SteepleCats Hold off Swamp Bats Rally

June 20, 2016 - New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL)
North Adams SteepleCats News Release


The North Adams SteepleCats sent ten batters to the plate, scoring six runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to take a 7-0 in their game Sunday VS the Keene Swamp Bats. The 'Cats then held off a late rally to defeat the Keene Swamp Bats 8-5 on Father's Day at Joe Wolfe Field and improved to 6-4 on the season. It was also the 'Cats first win of the season against the Swamp Bats after dropping the first two matchups.

"First couple innings, their pitcher had us a little confused, we made some really good adjustments and waited back on his slow stuff," said Head Coach Mike Armstrong.

The fourth inning began with back to back singles by Benjamin Bengston and Keaton Wright. The 'Cats then used small ball to get the runners home. Daniel Holst laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance them to second and third. Edward Haus's sacrifice ground out scored Bengston and sent Wright to third.

The next three batters reached via either a walk or a hit by pitch putting the 'Cats up 3-0. Nick Riotto and Dustin Shirley followed with a pair of two run singles to put a cap on the inning.  With those singles, a pair of throwing errors by Swamp Bat center fielder Brandt Stallings aided the advancing of the 'Cats' base runners.

"The guys did a great job getting singles and just hitting line drives and ground balls, keeping it simple up there," said Coach Armstrong.

Braxton Wilks pitched five shutout innings for the 'Cats for the second time in as many starts on the season keeping his ERA at 0.00 and improving to 2-0 on the year. This time, he gave up five hits and struck out three.

"It was nice to get on the mound and throw well," said Wilks. "There were a couple of really amazing plays out there made behind me that helped me set the tone. When guys are making plays like that behind you it makes my job easier."

Wilks felt as though it was the entire team that helped contribute to his success.

"Putting up six runs in a big fourth inning makes my job easy again," said Wilks. "I probably got to sit down for about fifteen minutes and just watch our offense do its work. It was a total team effort today."

The 'Cats used five relievers in the final four innings to close out the victory.



New England Collegiate Baseball League Stories from June 20, 2016


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