Cats drop two to the team out east

The North Adams SteepleCats lost both legs of a doubleheader yesterday to the North Shore
Navigators, losing by scores of 4-2 and 6-2 at Joe Wolfe Field.
Neither game was particularly high scoring, but North Adams showed an impressive amount of
fight throughout the day. On a long, hot day where it would have been easy to give in and let
things start to slip, the SteepleCats were having no part of anything like that. They fought from
the first pitch to the last, and even though things didn’t go their way, there were plenty of
positives to take away.
The scoring didn’t start until the 5th inning in game 1, as both pitchers got off to hot starts on the
mound. The breakthrough came in the top of the 5th, when North Shore pushed two across in
the frame. Simmi Whitehill (Monmouth) would score on a wild pitch, and then later in the at-bat,
Danny Flynn (Northeastern) would come across on a deep sac fly.
North Adams would respond almost immediately, as they would push two runs across of their
own in the bottom half of the inning. Parker Camelo (RIC) would single home Tony Woodie
(SUNY Cobleskill), who reached on a single and an error. Later in the inning, Alex Barrist
singled home Camelo to tie the game.
The score would stay at 2-2 until extra innings, as in the 8th inning, North Shore would push two
more across to reclaim the lead. Despite a rally in the bottom half of the frame, North Adams
couldn’t plate any, and the game would end with a final score of 4-2.
The second game had a similar tempo to the first, as runs were once again hard to come by in
the early innings. North Shore would open the scoring in the top of the 4th, rallying for four runs
in the frame. North Adams would quickly respond with two of their own in the bottom half of the
inning, but North Shore would restore the lead to four in the very next frame. The score would
stay that way for the rest of the game, with North Shore winning 6-2.
Despite the two losses, North Adams should still take away plenty of positive things from the
twin bill. They played hard for all 15 innings, no mean feat when you consider the heat and the
weather that they had to deal with. They made North Shore work for their wins, and gave them
plenty to contend with throughout the day. The pitchers in particular looked much better than the
score showed, as they looked downright dominant for large stretches of the day. They lived in
the strike zone, and mixed pitches well en route to a strong performance. The bats also
deserved a better result from the day, as they hit the ball hard throughout the doubleheader, but
it was unfortunately not to be.
Next up for the SteepleCats are two straight trips to Keene to take on the SwampBats, with both
games set for first pitches for 6:35 p.m.