The Blue Sox played host to Team USA
HOLYOKE, Mass. - The Blue Sox played host to Team USA on Monday night and lost the exhibition match by the score of 5-2. But the statistics and outcome of the game were hardly the story of the evening, as a record crowd of 4,811 people occupied the MacKenzie Stadium grounds.The evening was filled with excitement that the audience brought with full force, cheering their Blue Sox on against arguably the most talented team of amateur non-draft eligible collegiate baseball players in the country.
The game that the mass of fans observed featured many player substitutions and defensive changes, but the thrill of the game was lost on no one. For eight innings, the Blue Sox kept the game very much within striking distance despite giving up two runs in the first inning.
The most powerful punch for the Blue Sox offensively occurred in the bottom of that inning, by the bat of Jake Rosenbeck (Buffalo). The third baseman hit a long and powerful drive that soared over the right field wall, getting the crowd on its feet.
In the third, Murray Watts (Arkansas State) smacked a two-out RBI single to left center field that tied the game at two. This clutch piece of hitting got the crowd up again, and they seemed to stay up for the rest of the contest.
Despite the Blues giving up a run in the sixth and two more to close the game out in the ninth, the bullpen pitched well for Holyoke. Mackenzie King arguably threw the best out of the ‘pen, tossing two scoreless innings and striking out four while doing so.
Though getting pinned with the hard-luck loss, Nick Noblit (Franklin Pierce) came into the ball game as well and began his return to success on the mound by throwing two innings of one run, one hit ball, while striking out two.
But like mentioned before, the record crowd was a huge success for the Blue Sox organization, pummeling their previous record of 3,762 fans. The Blue Sox can hope to get a similar crowd on Thursday night when they host the Pittsfield American Defenders at 6:30. But in the mean time, the Blues will play a double header on the road tomorrow against the Danbury Westerners, starting at 12:30.
For more information about sox players, coaching staff, personnel or tickets, visit the team’s website at www.holyokesox.com.
