Blue Sox Even Season Series With SteepleCats
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The explosive night of July Fourth didn’t transmit over to Thursday night’s game at Joe Wolfe Field.
With the Valley Blue Sox in town for the second time in five days, the SteepleCats' offense struggled to drive runners in, eventually falling to the Valley Blue Sox, 9-4.
Andrew DiPiazza started on the mound for North Adams, allowing the Blue Sox to jump out to an early 2-0 lead after the first two innings.
However, the SteepleCats came out in the bottom of the second and put up four runs on Valley starter Andrew Sipowicz with singles by Joe Porricelli, Matt Koperniak, and Chad Minato. Greg Cavaliere, Jeffery Brown, and Jacob Jablonski each walked in a run.
This lead however did not last long, as Valley responded with a four-run inning of its own in the top of the third. This led to the end of DiPiazza’s night as he finished with 3.0 innings, six runs off six hits, and three strikeouts.
The Blue Sox eventually added three more runs throughout the contest. Two came off reliever Stanley Vargas, as the right-hander allowed three hits and two earned runs while striking out two.
Andy Purpura, in his second appearance for the SteepleCats, then took the mound, going two innings and limiting Valley’s damage on the scoreboard.
The last Blue Sox run came off of Niagara University’s Jeff Hayner, who tossed the final inning, allowing just one run off one hit.
The SteepleCats faced off against three pitchers in Thursday night’s contest in Andrew Sipowicz, Nick Floyd, and Timothy Josten. While North Adams was able to develop some early offense off of Sipowicz, it struggled the rest of the game to drive runners in, leaving a total of eight on base.
After Sipowicz’s five innings in which he allowed four runs on five hits, Floyd tossed three innings that only saw two SteepleCat hits while striking out four. Josten had a similar outing for the Blue Sox, surrendering two hits with three strikeouts.
The toughest break for the SteepleCats came in the bottom of the ninth, as the home team was able to get the bases loaded but the glimmer of hope for a comeback was quickly crushed as a North Adams strikeout ended the inning and secured the victory for Blue Sox.
The SteepleCats have a much-needed rest day on Friday but are matched up against their Fourth of July opponent, the Sanford Mainers, this Saturday at 6:30. On Sunday the SteepleCats host a rare home doubleheader against the New Bedford Bay Sox with the first seven-inning game beginning at 2 and the second game beginning at 4:30. Tickets for all SteepleCats games can be purchased online at www.steeplecats.org or one hour prior to the game’s start at the ticket booth.
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