By Joshua Koch
Blue Sox Media Director

The Blue Sox continued to score runs and do so in bunches as Holyoke pounded Vermont 14-6 at Mount Pillar Recreational Field on Monday night.

With Holyoke continuing its winning ways, the Blue Sox extended their lead in the Western Division and improved to an NECBL best 6-1 record on the season.

Since dropping a 2-1 heartbreaker to the Keene Swamp Bats on June 10, the Blue Sox have unleashed an offensive assault on opposing teams as scoring 32 runs in the past three contests.

“The guys are good hitters, they’re talented hitters, they stay in the strike zone,” Blue Sox coach Darryl Morhardt said about the recent success. “I think when we make our outs we get ourself out right now, and we have to be a little more selective and make the pitchers throw a ball where we can handle it.”

For a while it looked like the Mountaineers had the Blue Sox number as Vermont did something a lot of teams of late have not been able to do – take an early and commanding lead.

The Mountaineers led 2-1 going into the third inning, but Vermont got to Desmond Paulson scoring three runs to take a 5-1 lead that went unanswered until the fourth inning.

Holyoke entered the inning trailing 5-1, but left it with a one-run lead following some small ball hitting.

After Murphy led off the inning with a double, and a walk

Photo By Beckie Bragga

putting men in scoring position Kris Richards and Paul McConkey answered the call with back-to-back RBI singles to cut into the four-run lead.

The Blue Sox continued to chip away at the lead as Frank DeSico hit into a fielder’s choice allowing Richards to score to pull within one at 5-4.

Eric Smith and Ronnie Freeman would single and double to give the Blue Sox the lead for the first time in the ball game.  Freeman finished the game 3-for-5 with three doubles and two RBIs on the night.

Morhardt said it was the first time he remembers really being down in a ball game, but was glad to see his players come together and battle back to take the lead.

After letting lead slip away the Mountaineers tied it up at six apiece, but that would be last time the Mountaineers would be close to taking the lead for the rest of the game.

After taking a 7-6 lead the Blue Sox would blow the game wide open with a pair of home runs from Sam Eberle and Trey Mancini.

Eberle blasted a solo home run over the scoreboard in left to give the Blue Sox a 8-6 lead, and Mancini would blow the game wide open in the eighth inning with his first home run of the season which was a 3-run blast.

With a 11-6 lead Holyoke would add three more in the ninth to finish off the 14-6 beating of the Mountaineers.

With the Blue Sox continuing their offensive outburst once again on another team, Freeman said the key to the team’s success has been the way they have bonded since arriving.

“We have a lot of chemistry, and the guys weren’t trying to do too much out there, they’re waiting for pitches to hit,” he said. “We got a lot of talented guys on (the team), and when you get that many good guys together they’re going to score some runs.”

The win went to Brett Yarusi, who came in the game in relief of Paulson in the fifth inning, and the loss went to Greg Lutten for the Mountaineers.

Holyoke is back in action tomorrow against the Mystic Schooners at MacKenzie Stadium with a 6:30 p.m. first pitch.