By: Brennan McGrevy 

Holyoke, MA - The Valley Blue Sox hosted the North Adams SteepleCats at Mackenzie Stadium in a thrilling game. Valley (11-11) could not get the job done in a crushing 8-6 loss to North Adams (6-14). 

Blue Sox’s center fielder Mike Lucarelli started the bottom of the first with a walk, he then proceeded to steal second and third to put a runner in scoring position. Valley’s Gavin Schrader ripped a single, scoring Lucarelli. The score was 1-0 after one inning. 

SteepleCats’ Qwynn Ahearn was hit by a pitch to start off the top of the third. Center fielder Cuyler Baxter singled to get another runner on base for North Adams. Blue Sox’s starting pitcher Ethan Slowik struggled with his control on the mound early on. He threw a wild pitch which scored Ahearn and advanced Baxter to third, but Baxter did not score and the inning ended with a score of 1-1. 

In the top of the fourth SteepleCats’ Thomas Sullivan walked early on and stole second on a wild pitch by Slowik. Collin Overholt reached second base on a wild throw to first by Wyatt Hunt and Sullivan sprinted to home plate to score. Overholt raced to third on a nice steal. Former Blue Sox catcher Michael Toth singled to give North Adams a two run lead at 3-1. 

Valley struck back in the bottom of the inning and it all started with left fielder Kai Cunningham’s single. He jumped on the opportunity to steal second quickly. Hunt cracked a nice single to put two runners on base. Lucarelli nuked a triple off the right field fence, scoring Cunningham before Hunt got out at home plate. Designated hitter Nicholas Spaventa hit a ball deep into center field for an RBI double, scoring Lucarelli to tie the game 3-3 before the inning ended.

The top of the fifth was all SteepleCats. Third baseman Gabriel Natividad was hit by a pitch. Alex Mendes lined a ball up the middle for a single and Natividad advanced to third. Blue Sox catcher Hayden Perry could not catch the speedy Mendes stealing second base and Natividad bolted to home to reclaim the lead. Sullivan was walked for a second time and then Overholt was hit by a pitch to get on base. Mendes stole home to extend the lead by two. A double steal was in play for North Adams as the runners advanced to second and third. Andrews could not find the zone, throwing a wild pitch that allowed Sullivan to score to make it 6-3 heading into the bottom of the fifth inning. 

Valley found offensive success in the bottom of the sixth. Perry walked to start the inning which was then followed by a Hunt single. Lucarelli smacked a crucial RBI single, scoring Perry to make it 6-4. Blue Sox’s Michael Elko started the bottom of the seventh inning, reaching first on an error by left fielder Billy Howard. Elko showed off the wheels and stole second and third. Andrew Loikits also reached first base but this time it was on an E4 on Mendes. Cunningham’s RBI single to shallow right field tied the game 6-6 after seven innings. 

The game remained tied heading into the ninth. Natividad reached second on an E9 by Rees Kozar. Sullivan’s double scored Natividad to reclaim the lead 7-6. Overholt singled to score pinch runner Nelphie Lopez to make it 8-6. The Blue Sox could not answer back in the bottom of the ninth inning. 

Valley’s Head Coach Endy Morales gave his insight on the game. “We are a really talented team, but we shot ourselves in the foot,” Morales said. “Very rarely in baseball when the other team makes more errors than you, you lose that game.” 

Morales understands losing a close game is frustrating but is determined to help his team learn from a tough loss. “You take the metaphorical toilet and flush [a rough loss]. It’s important to know that [we] have an opportunity tomorrow and that’s the beauty of this league. It’s a double edged sword in regards to having lots of games back to back but at the end of the day you get to rewrite your wrongs and make them right.” 

Valley faces the Mystic Schooners in their next game on July. 4 at 6:30 p.m. in search of a bounce back victory.