Pilgrims Top SteepleCats In Pitcher's Duel

PLYMOUTH, Mass. — Just 398 years after the original Pilgrims were able to claim a victory over finding a new homeland, the 2018 Pilgrims of New England Collegiate Baseball League were able to claim a different type of victory over their in-state rival North Adams SteepleCats.

Still searching for their fifth win, the SteepleCats headed to the South Shore Friday night to take on the Plymouth Pilgrims. After amazing performances by both starting pitchers and a home run by each side, the Pilgrims squeezed by North Adams with a 4-3 victory.

Chris Cepeda made his fourth start of the year for the SteepleCats, going deep into the game and not allowing much action on the base paths until the 5th inning. In that inning, the Pilgrims were able to send one across on a groundout to second base and three more across off a Max Flower homerun.

After Cepeda’s exit, Jeff Hayner and Stanley Vargas each tossed an inning in relief for North Adams. Both Hayner and Vargas held the Pilgrims to no hits and no runs while Vargas struck out three straight batters in the 8th to give his team a chance for a rally.

The win however on Friday night went to Pilgrims starting pitcher Sam Williams. The Northern Kentucky University senior went 7.1 innings while only surrendering five hits and striking out eight. The SteepleCats were finally able to get their offense rolling when Williams was relieved by Christian Rosati, who allowed three runs off of two hits and gave North Adams back some hope in the later innings.

Grant Donahue then came on to capture the save for the Pilgrims but it wasn’t without some late game drama. After struggling to hit the strike zone, Donahue walked the first SteepleCats batter in the top of the 9th. Jeffery Brown, a known speedster on the base path, came on to pinch run for North Adams. Working his way to third, Brown was caught in a run down between third and home after teammate Greg Cavaliere hit a grounder straight at Donahue. The Pilgrims were not only able to get Brown out, but also got Cavaliere out after he was also trapped in a run down, in turn securing the win for Plymouth.

North Adams’ offense on Friday night can be mainly contributed to first baseman Jackson Coutts. Just after capturing NECBL Player of the Week honors on Monday, the University of Rhode Island sophomore continued his impressive hot streak, going 4-for-4 at the plate with a two-run home run that brought his team back in contention. After fourteen games, Coutts leads the league with 25 hits and a .521 AVG.

​The SteepleCats continue their road trip on Saturday as they take on the Upper Valley Nighthawks at Maxfield Sports Complex at 6:30. They return to Joe Wolfe Field on Sunday when they face the Keene Swamp Bats at 4:30. Tickets for Sunday’s game can be purchased online at www.steeplecats.org or one hour prior to the game’s start at the Ticket Booth.

North Adams Hopes to Transform Y Into Community Recreation Center

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
05:19AM / Thursday, May 02, 2024

Mayor Jennifer Macksey updates members of the former YMCA on the status of the roof project and plans for reopening. 

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The city has plans to keep the former YMCA as a community center.

 

"The city of North Adams is very committed to having a recreation center not only for our youth but our young at heart," Mayor Jennifer Macksey said to the applause of some 50 or more YMCA members on Wednesday. "So we are really working hard and making sure we can have all those touch points."

 

The fate of the facility attached to Brayton School has been in limbo since the closure of the pool last year because of structural issues and the departure of the Berkshire Family YMCA in March.

 

The mayor said the city will run some programming over the summer until an operator can be found to take over the facility. It will also need a new name. 

 

"The YMCA, as you know, has departed from our facilities and will not return to our facility in the form that we had," she said to the crowd in Council Chambers. "And that's been mostly a decision on their part. The city of North Adams wanted to really keep our relationship with the Y, certainly, but they wanted to be a Y without borders, and we're going a different direction."

 

The pool was closed in March 2023 after the roof failed a structural inspection. Kyle Lamb, owner of Geary Builders, the contractor on the roof project, said the condition of the laminated beams was far worse than expected. 

 

"When we first went into the Y to do an inspection, we certainly found a lot more than we anticipated. The beams were actually rotted themselves on the bottom where they have to sit on the walls structurally," he said. "The beams actually, from the weight of snow and other things, actually crushed themselves eight to 11 inches. They were actually falling apart. ...