Ninth-Inning Run Propels Navigators over 'Cats

By Chad CooperPrint Story | Email Story
LYNN — The North Shore Navigators scored a run in the bottom of the ninth inning, defeating the North Adams SteepleCats 4-3 at Frasier Field on Saturday.

Scoreless through the first three innings, North Adams cracked the scoreboard in the fourth. Jonny Smith led off with a single and stole second. Two batters later, Ryan Delgado hit what appeared to be an inning-ending groundout, but Kyle Geason bobbled the ball allowing Delgado to reach and Smith to go to third. The error proved costly as Jimmy Lisowski balked, allowing Smith to score and give the SteepleCats a 1-0 lead.

In the fifth, an error once again opened the door for North Adams. Ryan Semeniuk reached on a defensive miscue by Geason. After Sean Parker sacrificed him to second, Greg Van Horn singled into center, plating Semeniuk for a 2-0 North Adams edge. The 'Cats scored again in the sixth as Paul Hoilman drew a one-out walk. After stealing second, Hoilman came into score on a Ryan Delgado single to make it 3-0.

The Navigators got on the board in the bottom of the sixth as Chad Zurcher walked to lead off the inning and came into score on a fielder's choice by Michael Provencher to cut the lead to 3-1. North Shore would come all the way back as with one out in the seventh, Kent Graham walked and Josh Garten homered to right to tie the game at 3-3.

The game would remain 3-3 into the bottom of the ninth when Michael Provencher singled with the bases loaded to bring home the winning run.
 
Jason Markovitz (4-0) picked up the win throwing one pitch for the Navigators. Derek Shaw (1-4) took the loss for the SteepleCats.

The SteepleCats as a team have Sunday off, but four North Adams players — Tim Boyce, John Malloy, Kevin Carby and Paul Hoilman — will be honored at Torrington, Conn., in the NECBL's annual All-Star game. Cody Stanley will also participate in two of the skills contests.

The SteepleCats will return to action on Monday at Manchester, Conn., with Matt Sommo (2-3, 3.86) on the mound for North Adams.
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Sanford, Maine, Edges SteepleCats in Season Opener

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires.com Sports
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. – The SteepleCats Sunday started their 2026 season the way they ended their 2025 campaign: with a narrow loss to the Sanford Mainers.
 
Sanford, which won a best-of-three playoff series against North Adams last August, scored four runs on 14 hits to earn a 4-2 win at Joe Wolfe Field.
 
The Mainers broke a 1-1 tie with a two-run rally in the third inning, and four Sanford pitchers combined to collect 11 strikeouts as the visitors improved to 2-1 this summer.
 
North Adams, which saw its planned road opener rained out on Saturday, got to open the season in front of its home fans.
 
And those fans saw a strong performance from the North Adams pitching staff, which, despite allowing 14 hits, including five doubles, gave up just three earned runs.
 
“I like the grit,” SteepleCats coach Mike Gladu said of his team’s Game 1 performance. “I thought the pitchers performed pretty well. We had a couple of situations where we definitely should have gotten some runs in and didn’t get that hit.
 
“And there were a couple of plays with a little rust. Certainly, the ball that was hit over [Evan] Meier’s in left field, he just mistracked that one. And the extra run they scored in the eighth, the kid wasn’t going to go [from third on a fly ball], we made a throw and nobody could stop it.
 
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