Too Little Too Late

Published on June 19, 2016 under New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL)
North Adams SteepleCats News Release


The Keene Swamp Bats jumped on the North Adams SteepleCats early in Saturday night's game at Joe Wolfe Field and hung on in the end of a 5-3 win over the SteepleCats. The SteepleCats fell to a record of 5-4 with the setback and are now two and a half games out of first place in the Northern Division. It was also the second time the SteepleCats had fallen to the Swamp Bats this season.

"We came out a little bit flat today," said Head Coach Mike Armstrong. "It takes a special effort to go out and win a lot of baseball games when you play every single day."

The Swamp Bats hitters were able to work deep into counts, making the 'Cats throw a lot of pitches. With the amount of pitches the 'Cats had to throw, they ended up having to use four relievers in the game after starter Robbie Buffis went two innings and threw 49 pitches. He allowed one run off of three hits.

Swamp Bat starter Ryan Aviddano was solid going five and a third innings. He allowed two runs off of two hits, struck out three, and walked three. He did not allow a single base hit from the second inning through the fifth inning and at one point retired twelve SteepleCat hitters in a row.

"He had pretty good stuff and he is a big tall pitcher," said Coach Armstrong. "He was also very effective at working up so it took us a while to get that timing on the high fastball."

One major positive from the loss is that the 'Cats continued to fight until the end. Trailing 4-0 in the bottom of the sixth, the 'Cats were finally able to get the bats going. With one out, Nick Riotto drew a walk. Keaton Wright followed with a single to center advancing Riotto to second and ending Aviddano's night.

"We started to get to know what pitches he liked to use and where in the strike zone he wanted to work so our hitters could start keying in on those areas," said Coach Armstrong.

With the bases loaded, Edward Haus hit a sac fly to put the 'Cats on the board. Dustin Shirley then drew a walk to reload the bases for John Mazza who hit a two run single to cut the deficit to 4-3.

"Every time we have been down we have battled back," said Coach Armstrong. "These guys want to win. They are definitely becoming a family which is the goal of what we want here in the summer. They get after it every day and play hard which is all you can ask for."

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New England Collegiate Baseball League Stories from June 19, 2016


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