Navigators Hand SteepleCats Sixth Straight Loss
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The North Shore Navigators capitalized on aggressive baserunning and timely hitting Friday night, defeating the North Adams SteepleCats 13-4 at Joe Wolfe Field and dropping the Cats to 0-6 on the young NECBL season.
The Navigators struck first in the opening inning against North Adams starter Garrett Gates. Michael Brown opened the game by reaching after being hit by a pitch before Hunter Kingsbury followed with an infield single. After a double steal moved both runners into scoring position, Gates recorded his first strikeout of the season by retiring Jay Slater. North Shore quickly responded, however, as Grant Hunter lined a two-run double into the gap to give the visitors a 2-0 lead.
North Adams threatened in the bottom of the first. Bobby Stang singled and stole second while Evan Meier worked a walk, but North Shore starter John Hegarty escaped the inning without allowing a run.
Gates settled in during the second inning, striking out Luke Johnson and working around a two-out double by Tyler Shulman to post a scoreless frame. He added two more strikeouts in the third, but Slater connected for a solo home run over the left-field fence to extend the Navigators' lead to 3-0. Gates recovered by picking off Simmi Whitehill after a single and later struck out Hunter to end the inning.
The SteepleCats broke through in the bottom of the third. Alex Barrist reached base and advanced into scoring position on a throwing error before Nelphie Lopez worked a walk. A wild pitch moved both runners up, and after Evan Meier battled back from a 1-2 count to draw another walk, Tony Woodie delivered North Adams' biggest hit of the night. His two-run ground-rule double brought home Barrist and Lopez, cutting the deficit to 3-2.
North Shore answered immediately in the fourth. After Steven Sams entered in relief, the Navigators used a combination of walks, stolen bases, wild pitches and defensive miscues to plate three runs and stretch the lead to 6-2.
The game began to slip away in the fifth. Grant Hunter opened the inning with a single before the Navigators loaded the bases. Daniel Leikus delivered a bases-clearing double to right field, helping North Shore push four more runs across the plate. Jake Foster eventually entered to stop the rally, but the damage had been done as the Navigators moved comfortably in front.
Despite the deficit, the SteepleCats continued to battle offensively. Shawn Stephenson provided one of the night's highlights in the sixth inning, launching a solo home run. Stang later tripled in the seventh and came around to score North Adams' fourth run of the contest.
North Shore added insurance in the sixth behind a Leikus triple and a run-scoring single from Shulman before both teams were held scoreless in the eighth inning.
The SteepleCats received a bright spot from James Moore in the ninth. The reliever retired the Navigators in order on a pop out, strikeout, and pop out to finish his outing cleanly.
North Adams attempted one final rally in the bottom of the ninth when Lopez was hit by a pitch, and Stang reached on a fielder's choice, but Navigators reliever Keaveny struck out Chris Diaz and Evan Meier swinging to end the game.
Woodie led the SteepleCats offensively with a two-run ground-rule double, while Stang collected multiple hits, stole a base, tripled, and scored. Meier reached base several times, and Stephenson's sixth-inning homer supplied the club's final run.
The loss dropped North Adams to 0-6 on the season, while North Shore improved to 2-6.
The SteepleCats will look to bounce back on Saturday when they travel to Sanford, Maine, to take on the Mainers.
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