Mountaineers Comeback Falls Short against North Adams in 7-5 Loss

June 15, 2019 - New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL)
Vermont Mountaineers News Release


MONTPELIER, Vt. - A ninth-inning rally fell just short for the Mountaineers against one of the top teams in the New England Collegiate Baseball League, as the North Adams SteepleCats defeated Vermont, 7-5, at Joe Wolfe Field in North Adams, Mass.

North Adams utilized a five-run fifth frame to break open a scoreless deadlock that ensured their victory after the Mountaineers nearly embarked on a game-tying comeback.

Both Mountaineer and SteepleCat defenses allowed little to no offense in the first half of the game, with North Adams pitcher Alex Gomes giving up just three hits in five innings while Enzo Stefanoni (Darien, Conn. / Harvard University) threw a no-hitter in the first four innings. A chance nearly came for Vermont in the fifth as Sean Flaherty (Orangeburg, N.Y. / Hofstra University) and Kevin Brenning (Florence, Al. / University of North Alabama) found themselves at third and second base, but Matt McDermott (Little Falls, N.J. / College of William and Mary) could not seal the deal as Gomes struck him out to end the frame.

North Adams capitalized in the following stanza as Stefanoni gave up his first two hits of the game while hitting Scout Knotts with a pitch to start the fifth, enabling the SteepleCats to load the bases on no outs. Josh Loeffler subsequently drove a single to left field that let Sam Punzi and Knotts both score. Tre Kirklin clinched two more runs on the ensuing pitch with another single that allowed Matthew Koperniak and Loeffler to come home. The offensive landslide culminated in a Joseph Porricelli sacrifice fly that granted Kirklin the opportunity to score the fifth run of the inning.

Vermont immediately responded with their first score as a Brian Goulard (City, N.Y. / Hofstra University) single to left field gave Austin Gauthier (Lorton, Va. / Hofstra University) enough time to cross home plate. The home team wasted no time shutting down Vermont's attempt at a rally, however, picking up an insurance run on another Punzi score to extend their lead to 6-1.

Gauthier picked up his second run of the game in the eighth after Corey DiLoreto (Reading, Mass. / Northeastern University) drove a double to cut into the deficit, but the SteepleCats answered with a Brian Picone score. The Mountaineers nearly mounted a comeback in the ninth, answering with a run by Cameron Chick (Rocheport, Mo. / University of Nebraska-Lincoln) followed by an RBI double from Gauthier that allowed J.R. DiSarcina (Barnstable, Mass. / University of Massachusetts Dartmouth) and McDermott to score, but the home team prevented the final two on-base Mountaineers to score on the following at-bat as Tanner Thomas made a diving catch into the left field fence to end the game and capture the 7-5 victory.

Gomes got the win for North Adams after allowing just three hits and striking out four, while Stefanoni took the loss for the Mountaineers, giving up four hits and five runs in a little over four innings of play.

The loss drops Vermont to a 2-4 record, as the team will now return to the friendly confines of historic Montpelier Recreation Field for a two-game homestand starting tomorrow, Jun. 16, with a 6:30 p.m. battle against their divisional rival, the Keene Swamp Bats.

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New England Collegiate Baseball League Stories from June 15, 2019


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