SteepleCats End Road Trip on High Note

July 12, 2016 - New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL)
North Adams SteepleCats News Release


The North Adams SteepleCats took the early lead and then held off a furious rally Monday night in a 9-6 victory over the Plymouth Pilgrims at Forges Field. The victory snapped a three game losing streak and improved the SteepleCats to 14-12 on the season.

"We definitely came out energetic," said Head Coach Mike Armstrong. "The guys were excited to be at the ball park and play some ball."

The 'Cats took advantage of their excitement when Daniel Holst led off the game with a double and then advanced to third on a single by Nick Riotto. Dustin Shirley reached on a fielder's choice scoring Holst. Riotto then came in to score on a single by C.J. Price and then Shirley scored on a single by John Mazza making it 3-0 SteepleCats in the first inning.

The big first inning gave starter Braxton Wilks a lead to work with. He was also coming off of an extra day off rest with Sunday's rain out.

"It is awesome when they are putting up runs like that," said Wilks. "It makes it easier to throw and just be confident out there and know that if I give up a run here or there it is not going to matter."

Wilks finished the day going five innings allowing one run off of two hits. He faced the minimum through the first two innings. He was able to lower his season ERA to 1.33. The most important stat however, was that he improved 5-0 on the season in just five starts.

"I was able to make pitches when it mattered the most," said Wilks. "Our offense was on fire, we had good defense, and it was just a good win all around."

The SteepleCats built a commanding 8-1 lead in the fifth inning. With Wilks out of the game, the Pilgrims were able to get a rally going. After adding a run in the sixth, Chandler Wagoner hit a solo home run in the seventh to cut it to 8-3. With a man on first and one out in the eighth, Brian Sharp hit a two run home run to make it 8-5. The Pilgrims would add one more run that inning but would not get any closer.

In the top of the ninth, the 'Cats had C.J. Price on first and Shirley on third with two outs. While Price attempted to steal second, the Pilgrims had him caught in a run down. During the run down, Shirley was able to sneak home for an insurance run to make it 9-6 SteepleCats.

"We have been working on that all year and I think we finally perfected it so we are happy to see that," said Coach Armstrong.



New England Collegiate Baseball League Stories from July 12, 2016


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