Sports stats



Steeplecats Earn 2nd Win of the Year

June 23, 2011 - New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL)
North Adams SteepleCats News Release


Sanford, ME -- Another night filled with cancellations around the NECBL; it's been quite a problem lately as rain continues to ravage a good portion of New England. But there's something to be said about the fact that the SteepleCats have played more games than anybody else in the Western Division. Call it luck, chance (not Chantz), or maybe even misfortune. I'm sure if you asked some people from top to bottom in the organization they'd probably tell you that the team could have used more than one rain out this early in the season. After all, it has been the worst start in the ten-year history of the franchise as it looks to climb out of the cellar and erase the deficit in the standings. So heading into Sanford on Wednesday night to take on the 6-3 Mainers seemed daunting as the 'Cats were entombed in an eight-game losing streak that had dropped their record to 1-9. But what a difference a day makes, and when all was said and done, it was North Adams who could finally celebrate on that long ride home back to the Berkshires.

Trent Franzago would take the hill after a combustible outing last week in Holyoke that angered the mild-mannered pitcher. After winning five games during the regular season at Georgia Southwestern University, the junior was still searching for his first summer victory. So he went about his business in the first and calmly struck out the side despite a one-out single by shortstop Brett Mollenhauer. After the SteepleCats wasted a leadoff double by Cameron Griffin in the second, the Mainers struck quickly as Pat Devlin brought home Matt Verrier with a single for the game's first run. Moments later with the bases loaded and two outs, 'Cats second baseman Nico Hernandez made his second error of the season, allowing Jose Torralba to score from third as the bases were kept loaded. This only seemed to spark Franzago as he locked in once again and put away Mike Montville on three pitches for his fourth strikeout.

This is where things turned around quickly for the SteepleCats, who showed a penchant during the prolonged losing streak of not being able to respond after allowing early runs. In the third, Marc Magliaro, Chantz Mack, and Steven Zavala all singled in order to load the bases with nobody out. Jacob Daniel cut the deficit in half with a sacrifice fly to left that scored Magliaro. The next batter Sam Russell attacked on the first pitch from Sanford starter Jonathan Reich (1-1) and scored Mack with a single to tie the game at 2. Reich would escape trouble with runners at first and third and one out, striking out Griffin and getting first baseman Kyle Boudreau to fly out to center.

More of the same in the fourth as the 'Cats mounted their most furious two-out assault of the season. Mack broke the tie with a triple that scored catcher Brett Frantini, who had led off the inning with a single. Zavala then ripped a 2-2 pitch for a double to score Mack and double the lead to 4-2. This effectively ended Reich's night but his replacement Ryan Leach was just as unfortunate, hitting Daniel to put runners at first and second. Russell then added his second single of the night, scoring Zavala for the inning's final run as the 'Cats had now scored five unanswered. The Mainers would add another run in the home fourth to make it a 5-3 game, but that's as close as they would get.

The coaches agreed they needed a night in which the offense would just unload and open up to show their players that when they wanted to, they could mash as well as any potent offense around the league. This was the night. In the fifth, Boudreau started things off with a walk and soon moved to second after a Frantini single. After Hernandez struck out, Magliaro loaded the bases with SteepleCats following another base hit. With Mack at the plate, Leach threw a wild pitch to score Boudreau and would then be replaced by fellow reliever Chris Nagorski following a walk to Mack to load the bases once again. Nagorski got exactly what he wanted when Zavala rolled a ground ball back to him, throwing to the plate to force Frantini for the second out of the inning. It all could have ended right there but catcher Matt Verrier sailed the throw to first in an effort to nab Zavala, scoring both Mack and Magliaro to give North Adams an 8-3 lead. Daniel produced the game's final run with an RBI single to plate up Zavala. All in all, three of the 'Cats four runs in the inning were unearned.

Franzago (1-1) would then work a perfect bottom of the fifth, striking out two more Mainers to up his total to seven before the game was called due to the rain, both sides having played enough to register it as an official game.

The SteepleCats (2-9) have the day off Thursday before returning to the road Friday against the Eastern Division's Laconia Muskrats (4-5) at 6:30. Make sure you support the SteepleCats and listen or watch the game by accessing the TeamLine link on the team's website by visiting www.steeplecats.com or the league's website at www.necbl.com.



New England Collegiate Baseball League Stories from June 23, 2011


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.

Other Recent North Adams SteepleCats Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central