Changes in Store for SteepleCats' 2010 Season
 |
The SteepleCats will once again play a 42-game NECBL schedule (21 games at home and 21 games on the road). They will play six games against each of their five Western Division rivals (three home and three away) and two games against each of the six Eastern Division clubs (one home and one away).
Beginning with a three-game home stand, the team will host the inaugural game for the Bristol Collegiate Baseball Club, one of the league's new teams, on Friday, June 4. The SteepleCats will then host the western division champion from 2009, the Vermont Mountaineers, on June 5, and the Keene Swamp Bats on June 6 before embarking on their first road trip of the season.
The biggest change for SteepleCats fans will be a new game time of 6:30. The half hour earlier start time was made to accommodate the fans, their families and their busy schedules. Two exceptions this season will occur on the first two Sundays of the season while school is still in session. The team’s two late-afternoon home games will begin at 4:30 on Sunday, June 6, against the Swamp Bats and on Sunday, June 13, against the Holyoke Blue Sox.
Fans familiar to the NECBL will notice the absence of two teams and the addition of two new organizations this summer. During the off-season, the Berkshire County rival Pittsfield American Defenders were sold and moved to Bristol, Conn., and are now the Bristol Collegiate Baseball Club. In the Eastern Division, the Manchester Silkworms were sold and moved to Laconia, N.H., and will now be known as the Laconia Muskrats.
 Photo by Wanda Haley
Slider was out and about at North Adams Winterfest last month. |
The SteepleCats last hosted an international team in 2007, when they defeated Chinese Taipei 3-0 in front of 1,359 fans and the 1978 Drury High School state championship baseball team. On July 10 at 6:30, Team Canada will play the SteepleCats in one of the five exhibition games they’ll play in the NECBL before going on to more international competition.
This year’s fireworks show will follow the SteepleCats' home game against the Holyoke Blue Sox at 6:30 pm. on July 4. The NECBL All-Star Game will take place in Newport, R.I., on Sunday, July 18.
The team will end their regular-season schedule with five of the last eight games away from Joe Wolfe Field, concluding with a home game against the Danbury Westerners on Saturday, July 31. The SteepleCats will look to extend their consecutive play-off appearance streak to nine years.
For more information on the organization, the 2010 roster, and a complete season schedule, visit the SteepleCats at www.steeplecats.com.
