North Adams Transcript
NORTH ADAMS -- Bubba Baroniel Jr. pitched six scoreless innings out of the bullpen for North Adams, but it was too little too late as the SteepleCats fell 10-3 to Holyoke on Sunday.
The Holyoke Blue Sox scored all 10 of their runs in the first two innings.
SteepleCats’ starter Tyler Gebler lasted just 11Ž3 innings as Holyoke scored seven runs off of six hits. Baroniel Jr. gave up three runs in the remaining 2Ž3 of the second inning before settling in.
"We have to be better at this point in the year," SteepleCats’ manager Bryan Adamski said. "We can’t be playing like this and playing this ugly."
Gebler walked two batters, and didn’t record a strikeout in his shortest outing of the summer.
Jordan Keur started things off for the Blue Sox when he rifled an 0-2 pitch from Gebler into right field for a base hit, he was the first batter Gebler faced. After an RBI single from Max Pentacost, Connor Spencer cleared the bases with a three-run homer to straight-away center and the Blue Sox never looked back.
"If we are going to win these next three games and continue to win into the playoffs our starting pitching needs to be better," Adamski said. "Plain and simple. I mean we’re going to start needing six, seven innings out of our starters."
After struggling to get out of the second inning Baroniel settled in allowing just four hits over the next six
"Bubba was great tonight," Adamski said. "It was a little bit too big of a number to chase down, but Bubba did his job. We’re certainly still playing this one if we don’t have him today."
Jeff Roy doubled to leadoff the third inning and scored on an error by Danny Diekroeger. Holyoke started Chris O’Hare didn’t allow another run to score. He pitched seven innings, giving up just five hits and striking out 11 SteepleCats.
North Adams got on the board with back-to-back RBI singles from Sheehan Planas-Arteaga and Dillion Bass in the eighth inning, but couldn’t muster up enough for a complete comeback.
Roy, who had two hits in the game, left in seventh inning to have his knee examined after making a spectacular diving catch in centerfield.
Planas-Arteaga and Brett Clements both had two hits in the game, as well.
Matt Longfield came in to pitch a scoreless ninth inning and recorded two strikeouts to add to his season total of 37. The appearance was his 26th of the season. It moves him into a tie in NECBL history for most pitching appearances in a single season. His next appearance will put him a top the list.
Adamski said Longfield will pitch at least once more in the final three games.
North Adams has three games remaining and trails Danbury by two games for the second spot in the Western Division. The two teams will play twice in the final week of the season, and will most likely meet in the first round of the postseason, which gets under way on Friday. The SteepleCats are 3 and a half games in front of Vermont for the fourth and final spot in the postseason. North Adams has clinched a berth, but the seeding may not be determined until the season’s final game.
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