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Brown, 'Cats Blank Blue Sox in 2-0 Friday Night Victory

July 19, 2013 - New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL)
North Adams SteepleCats News Release


NORTH ADAMS, Mass. - Backed by a six-inning shutout from starter Casey Brown (CCSU), North Adams used two early runs and the pitching staff made that stand the rest of the way, as the SteepleCats blanked visiting Holyoke, 2-0, in a key NECBL Western Division battle on Friday night at Joe Wolfe Field.

Earning a shutout victory for the first time since Opening Night, the SteepleCats (14-16) win their second straight decision and will head into a huge doubleheader tomorrow at home with a chance to move back to .500 on the season. Meanwhile, the loss was the fifth straight for the Blue Sox (13-18), who remain in fifth place in the division standings.

The win came on the shoulder of Brown, who offered his best outing of the season with six shutout innings. The southpaw surrendered only two hits and two walks while striking out a season-high three batters, and from there, his bullpen kept that lead intact.

After Brown, a three-pitcher combination of junior Steve Frey (Monmouth), sophomore Doug Willey (Franklin Pierce), and sophomore Joeanthony Rivera (Barry) combined to blank the Blue Sox from the seventh inning on. Willey retired the side on strikeouts in the eighth before Rivera faced the minimum in the ninth to notch his fourth save.

Holyoke starter Dan Patrick lasted just three innings, giving up two runs - one earned - on four hits in that span while finishing with two strikeouts. After him, Chris Joiner offered three strong scoreless innings, while Bryan Goosens and Mike Burke put up zeroes in the seventh and eighth.

North Adams needed just two at-bats to tally the first run of the game, as junior Joe Landi (URI) led off the bottom of the first with a double to the gap in left center before classmate Bryan Soloman (Eastern Kentucky) deposited a bloop single into left to drive in Landi, giving the 'Cats a 1-0 lead after one.

An inning later, the home side struck again after benefitting from an error. Freshman Jose Cuas (Maryland) reached on a one-out single through the box before moving to third on a wild pitch two batters later. Then, after sophomore Vinny Zarrillo (Rutgers) rolled a potential inning-ending groundball down the first base line, an error on the tail end of the play allowed Cuas to score, making it 2-0 SteepleCats after two innings.

Brown found himself in his biggest jam of the night in the fifth after issuing two walks and hitting one, but escaped any trouble by inducing a popup and an inning-ending fielder's choice to push the game into the sixth with the home side still leading by two.

That would be the closest Holyoke would get against the 'Cats, seeing only one base runner reach from the sixth inning on.

The SteepleCats conclude the weekend with another seven-inning doubleheader tomorrow, July 20, at home against the Danbury Westerners. First pitch from Joe Wolfe Field is set for 3 p.m. Game two will begin approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of game one.

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New England Collegiate Baseball League Stories from July 19, 2013


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