SteepleCats Clinch Playoff Spot With Road Win

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LACONIA, N.H. -- Joe Deluca went 2-for-5 with a double and three runs batted in to lead the North Adams SteepleCats to a 5-4 win over Laconia on Friday night in the New England Collegiate Baseball League.
 
The SteepleCats (20-21) had a 4-0 lead midway through the fifth and held off a ninth-inning rally, leaving the tying run at third base.
 
Hoosac Valley graduate Tanner Bird pitched two innings of one-hit relief, striking out two and lowering his earned run average for the season to 3.86.
 
Starter John Erhardt earned the win, going 5-2/3 and allowing two runs.
 
North Adams locked up fourth place and the final playoff spot in the NECBL Northern Division with the win. The 'Cats have a two-game lead over the fifth-place Valley Blue Sox going into Saturday's regular season finales.
 
North Adams could still finish as high as third place in the standings. It hosts Newport at Joe Wolfe Field while third-place Laconia (21-20) travels to Holyoke. If the teams end up tied, North Adams will have the tie-breaker because it won the season series from the Muskrats.
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Macksey Updates on Eagle Street Demo and Myriad City Projects

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff

The back of Moderne Studio in late January. The mayor said the city had begun planning for its removal if the owner could not address the problems. 
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Moderne Studio building is coming down brick by brick on Eagle Street on the city's dime. 
 
Concerns over the failing structure's proximity to its neighbor — just a few feet — means the demolition underway is taking far longer than usual. It's also been delayed somewhat because of recent high winds and weather. 
 
The city had been making plans for the demolition a month ago because of the deterioration of the building, Mayor Jennifer Macksey told the City Council on Tuesday. The project was accelerated after the back of the 150-year-old structure collapsed on March 5
 
Initial estimates for demolition had been $190,000 to $210,000 and included asbestos removal. Those concerns have since been set aside after testing and the mayor believes that the demolition will be lower because it is not a hazardous site.
 
"We also had a lot of contractors who came to look at it for us to not want to touch it because of the proximity to the next building," she said. "Unfortunately time ran out on that property and we did have the building failure. 
 
"And it's an unfortunate situation. I think most of us who have lived here our whole lives and had our pictures taken there and remember being in the window so, you know, we were really hoping the building could be safe."
 
Macksey said the city had tried working with the owner, who could not find a contractor to demolish the building, "so we found one for him."
 
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