The SteepleCats finally made it back to 500, only to lose 2 straight and fall to 15-17 in 4th place in the NECBL Northern Division.

This was a huge game against the Muskrats as both teams came into tonight at 15-16 and tied for third place in the division.  The SteepleCats had won the last two meetings between these teams, both of which came at Robbie Mills Field in Laconia.  But the Muskrats won the first two meetings, including their other matchup here in North Adams.  They are now 3-2 on the season series and interestingly the road team is 4-1 thus far in these matchups. 

Tonight the road team was again victorious and it started on the mound.  Jack English started for Laconia and was lights out to start.  It started with him getting out of trouble in the first inning.  Zach Lucas reached on an error, stole second and moved to third on a wild pitch.  But English, an All Star for Laconia, settled in and struck out Josh Delph, Kyle Richardson and Ramon Valdez in order to get out of the inning. 

In the second he gave up a 2 out walk to Luke Maglich.  Maglich stole second, but was stranded there when Cardenas flew out to center.  He didn’t allow another runner to reach scoring position until the 5th, when J.C. Cardenas finally got the first hit of the night for North Adams.  English had walked 2 to that point and worked around an error, but didn’t allow a hit for the first 4.1 innings.  After Cardenas reached on a one out single, he was replaced at first when John Kinne hit into a fielder’s choice.  Zach Lucas and Josh Delph worked back-to-back walks to load the bases before Kyle Richardson flew out to end the threat. 

English came out to pitch the 6th and walked 2 of the first 3 hitters he faced to end his night with well over 100 pitches thrown.  But it was a great night despite the walks.  He went 6.1 innings, allowing only 1 hit, earning 7 Ks and working around 6 walks.  Jordan Sheffield came on in relief and induced a double play to end the inning.

Trevor Scott started for North Adams but wasn’t nearly as sharp as he was to start the year.  He allowed 4 runs off 6 hits in 7 innings.  The bottom part of the order plated 2 runs in the second before Nick Masonia hit a 2-run homer to expand the lead to 4-0 in the 6th.  Nathan Foriest took over in the 7th and went 1-2-3 before handing it off to Jonah Philley who also turned in a 1-2-3 eighth inning.  He worked around a leadoff walk in the 9th, but overall the bullpen was strong with 3 shutout innings and only 1 base runner allowed.  

But when they came into the game, the damage was already done.  As well as they pitched, what was most important was the offense getting on track, something they had been unable to do all game long.

Going into the 8th inning, they only had 1 hit.  They did work 8 walks to that point, but were unable to turn those guys into runs.  They had a big deficit to overcome as they moved into the 9th inning.  But this team has had a rash of come from behind wins and was hoping the magic would continue.

J.C. Cardenas kept hope alive with a 1 out single.  It came one pitch after J.C. had thought he worked a walk, but the home plate umpire inexplicably called the pitch a strike.  However J.C. got the base anyway and had both of the North Adams hits to that point.  John Kinne struck out on another borderline pitch before Zach Lucas came to the plate.  Lucas had worked 2 walks, but fell behind 0-2 after another tough call for North Adams.  This pitch was the most questionable of the night and the fans and SteepleCats dugout roared in disapproval.  This brought about a warning from home plate umpire and a short discussion between him and manager Chris Cates who was likely complaining about the strike zone widening in the last inning of a game where his team was trying to come from behind.  When the discussion ended Lucas dug back into the plate ready to protect and lined the next pitch he saw down the left field line for a double.  It looked like another comeback for North Adams with runners on second and third and 2 out.  But then Josh Delph grounded out to end the game and give Laconia a big 4-0 victory.

The loss dropped North Adams into 15-17 and in 4th place in the division.  J.C. Cardenas was the leading hitter for the team with 2 of the 3 hits.  Zach Lucas had the third hit, a double that was the only extra base hit the ‘Cats had all game.  

Trevor Scott took the loss and Jack English earned the win.  Mark Skinner got the Save as the ‘Cats threatened in the 9th.  It was the second straight loss for North Adams and it drops them into fourth place in the division, which is the last playoff spot.  They host the Newport Gulls tomorrow at 6:30 PM.