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Controversial Call Costs Bay Sox in Rough 4-2 Extra Inning Loss to Sharks

July 2, 2019 - New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL)
New Bedford Bay Sox News Release


In a season that has had its share of tough losses, Tuesday night's contest at Paul Walsh Field will likely top them all.

An inconsistent/puzzling strike zone throughout the evening, coupled with some questionable calls on the bases, and a play at the plate that had no umpire at home, led to a brutal 4-2 loss in 10 innings by the New Bedford Bay Sox to the Martha's Vineyard Sharks.

Starting pitcher Julian Washburn (San Francisco) tossed a brilliant game, needing just 84 pitches to hurl eight innings, allowing just one (questionable) run on two hits after producing six hitless innings to begin his outing. That single run came on an unbelievable play at the plate, which saw all three umpires covering bases other than home and none of them with a clear view of the tag and slide.

That run proved costly for the Bay Sox, as they would've won the contest with a rally in the ninth, but instead were forced to play their second extra-inning game in seven home tilts this season. Trailing 2-0, the home squad rallied for two runs to tie the game, but a base hit and three walks in the top of the 10th pushed Martha's Vineyard over .500 (10-9) and snapped New Bedford's four-game home winning streak.

The Bay Sox (5-14) outhit the Sharks eight to three, but scattered those hits around both the game and their batting order. Ryan Markey (St. John's) was the only batter with two hits, as he was thrown out at home plate on a close play in the second inning - which had an umpire covering - and drove in one of New Bedford's ninth inning runs.

The Bay Sox earned two hits in each of the first two frames on Tuesday night, but were unable to cross the plate for the first run of the contest. Rafe Chaumette (Trinity) and Alex Brickman (Dayton) struck two-out singles, but were stranded on first and second. Markey singled to lead off the second, advanced 90 feet on a grounder to the left side by Parke Phillips (Brown), and was thrown out at home after a single to left by Bryan Hart (Bryant) for the final out of the inning.

The bats for both squads were mostly quiet during the middle innings, with the game still scoreless before controversy kicked off the seventh inning. Matt Chamberlain led off with a seeing-eye single past Hart at second base, and a double by Nick Raposo past the diving glove of Chaumette in center resulted in a play at the plate. Chamberlain attempted to swing his hand around the tag of Phillips, but there was no umpire covering home plate, and the play was ruled as a run for the Sharks. The home plate umpire moved to cover third base, but the first base umpire remained standing at his post, leaving the play at home to be called by someone at least 90 feet away. Bay Sox manager Chris Cabe and the rest of his coaching staff argued their case but to no avail, but Washburn was able to limit the damage with a flyout and a groundout that resulted in a pickoff play that caught Raposo napping off of second base.

The Bay Sox offense was stymied by both the Sharks' pitching staff and the wildly inconsistent (on both sides) strike zone by the home plate umpire until the ninth inning. Starter Austin Peterson retired the final ten batters that he faced in his stellar 7.1 inning outing, and reliever Marc Mendel got the final two outs of the eighth before getting into a ton of trouble in the ninth.

Henry Ennen (Northeastern) came in to pitch the ninth after the superb start from Washburn, but gave up back-to-back walks before Markey saved runs with a diving catch in left on a slicing fly ball from Chamberlain for the only out of Ennen's outing. Kyle Johnson (Holy Cross) entered with two men on base, and it looked like he would escape the threat without allowing a run, as he induced a ground ball to Thomas Blandini (Southern New Hampshire) at short. Blandini fed Hart for the second out, but Hart's throw was errant, allowing the Sharks to tack on an extremely important insurance run for a 2-0 lead.

New Bedford sparked a rally in the bottom of the ninth, with Chaumette reaching on a free pass and Brickman singling to right to place runners on the corners with no outs. A wild throw to first to attempt to pick off pinch runner Josh Goldstein (Southern New Hampshire) allowed Chaumette to cross the plate for the first Bay Sox run of the night. Markey doubled to right center field to plate Goldstein with the tying run, but consecutive Ks with Markey in scoring position left the game tied at 2-2.

The Bay Sox' rally forced a 10th inning, but Johnson struggled in his second inning of work, allowing the lead runner - placed on second base to begin extras - to score on a groundout, and giving up another run after three walks (two intentional). Johnson picked up the loss, while Sharks' closer Nathan Tellier earned his first win of the season.

The Bay Sox have Wednesday off before facing the Mystic Schooners on the Fourth of July at Fitch High School. They renew acquaintances with the Sharks on Friday night at home, and will see them for the third time in a week next Tuesday night at Paul Walsh Field.

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