Danbury, CT- The SteepleCats strolled into Danbury riding a high coming off an incredible comeback extra-inning walk-off win against the Ocean State Waves. They looked poised to go for their second win in a row against the Danbury Westerners with UPenn's Cole Zaffiro on the mound.

Zaffiro came into the game with a 0.90 ERA after two strong starts. Unfortunately, after this game, that number would rise significantly.

North Adams looked good early on. Zaffiro kept the Westerners off the board in the first two frames, and the Cats even jumped out to an early lead. Shortstop Tyler Epstein laced a one-out double into the corner, and after Alex Lane flew out to right, up stepped Ryan Galanie.

Galanie was the hero the previous night and some of those heroics transferred to the next day. He crushed the first pitch he saw from Cody Carwile over the center field fence 395 feet away from home plate.

The Westerners quickly came back in the bottom half of the third. Jermaine White singled to get the rally started, and then Billy Gerlott doubled to put runners at second and third with only one out. That brought up the left fielder UCONN's Korey Morton to the plate.

Morton displayed good situational hitting as he hit a sharp ground ball to the right side to bring White to the plate. First baseman Cedric Rose fielded the baseball cleanly but threw it wide of Zaffiro, who was covering the bag. That miscue resulted in two runs crossing the plate, and the inning was far from over. 

Hank Thomas stepped up and promptly deposited a 1-1 fastball over the wall giving Danbury a 4-2 lead. Korey Morton did more damage the following inning when he lined a two-run single into the outfield, and Danbury increased their lead 6-2. 

The SteepleCats could not find a rhythm the rest of the game, but Scott Jones, who moved from center to left when Hunter Pasqualini came into the game quietly, had a two-hit night as he has a chance to heat up as we head into the mid point of this NECBL season.

The North Adams SteepleCats will play again at home tonight against the 16-1 North Division-leading Vermont Mountaineers. Kaleb Sophy will get the start on the mound for the SteepleCats, and first pitch will be at 5:00 p.m. at Joe Wolfe Field. 

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