalized on the misplay of the ground ball to Holyoke second second baseman Frank DeSico in the eighth inning which allowed Drew Gadaire to come around and score the eventual game-winning run.
Following the game Blue Sox coach Darryl Morhardt said despite North Adams being in dead last in the standings that does not mean that they are an easy win, because any team can come out and beat anybody on a given day.
"If you notice the league, especially our division's a little stronger, we really don't take any gamefor granted ... The thing is with these teams like North Adams and some of the teams that haven't put together a long win streak is their pitching is a little weak, but when they put a good pitcher out there, which they did today, they can beat anybody," he said. "They struggled and they scrapped together some runs, helped them out a little bit.
"I don't look at them as a last place team."
The SteepleCats (8-14) got the scoring started in the home half of the second inningas Mike Zavala hit into a fielder's choice, which allowed Cameron Griffin to score makingit 1-0. But the Blue Sox would fire back in the top of the third inning as they scored two runs on back-to-back RBI singles from Ronnie Freeman and Trey Mancini scoringAlex GlennandEric Smithto make it 2-1 Holyoke.
North Adams shortstop Mike LeBel would tie the game up in the fourth inning as he ripped a triple into the gap driving in Marc Magliaro to knot the game up at two apiece. Blue Sox starting pitcher Chris Capper would get the no decision on the day as he went six innings, giving up just four hits, two runs and striking out five in his outing.
The score would hold until the eighth inning when following a leadoff double by Drew Gadaire, that ran Blue Sox relief pitcher Brett Yarusi from the game, Jacob Daniel hit a ground ball straight to DeSico at second base, buthe misplayed the ball allowing it to trickle into the outfield. Gadaire took advantage of this opportunity and ran all the way home scoring the eventual game-winning run.
The Blue Sox (11-5) would put a runner on first base in the ninth inning, but that's as far as he would travel as North Adams starting pitcher Brian Gilbert went the distance and completed the game going nine innings, giving up onlysix hits, two runs and striking out five to go with the stellar outing. Gilbert improved to 2-2 on the season, while Yarusi took the loss.
Holyoke will be back in action tomorrow against the Danbury Westerners as the two teams duke it out for sole possesion of first place in the Western Division. The first pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
Despite the tough loss, Morhardt said he expects his team to bounce back and come out against Danbury and put together a good outing from pitchers and batters alike.
"I think our guys think we're the best team," he said. "We get good pitching performance, and we really like playing down there, I think the ballpark really suits our hitters, but I expect us to respond really well tomorrow night."
New England Collegiate Baseball League Stories from July 5, 2011
- Blue Sox Fall to North Adams 3-2 - Valley Blue Sox
- Mountaineers Bats Awaken, Defeat Keene 5-3 - Vermont Mountaineers
- Mountaineers collect 11 hits in 5-3 win over Swamp Bats - Keene Swamp Bats
- Blue Sox Reach Out To Community In Effort To Educate Younger Generation - Valley Blue Sox
- 'Cats Blank Schooners on July 4 - North Adams SteepleCats
- Westerners Roll Over North Adams - Danbury Westerners
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