Dukes
foiled by Boyce, SteepleCats
By: Michael Radomski
(NORTH ADAMS, Mass.) - After
starting the season 4-0, the Pittsfield Dukes have now lost 2 of
their last 3 as they were defeated by North Adams 4-0 last night.
The Dukes struggled mightily against SteepleCat starter Tim Boyce (Univ
of Rhode Island) and only had one hit through the first 6 innings.
Boyce incorporated an overpowering fastball and a slider that fooled
Pittsfield much to the amazement of the 1865 fans that attended Joe
Wolfe Field.
North Adams took the lead in the bottom of the second inning, as
Mike Donato (UMASS) hit a slow rolled to third that took a peculiar
hop and fooled Jayson Langfels (Eastern Kentucky) for an infield RBI
single.
As Boyce continued his dominance on the hill, his offense gave him
extra support in the 4th inning when they tagged Dukes starter Jake
Sabol (Central Michigan) for three runs.
Mike Donato picked up another RBI single and designated hitter Greg
Van Horn (Brookdale CC) hit a 2-run single to bring the Dukes
deficit to 4.
Tim Boyce would finish pitching seven shutout innings of two hit
ball and picking up four strikeouts before turning the ball over to
Derek Shaw (Florida Gulf Coast).
This game also saw a fine number of defensive gems made by both
respective ballclubs. In the top of the third inning in a scoreless
game, Jason Martin (San Jose State) singled to center field, and
John Malloy (La Salle) came up with a cannon to throw out Perry
Silverman (Canisius) trying to score from second base.
In the bottom half of the inning, Kevin Carby (Tenn Wesleyan
College) hit a pop fly to shallow left field, and as three players
converged on it, Tyler Stampone (William and Mary) made a diving
grab in foul territory. Stampone's chin appeared to hit the ground
after making the catch and stayed in to play the remainder of the
game.
In the top of the sixth, we saw more defensive gems as Craig Hertler
(San Jose State) hit a hot shot to short, Nick Shaw ( Barry
University) fielded the one hopper on the backhand, came up and
threw over to first to retire the Dukes leadoff hitter.
In the seventh inning, Pittsfield manager Mike Marron was not
pleased with the strike zone and approached home plate umpire Al
Lieberdoni, who quickly tossed the Dukes skipper. Because he was
ejected, Mike Marron now must serve a one-game suspension and will
not be able to manage the Dukes as they host the Newport Gulls on
Saturday night at Wahconah Park. Assistant coaches Steve Malinowski
and Pete Nickerson will assume the managers' roles.
The Dukes are expected to start Louie Bernardini (Wheaton College)
and Newport plans to start Chad Arnold (Washington State) . The game
will start at 7 o'clock at Wahconah Park in Pittsfield,
Massachusetts.
