HARTFORD, Vt. -- The North Adams SteepleCats' bats came alive on Saturday night at Maxfield Sports Complex, plating a season-high ten runs and 15 hits in a 10-2 drubbing of the Upper Valley Nighthawks.

 

The 'Cats nearly matched their season total in runs, scoring 10 after recording 11 runs in the first three games combined.

 

It was an inauspicious start for the SteepleCats, as the Nighthawks grabbed a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Frank Gregoire drove in Anthony Godino on a sacrifice fly, and Adam Chase followed with a two-out single that scored Ryan Jeffers.

 

North Adams wasted no time in responding, taking control of the game with five runs in the top of the second. A Tyler Walters (Slippery Rock) double and a Dillon Paulson (USC) walk started the action. After a strikeout, Bryce Peterson (UCF), Liam Sabino (Pittsburgh) and Antonio Rosanova hit back-to-back-to-back run scoring singles. A throwing error off the bat of Eddie Haus plated the fourth run, and Rosanova came in to score when Haus was caught between first and

second.

 

In the top of the fourth, the SteepleCats added a run to make it a four-run advantage. Sabino led off the frame by being hit by a pitch, and subsequently advanced to third on a stolen base and an error. Rosanova drove in his second run of the game, bringing in Sabino on a sacrifice fly.

 

The SteepleCats put the game away in the seventh with three more runs, with the damage again done by the bottom of the order. Peterson drove in Walters on a double, and Sabino batted Paulson and Peterson to the plate with a two-run single. The scoring came to an end in the top of the eighth on back-to-back doubles by Ryan Schalch (Pacific) and Walters. In total, every SteepleCat in the lineup hit safely in the victory.

 

Kevin Hassett (UMass Amherst) picked up the victory for the 'Cats, facing the minimum 12 hitters over four scoreless innings of work. The righty came on in relief of Ryan Tapp (UNC-Asheville), who tossed three shutout innings after the damage in the first. Tim Fallon (UMass Lowell) finished the game with a blank ninth inning.

 

The 'Cats will have a chance to take over first place in the division on Sunday afternoon against the 3-0 Vermont Mountaineers. First pitch at Joe Wolfe Field is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. with Robert Donnelly (SUNY Oswego) on the mound for the home team.