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Blue Sox Pitching Silences SteepleCats

July 16, 2016 - New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL)
North Adams SteepleCats News Release


The North Adams SteepleCats struggled to get the bats going against outstanding pitching by the Valley Blue Sox staff in a 5-1 loss Friday night at Joe Wolfe Field. The loss dropped the SteepleCats to 15-15 on the season and into a three way tie for third place in the Northern Division.

"They made the plays," said Coach Armstrong. "We did not hit the ball very hard so making plays on very slow rollers and easy pop ups got it done for them."

Trent Astle was lights on in his start on the mound for the Blue Sox. He retired the first eleven hitters he faced. John Mazza ended that streak when he reached on an infield single with two outs in the fourth. The only other base runner he allowed was C.J. Price who reached on an error in the fifth. He finished the night going six shutout innings, allowing one hit and no walks. He also recorded eight strikeouts.

"We just had too many strikeouts," said Coach Armstrong. "We got to have people on base. We got to put the ball in play especially when the grass is wet."

SteepleCats starter Braxton Wilks went five and a third innings on three days rest. He gave up four runs off of six hits and struck out three. The Blue Sox took the early lead in the second when Braxton Morris drew a one out walk, stole second, and came in to score on a single by Connor Donovan. Both Morris and Donovan ended up having career games. Morris scored three of the teams five runs and Donovan went 4-4 with a home run and three RBIs.

"I thought Wilks did well," said Coach Armstrong. "He went out there and gave us his best effort which you can always count on from Braxton."

One major positive to come from this game is that the SteepleCats got another outstanding effort out of the bullpen. Peter Lannoo inherited a runner on second and one out when he entered the game in the sixth and got the SteepleCats out of it. Jared Habershaw and Patrick Ryan each threw a shutout inning.

Another major positive is that the team continued to fight till the very end despite the adversity.

"Effort is there every single night," said Coach Armstrong. "These guys certainly want to win. They try to win. It is just a matter of is the process the right thing for the moment."



New England Collegiate Baseball League Stories from July 16, 2016


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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