Pittsfield & Vt.'s Suspended Game Suspended Again
MONTPELIER, Vt. — The Pittsfield American Defenders (13-25) and the Vermont Mountaineers (20-18) continued a suspended game Wednesday evening and were only able to play three innings before the game became suspended again because of rain.Pittsfield was ahead of Vermont 1-0 when the game resumed in the top of the second inning. The Defenders maintained the lead when play was halted in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Austin Evans (Alabama) continued the game on the mound for Vermont and immediately entered a pitcher’s duel with Pittsfield reliever Colton Murray (Univ of Kansas). Evans retired 12 of the 15 hitters he faced and struck out five American Defenders along the way. Murray was also able to match Evans as he struck out five hitters in his three innings of work.
Murray did have runners at first and second base in the bottom of the third inning but the right-hander induced Kevin Nieto (Manhattan Coll) to ground out and end the inning.
Evans also ended a Pittsfield rally in the top half of the fourth. Following back to back one-out singles from Anthony Bona (San Jose State) and Beau Zinman (UNC Asheville), Evans retired the next two hitters to keep the score 1-0.
Vermont also mounted one final comeback against Colton Murray as the Mountaineers had back to back singles from Tadd Bower (William and Mary) and Ethan Paquette (UVM). The Pittsfield closer then struck out Nick Martinez (Fordham) and got a fly out from Kevin Vance (UConn) to maintain the lead.
Austin Evans then set down the side in order for the 5th inning and Colton Murray threw one pitch to Jantzen Witte (Texas Christian Univ) when the umpires called for the tarp.
After an hour, the game was officially called with Pittsfield ahead of Vermont 1-0 in the bottom of the fifth inning with no one out.
No makeup date has been announced.
Pittsfield is off Thursday and will host the Danbury Westerners in a doubleheader on Friday at Wahconah Park. First pitch is scheduled for 4:30 and the second game will start a half hour after the completion of game one.
Vermont is back in action Thursday night at the Holyoke Blue Sox at 6:35 p.m. and will then host Holyoke on Friday night at Recreation Field. Both teams are vying in the chase for the final two playoff spots in the Western division.
Fans can listen to all Pittsfield games by using Teamline, the official broadcasting partner of the American Defenders.
Fans can also go to the team store at 2 South St., the team site or call 413-997-2273 for information on the teams, tickets, sponsorship, group outings and more.
