SteepleCats break out the lumber against Lowell 10-7
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The SteepleCats jumped on the board in the first inning as after a leadoff single by Nick Shaw, two batters later Paul Hoilman doubled on the tenth pitch of the at-bat into left-center to score Shaw and make it 1-0 North Adams.
The ‘Cats doubled the lead in the second inning as Mike Donato and Ryan Semeniuk led off with singled, but Donato was picked off second. On the next pitch, Semeniuk proceeded to steal second and moved to third as the ball skipped into centerfield. With the infield drawn in, Sean Parker singled through the left side to score Semeniuk for a 2-0 SteepleCats lead.
The lead doubled again in the third inning as with a runner on first, Paul Hoilman struck again, clubbing his second homerun of the season to left center to make it 4-0 SteepleCats.
Lowell clawed their way back into the game in the bottom of the third as Tim Boyce uncharacteristically had command issues, walking four and allowing three earned runs, both firsts on the season, to cut the SteepleCats lead to 4-3.
North Adams came back undeterred as they jumped on Brian Maloney in the fourth. With two on, two outs and a run in, Mike Donato grounded a ball to shortstop. Pat McKenna fielded cleanly and went to take it to second himself, but Cody Stanley beat McKenna to the bag to load the bases. The mental mistake proved costly as Ryan Semeniuk drove a ball to left centerfield, missing a grand slam by inches for a double, driving home two and pushing the SteepleCats lead back up to four at 7-3.
Three more runs crossed the board in the sixth for North Adams to advance the lead to 10-3. The All-Americans scored single runs in the bottom of the seventh and eighth and two in the ninth, but Dayton Marze was able to get Nick Pecora to line out to Nick Shaw to end the game.
Tim Boyce (3-0) picked up the win for the SteepleCats going six innings, allowing three runs on four hits, tying a season high with nine strikeouts. Joey Lucier (1-1) took the loss for Lowell.
The SteepleCats come back to Joe Wolfe Field for their only home game of the week on Thursday when the ‘Cats will take on the Sanford Mainers. It will be Hoosac Bank Night at Joe Wolfe Field. For more information, a full schedule and team information, log on to www.steeplecats.com.
New England Collegiate Baseball League
Results for Wednesday, June 25th
For more detailed results and statistics, please visit www.necbl.com or http://www.necbl.com/nutshell.htm.
Sanford 6, Danbury 2
Vermont 7, Newport 5
Torrington 7, Holyoke 3
North Shore 6, Pittsfield 3
North Adams 10, Lowell 7
Team China 9, Keene 7 (Exhibition)
Schedule for Thursday, June 26th
Newport @ Holyoke 6:30pm
Lowell @ Danbury 7pm
Manchester @ North Shore 7pm
Pittsfield @ Keene 7pm
Vermont @ Torrington 7pm
Sanford @ North Adams 7pm
