The Bay State Butter Tongues took their confident 4-man squad to Nashoba Valley this week to face the unbeaten but undermanned Sasquatch in a much-anticipated matchup of two highly touted teams, neither of whom is shy on the message boards nor on the field. Staff aces Nick O’Keefe and Jon Anderson traded zeroes throughout regulation amidst a steady rain and with the sunlight faltering behind the cloud cover and horizon. O’Keefe got himself out of a bases-loaded
jam in the 1st with a strikeout and was saved in the 2nd by cannon-armed left fielder Matt Mullen’s outfield put-out with Dave O’Grady trying to score from 2nd on a single. O’Keefe was never in serious trouble again. Anderson, meanwhile, got out of his own 2nd inning trouble with a bases-loaded K and went 6 innings deep without another runner passing 2nd base. He picked up 13 strikeouts along the way – a necessity given the defensive hole in right field that their 2-man team left him.
Relievers Kyle DeFrancesco and Dave O’Grady both entered in 7th inning, trying to get their teams the W as the rainfall increased. With the light of day all but lost, the game’s composition changed
drastically as sudden death took effect in the 7th. The Butter Tongues put up a 4-spot in the top half and the Sasquatch replied with 4 runs of their own in the bottom of the inning. The 7th inning ended on a close play at first with the winning run headed home, extending this contest to everyone’s shared displeasure. Mullen and DeFrancesco combined for 4 more RBI in the top of the 8th and the Sasquatch were only able to muster 2 runs on a single by O’Grady before he ended the game with a blind strikeout, heading home with a 6-4 loss in 8.
The league looks forward to the next matchup of these 2 strong teams on July 16th, when hopefully the post-game comments will have more to do with the play of both sides and not the playing conditions.
Mike Houle, Associate Staff Writer
jam in the 1st with a strikeout and was saved in the 2nd by cannon-armed left fielder Matt Mullen’s outfield put-out with Dave O’Grady trying to score from 2nd on a single. O’Keefe was never in serious trouble again. Anderson, meanwhile, got out of his own 2nd inning trouble with a bases-loaded K and went 6 innings deep without another runner passing 2nd base. He picked up 13 strikeouts along the way – a necessity given the defensive hole in right field that their 2-man team left him.
Relievers Kyle DeFrancesco and Dave O’Grady both entered in 7th inning, trying to get their teams the W as the rainfall increased. With the light of day all but lost, the game’s composition changed
drastically as sudden death took effect in the 7th. The Butter Tongues put up a 4-spot in the top half and the Sasquatch replied with 4 runs of their own in the bottom of the inning. The 7th inning ended on a close play at first with the winning run headed home, extending this contest to everyone’s shared displeasure. Mullen and DeFrancesco combined for 4 more RBI in the top of the 8th and the Sasquatch were only able to muster 2 runs on a single by O’Grady before he ended the game with a blind strikeout, heading home with a 6-4 loss in 8.
The league looks forward to the next matchup of these 2 strong teams on July 16th, when hopefully the post-game comments will have more to do with the play of both sides and not the playing conditions.
Mike Houle, Associate Staff Writer