North Adams, MA- The Ocean State Waves came to town yesterday to take on the SteepleCats. The first time these two teams came together was a brilliant back-and-forth game that ultimately ended on a walk-off balk.

I don't know if it was luck, deja vu, or just a coincidence, but the pitching matchup was the same as the first time: Cooper Omans for the SteepleCats and Tyler Mudd for the Waves.

Both Mudd and Omans kept the game scoreless through the first two frames. Then something bizarre happened: Ocean State's Pete Ciuffreda hit a hard ground ball to Tommy DiTullio at third, and it appeared to go off his foot. The ball rolled over Vince Bianchina at second.

Bianchina picked up the baseball and mimed a throw back to the pitcher. The runner Justin Long must have wandered off the base, and Bianchina promptly tagged him. 

Vince had the whole world wondering what had happened. One moment Long was safe at second, and the next, he disappeared.

Moving to the bottom of the third, Tyler Epstein got the SteepleCats rolling as he laced a double down the left-field line. A Tommy DiTullio ground out got him over, and Hunter Pasqualini came to the dish.

The infield came in on the grass, and Pasqualini hit a hard ground ball to Justin Szestowicki at second base. Epstein made a beeline to the plate and beat Szestowicki's throw putting the Cats ahead 1-0. Pasqualini would come around to score later in the inning, making the score 2-0 in favor of North Adams. 

The Waves picked up a run of their own in the top of the fifth on a Justin Szestowicki sacrifice fly. The Cats came storming back in the bottom of the frame.

The SteepleCats put together three consecutive two-out base hits. Cedric Rose singled, Brady Mutz doubled him home, and Vincent Bianchina singled to drive in Mutz. The Cats led 4-1 after five. 

The bullpen worked well for both teams for the next few innings. Matt Rowe settled in for the Waves after allowing two runs in the fifth, and Ryan Gleason kept the Cats silent in the eighth.

For North Adams, Nate Beal and Austin McKinney kept Ocean State off the board. Will Hearn came into the game in the ninth inning. In the eyes of many around the league, the game was over.

Up to this point, Hearn had been lights out for SteepleCats as their de facto closer. He came in looking for his third save of the season, and that's not exactly how it went down. 

Here's how the first three batters faired against Hearn in the ninth: single, walk, RBI single. That brought the score to 4-2. Hearn promptly struck out Chase Meggers for the first out of the inning.

Kyle Maves came in to pinch run for Drew Holderbach. He and Jake Studley surprisingly double stole. Carson Dunkel threw down to second base, and the ball sneaked into centerfield. Hunter Pasqualini picked it up and sailed a throw into the Ocean State dugout. Just like that... tie game.

Hearn struck out the next two hitters, but the damage was done. The Cats put two runners on in their half of the ninth but could not score, and the game went into extra innings.

Pete Ciuffreda started the inning on second base as the NECBL extra-inning rules have the "ghost runner" on second to begin the inning. Ciuffreda advanced to third on a ground-out by Max Johnson and scored on Donavan Cash's double. So, heading into the bottom of the tenth, after leading the entire game, the Cats trailed 5-4.

Cedric Rose began the bottom of the tenth at second. Ryan Galanie pinch hit for Dunkel and promptly drilled the 1-0 offering from Jack Erbeck into the left-center gap as it one-hopped off the wall. Rose scored easily, and the game was knotted up 5-5.

Vincent Bianchina laid down a beautiful sacrifice bunt to get Galanie over to third. Scott Jones was going to attempt a suicide squeeze to win the game, but both he and Kyle Hannon were intentionally walked to load the bases, which brought Tyler Epstein to the dish. 

This decision was a bit of a head scratcher as Epstein was already three for four on the day. It did make sense, though, as the Waves wanted a force at any base. Erbeck had Epsten down in the count with no balls and two strikes. His next offering got away from the catcher Chase Meggers, and without hesitation, Ryan Galanie broke for the plate.

His head-first slide beat the throw, and the Cats emerged victorious for their fourth win and first walk-off win of the 2022 season. It truly was a game for the ages!

Tonight the North Adams SteepleCats will travel to Danbury to take on the Westerners. North Adams is still looking for their first divisional win. UPenn's Cole Zaffiro will take the mound for the SteepleCats. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.

You can stream tonight's game through this link: https://necblnetwork.com/?B=395009.