Pittsfield takes first
place with 6-3 victory over Newport
By: Michael Radomski
(PITTSFIELD, Mass.) – The
Pittsfield Dukes used a fine pitching performance from Mike Woytek
(Wright State) and a four run fifth inning to regain first place
from the Newport Gulls at Wahconah Park.
Woytek retired the first eight batters he faced and took a no-hitter
into the sixth inning on his way to his first victory of the season.
The Dukes offense took the 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first
inning off of Gulls starter Kevin Moran (Boston College). On the
third straight hit of the inning, Jason Krizan (Dallas Baptist) hit
a single to left field that scored J.T. Musso (BYU) to give
Pittsfield the early lead.
Woytek continued to dominate as he picked up five strikeouts through
five innings. Woytek walked Kenny Socorro (Marshall) in the third,
and hit Mike Melillo (Elon) in the fourth as the only two
baserunners to reach for Newport through five.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, the Dukes would give Woytek some
runs to work with as they batted around against Moran. Perry
Silverman (Canisius) started the inning with a bunt that he legged
out for a leadoff single. Moran then made a pickoff move to first
that got away from Ryan Wiegand (Gonzaga) as Silverman hustled all
the way to third on the play.
Domenic DiRicco (Cornell) followed with an RBI single up the middle
and past a drawn in infield to give Pittsfield the 2-1 lead. After a
sacrifice bunt from Craig Hertler (San Jose State) and a strikeout
from Musso, Pittsfield would have four runners reach base
consecutively. Krizan hit his second of two RBI singles and Matt
Adams (Slippery Rock) ripped a two run double to left field to give
Woytek the 5-1 lead.
After a long bottom of the fifth, Mike Woytek retired Soccorro and
walked Taylor Meehan to leadoff the 6th inning. Melillo then broke
up the no-hitter on a hit and run single through the open left side
hole and advancing Meehan to second. The faithful fans at Wahconah
Park gave Woytek a standing ovation for the no-hit bid through five
and a third. Later in the inning, Ryan Weigand hit a two run single
to close the gap to three, but Woytek was able to finish the inning.
In the seventh inning and the Dukes leading 5-2, Woytek would leave
the game with a runner on and one out as Luke Mazzanti (San Jose
State) entered the game. With Kyle Rhoad (Eastern Michigan) on
second, Socorro hit a fly ball to right field that Perry Silverman
caught and fired a perfect throw to third to nail the runner trying
to advance for an inning-ending double play.
Newport would add another run in the eighth inning on a sacrifice
fly from Alex Gregory to bring the Gulls within two runs. Manager
Mike Coombs then brought in Gulls closer Dan Mahoney (UCONN) to keep
the deficit at two. Pittsfield would add an insurance run in the
eighth inning, the first run scored off of Mahoney this season, to
take a 6-3 lead.
In the ninth inning, Pittsfield would turn the ball over to closer
Zach Anderson (Buffalo). The Dukes closer would allow a two out
pinch hit single to Jack Murphy (Princeton) but retired Meehan to
end the game.
The win moves the Pittsfield Dukes into first place with a 15-11
record. Pittsfield will now begin a two game road trip to North
Shore on Monday and will play at Sanford on Tuesday. Michael Ness
(Duke) is the slated starter for Pittsfield on Monday with a 1.20
ERA and 3-1 record on the season.
The Newport Gulls now stand at 15-12 with the loss and drop to a
half game behind the Pittsfield Dukes. Newport will start Jared
Prince (Washington State) tomorrow when the team travels to Lowell
to play the All-Americans in a 6:30 contest. Prince is 2-0 on the
season with a 3.38 ERA in three appearances (one start).
The Dukes will also host the Torrington Twisters next week for a
doubleheader on July 18th beginning at six o'clock. The Twisters and
Dukes will play two games, each scheduled for seven innings, and
then STAR 101.7 FM and WBRK AM 1340 will sponsor the fireworks show
after the second game.
Fans can listen to the game to and all Pittsfield Dukes games on the
NECBL Broadcast Network by going to the site at
http://www.teamline.cc/sportpage?teamcode=6301&eventcode=5
Tickets are still available for Dukes’ games at Wahconah Park.
Tickets can be purchased at the Dukes box office at 105 Wahconah
Street or by calling 413 447 DUKE (3853).
