Cats Fall Short vs Blues

The North Adams SteepleCats were unable to bring home a win yesterday, falling to the Bristol
Blues 2-0 in a close, hotly contested matchup at Joe Wolfe Field.
Even in a loss, there were many positives for the ‘Cats to take away, especially on the pitching
side of things. North Adams pitched extremely well during this past game, holding a talented
Blues offense in check by pounding the strike zone, limiting hard contact, and getting timely
plays from the defense when needed. The bats, too, performed much better than the scoreline
showed, making hard contact often and being foiled by an effective Blues defense that always
seemed to come up with the tough play when needed.
The scoring started for Bristol in the top of the 5th inning, which would be the last for North
Adams starter Garret Gates (RPI). Gates impressed heavily in the early going, pounding the
zone with strikes and making quality pitches all night long. It was by far his best outing of the
summer so far, but after a couple of walks and a hit by pitch, Liam Riordan (RPI) was brought in
to relieve Gates, and managed to escape the jam with the only damage being a sacrifice fly hit
by Chris DiPrima (Yale) to score Colin Crowley (Winthrop).
Bristol would add another run in the top of the 8th inning, despite a valiant fight from North
Adams reliever Trey Power (Alabama State). Westin Boyle (Purdue) singled on a groundball to
center field, scoring Nicholas Francuzenko (Towson). However, thanks to a clutch groundout
induced by Power, North Adams was able to limit the damage to just the one run in the inning.
Despite the quality pitching performance, the bats were unable to break through against a
resilient Bristol Blues pitching staff, leaving the final score at 2-0. They certainly had their
chances, but the Blues made the pitches and plays that they needed to at the opportune times,
blanking North Adams on the night. In particular, the Blues impressed in high-leverage
situations, always coming up with the right combination of pitches to escape the jam they found
themselves in.
Even in defeat, there were a number of bright spots for North Adams. For one, the pitching
looked close to the best it has looked all season, with Gates, Riordan, Power, Richie Kerstetter
(CCSU) and Parker Guthrie (Washington U) combining to keep a really talented Bristol Blues
lineup quiet on the night. They allowed only two runs on four hits across nine total innings, an
exceptional performance by any and all standards. The bats also had a solid game, working
quality at-bats throughout the night and making the Blues staff earn every strike and every out.
Next up on the schedule, the North Adams SteepleCats welcome the Keene SwampBats to Joe
Wolfe Field, with first pitch scheduled for 6:30 p.m. After that, the Upper Valley Nighthawks
return to North Adams for a showdown with the ‘Cats, set for a 4:00 p.m. start time.