NEWPORT, R.I. -- The Newport Gulls were undefeated at home for the 2015 NECBL season. Its pitchers also had a collective 2.01 team ERA. Coming into Wednesday night, the team was riding an eight-game winning streak in New England Collegiate Baseball League play.

 

The North Adams SteepleCats had something to say about all of those things, and wasted no time breaking out the lumber before a crowd of 2,563 people at Cardines Field.

 

The result was a 13-0 runaway victory for North Adams.

 

Dan Shea singled with Logan Boyher and Jim Haley on base in the top of the first. Haley advanced to second while Boyher scored. Shea and Haley would then score in their own rights on a Victor Sorrento two-run double. A passed ball later on in the inning would bring home Michael Babb. It turned out one run was all they needed, but they got four and that was just in the top of the first alone.

 

It was a night of two-run hits. In addition to what Sorrento did earlier, Babb had one in the top of the sixth to make it 8-0. The very next batter was Chris Fornaci. He lined into shallow right field a base hit for a two-run single to push the lead to double digits. Fast forward to the top of the seventh, and Joe Burns came off the bench for a two-run ground rule double to make it a dozen for the SteepleCats. 

 

Dalton Westfall did not allow a hit until the bottom of the 5th. He walked eight batters and struck out only two, but was able to get outs when they mattered the most. The Gulls loaded the bags in that same inning, but Max Beermann hit a comebacker to him, he fired to Boyher at the plate, who then lasered the ball to Sorrento at first for a 1-2-3 double play.. 

 

"Dalton had an interesting night," Pitching Coach Jonah Bayliss said. "It was kind of an up-and-down night for him, a little bit of a rollercoaster but he did what a lot of great pitchers do when they have bad nights. He made pitches when it mattered most and got out of the jam. Obviously, we'd like to see him cut down the walks  but when his back was against the wall, he didn't fold under pressure. He stood up...with his chest out and went at them and made great pitches." 

 

The SteepleCats improved to 9-6 with the team's second straight victory and will aim for a third Friday night 6:30 in Holyoke against the Valley Blue Sox. With a 1-1 record against them this season, North Adams is just a half game back of the Blue Sox for first place in the NECBL Northern Division.

 

"Of course it would be great to have sole possession of first place, but that's not really our priority," Bayliss said. "Our priority is to play exceptional baseball games day in and day out when we can and we know that that will take care of the record in the long run."