Blues Clinch Playoff Berth with 10-4 Victory
Tyler Fote’s (Central CT State) three hits and three RBIs led the Bristol Blues (19-18-4) to a critical 10-4 victory over their West Division rival Valley Blue Sox (22-18-2) on Friday night, clinching them a playoff spot with just two games remaining in the regular season.
Bristol Blues 10 - Valley Blue Sox 4
HOLYOKE, Mass. - The Bristol Blues (19-18-4) defeated the Valley Blue Sox (22-18-2) 10-4 at McKenzie Stadium on Friday night.
Bristol took an early 5-0 lead with a three-run first inning and two-run second, highlighted by a Skye Selinsky (Columbia) two-run single and Ian Battipaglia (Franklin Pierce) RBI triple.
Valley got on the board in the fourth inning with RBI singles by Matthew Bergevin (Fairfield) and Collier Cranford (Kansas).
Bristol scored two more runs in the sixth and seventh innings to take a 10-4 lead, highlighted by Tyler Fote’s (Central CT State) RBI double and two-run single in back-to-back innings. Fote finished the night with two runs, three hits and three RBIs to lead all hitters.
Jack Bowery (Marist) was credited with the win after allowing one run across 2.1 innings out of the bullpen to seal the victory for Bristol.
The Blues will travel to Mystic for a noon matchup with the Schooners before hosting a rematch with the Blue Sox at 6:30 p.m.
North Adams SteepleCats 8 - Danbury Westerners 2 (DH, 7 Innings)
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. - The North Adams SteepleCats (11-29) defeated the Danbury Westerners (21-21) 8-2 at Joe Wolfe Field on Friday night.
North Adams struck first with runs scored by Nathan Lincoln (Marist) and Jake Reinisch (Wake Forest) following a wild pitch and an error by the third baseman in the first inning.
The SteepleCats extended their lead to 6-0 with a three-run fourth inning, highlighted by Nathan Lincoln’s RBI double and Samuel Tackett’s (Virginia Tech) infield single.
DM Jefferson (Notre Dame) added a solo home run and Nathan Lincoln recorded his second RBI of the night on a sacrifice fly to give North Adams two more insurance runs in the fifth inning.
Danbury cut into the deficit with runs scored by William Cook (Louisville) and Michael Talavera (Southern CT State) following a wild pitch, but Marc Cedrone (Bentley) closed out the seventh inning to seal a victory for the SteepleCats.
Dominick Marcoccio (Wofford) earned his first win of the season after recording eight strikeouts across 5.2 scoreless innings.
North Adams SteepleCats 2 - Danbury Westerners 0 (DH, 7 Innings)
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. - The North Adams SteepleCats (12-29) completed a doubleheader sweep with a 2-0 victory over the Danbury Westerners (21-22) at Joe Wolfe Field on Friday night.
SteepleCats starter Dan Galef (Franklin & Marshall) led the way with six scoreless innings en route to his first win of the season.
Reed Interdonato (William & Mary) picked up his second save of the season with a scoreless ninth inning to secure the shutout victory.
North Adams got on the board with a Jake Reinisch (Wake Forest) RBI double in the third inning and a run scored by DM Jefferson (Notre Dame) following a wild pitch in the fourth inning.
Danbury looks to end its four game losing streak and clinch a wildcard spot with a Saturday rematch against the SteepleCats at 6:30 p.m.
Keene SwampBats 12 - Upper Valley Nighthawks 9
KEENE, N.H. - The Keene SwampBats (15-27) defeated the Upper Valley Nighthawks (18-23) 12-9 at Alumni Field on Friday night.
Keene took an early 2-0 lead with an RBI double by Blake DeLamielleure (Jacksonville) who later scored on a Jordan Smith (George Mason) sacrifice fly in the first inning.
Upper Valley answered with a two-run homer by Matthew Russo (Southern Mississippi) to tie the game in the second inning.
The SwampBats regained the lead with a three-run third inning, highlighted by a Jordan Smith two-run homer and Bryan Padilla (UConn) RBI single.
