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SteepleCats Gearing Up For 2009 SeasonBy Rick Zmudzien
08:58AM / Thursday, June 04, 2009
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. – The North Adams SteepleCats of the 12-team New England Collegiate Baseball League are set to begin their eighth season of play this Friday night. In preparation, the team will be making several appearances at local school and sponsoring businesses throughout the community leading up to Friday night’s season opener and Saturday night’s home opener.
On Thursday, several SteepleCats will be found visiting local sponsoring businesses, including: Paul Hoilman and Bo Reeder who will be appearing at Hoosac Bank on Main Street; Tony Brunetti and John Murrian who will be appearing at Adams Cooperative Bank; and Brach Davis and Ryan Fraser who will be at Williamstown Savings Bank. They’ll be there to meet and greet members of the community, sign autographs and hand out pocket schedules. Many more appearances by the current SteepleCats roster will be made at area sponsors in the coming weeks as well as visiting every local elementary school in northern Berkshire County.
Thursday evening will be Media Night at Joe Wolfe Field and will begin at 7:00. The SteepleCats will be available for photographs before, during, and after the night’s festivities. The night’s activities will include a fastest base runner competition, a most accurate arm competition and a home run derby.
On Friday SteepleCats general manager Sean McGrath, field manager Jeff Verplancke, baseball operations intern Adrien Tapia. and SteepleCats pitcher Matteo D’Angelo will all appear on The Morning Show with Mike Garland on WNAW AM 1230 at 8:30 a.m. D’Angelo comes to the SteepleCats this summer from Winthrop. This past season he was Winthrop’s top starter, going 8-3 with a 3.09 ERA in 84.1 innings pitched. The group will discuss the challenges of assembling and running a collegiate summer baseball team, as well as the upcoming season.
The SteepleCats will be in New Hampshire Friday evening to take on the Keene Swamp Bats at 7:00 p.m. With the NECBL’s realignment this year, the SteepleCats and Swamp Bats will be competing against each other for a playoff spot in the NECBL West Division. The SteepleCats and Swamp Bats have an interesting rivalry as the SteepleCats were founded in 2002 by John and Jon Watterson, the father and son of Keene Swamp Bats president Kevin Watterson.
On Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon, D’Angelo and fellow SteepleCats pitcher Cody Weiss will be appearing at Greylock Federal Credit Union on Main Street. Weiss is coming to North Adams after wrapping up his freshman season at La Salle. D’Angelo and Weiss will be there to meet fans, sign autographs, and hand out schedules.
The SteepleCats will play their home opener on Saturday evening when they host the Danbury Westerners at Joe Wolfe Field at 7:00 p.m. Saturday will be Hoosac Bank Night at the ballpark and the first 1000 fans to enter the ballpark will receive a free Hoosac Bank water bottle.
For more information on the organization, players and schedule, make sure to visit www.steeplecats.com throughout the season. |
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