A three-run homer by Garrett Rice (Missouri Southern St.) and a two-run homer by Evan Goforth (Indiana) gave the SwampBats a 10-4 lead heading into the fifth inning. Goforth was one of five SwampBats to record multi-hit performances on the night.
Following two insurance runs by Keene, the Nighthawks put together a five-run ninth inning rally, highlighted by Ryan Cesarini’s (St. Joseph’s) 370-foot grand slam, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the deficit.
Tyler Tornberg (Bryant) entered the game with one out in the ninth inning and picked up his first save of the season to secure a 12-9 victory for the SwampBats.
Keene will travel to Sanford to face the Mainers at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday night while the Nighthawks have a Saturday doubleheader against the Vermont Mountaineers starting at 3:30 p.m.
Martha’s Vineyard Sharks 15 - Mystic Schooners 4
NORWICH, Conn. - The Martha’s Vineyard Sharks (18-22-1) moved into the fifth and final wildcard spot with a 15-4 victory over the Mystic Schooners (26-17) at Dodd Memorial Stadium on Friday night.
Gio Colasante (Harvard) led the way with two hits and four RBIs, including an RBI triple. Colasante was one of seven Sharks to record multi-hit performances.
Ryan McCoy (Louisville) had three hits of his own, all of which were doubles, helping the Sharks finish with 19 total hits on the night.
Martha’s Vineyard hitting has caught fire at the right time, as they’ve scored a combined 28 runs over the past two games during this final stretch of the regular season.
Starting pitcher Camden Mounts (Catholic U of America) earned his third win of the season after allowing three hits and two runs across five innings. Jackson Walsh (Wheaton) picked up a 12-out save to seal a 15-4 victory for the Sharks.
Martha’s Vineyard will host a Saturday doubleheader against the Ocean State Waves starting at 4:30 p.m. with hopes of clinching a playoff berth, while the Schooners look to remain in the top wild card spot with a home matchup against the Bristol Blues at noon.
Sanford Mainers 15 - Vermont Mountaineers 4
MONTPELIER, Vt. - The Sanford Mainers (24-17) defeated the Vermont Mountaineers (24-15-1) 15-4 at Montpelier Recreation Field on Friday night, moving to within one game of first place in the North Division.
Vermont took an early 1-0 lead with a George Rosales (Fairleigh Dickinson Teaneck) RBI double to score Marshall Toole ( in the first inning.
Sanford responded in a big way with an explosive 11-run second inning, highlighted by a Devan Bade (SUNY Binghamton) three-run homer and Simmi Whitehill (Maryland College Park) two-run triple.
The Mainers extended their lead with a four-run third inning, highlighted by a Jeremiah Jenkins (Maine Orono) three-run homer which scored Calvin Hewett (Vanderbilt) and Nicholas Roselli (Binghamton).
George Rosales hit a solo home run for Vermont in the fourth inning, his second hit of the night, but the deficit was too large to overcome.
Ryan Dee (Binghamton) led Sanford pitching with five strikeouts across three scoreless innings, helping the Mainers maintain the second wildcard spot with one game remaining in the regular season.
Samford will travel to Bristol for their season finale against the Blues at 5:00 p.m. Sunday night while the Mountaineers host a doubleheader against the Upper Valley Nighthawks starting at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday.
Newport Gulls 7 - Ocean State Waves 3
NEWPORT, R.I. - The Newport Gulls (31-11-1) are just one win away from tying the NECBL regular season record after defeating the Ocean State Waves (18-23-1) 7-3 at Cardines Field on Friday night.
Ocean State struck first with a run in the top half of the first inning, but Newport quickly responded with a three-run bottom half, highlighted by a Niko Brini (UConn) two-run single.
Each team traded a run in the fourth inning before Luke Beckstein (Northeastern) hit a sacrifice fly to put Newport ahead 5-2.
The Gulls tacked on two more insurance runs in the eighth with a two-run double by Tyler Hare (Georgia Tech) to secure a 7-3 victory.
Newport looks to tie the regular season wins record with a road matchup with the North Shore Navigators at 7:05 p.m. on Saturday night while the Waves travel to Martha’s Vineyard for a doubleheader against the Sharks starting at 4:30 p.m.
