By Joshua Koch
Holyoke Blue Sox Media Director

Laconia, NH -The Blue Sox have been able this season at times to score at will, and at others have struggled to get clutch hits when it mattered the most, but on Monday against the Muskrats scoring runs was not a challenge Holyoke faced.
Laconia (15- 22) sent a pitcher to the mound that was getting his first start of the season in the New England Collegiate Baseball League, and the Blue Sox took advantage of this and the fact that the Muskrats bullpen options were limited winning the game 26-4 in the end.
Tyler Wilson, who started the game, lasted only two and one-thirds inning pitched, gave up six runs, walked five and struck out three in his first outing and loss.
Going into the top of the third inning it looked like the game was going to be shootout just like the previous meeting between the two squads, which ended 8-7 in favor of the Blue Sox, as the Muskrats had jumped out to a 2-1 lead.
That all changed in the third inning when Holyoke sent 14 batters to the plate and forced the Muskrats to go to  their bullpen, which didn’t prove to be any better, as the Blue Sox plated 11 runs in the inning making it 12-2.
Not only the pitching, but the lack of defense also hurt Laconia as time after time the Muskrats were close to getting out of the inning, but a wide throw or costly error extended the inning.
In the third inning alone there were two home runs hit, and one of those came off the bat of Kris Richards and for the shortstop out of the University of North Carolina-Greensboro this was a first on the season for him. Richards finished the game 2-for-3 driving in three runs, all coming on the home run.
The icing on top of the cake in that inning was a two-run moon shot by Ronnie Freeman, which sailed over the scoreboard in right field making it 12-2.
Holyoke was not done using the long ball to its advantage as the Blue Sox would score six runs in the fourth inning, and five of six of those runs were scored via the home run ball.
For the  first time this season Holyoke hit back-to-back home runs as Sam Eberle and Frank DeSico went deep, DeSico hitting his first home run of the season. DeSico would also play a big role later in the game as he finished the game 2-for-5, and ended up pitching an inning as well where he went one inning, struck out two and walked two batters as well.
With the Blue Sox up 18-2 the floodgates had been opened, and it seemed like the Muskrats could not stop the scoring carousel with any pitcher that they threw out there on the mound.
In the bottom of the fifth Laconia was able to score two runs, but in the sixth inning the Blue Sox scored four runs and did not record a hit in the inning. Three of the four runs scored on bases loaded walks administered by Troy Mannebach, and with that it extended the Blue Sox lead to 22-4.
Free passes were an issue for the Muskrats all night as they issued 16 walks on the evening, which broke a previous season-high.
With all the runs being scored Blue Sox starting pitcher Desmond Paulson spent more time in the dugout than on the pitching mound in his fifth start of the season, and improved to 4-0 on the season.Paulson finished the night going six innings, allowing six hits, four runs and struck out seven on the night.
The final blow to the Muskrats came in the eighth inning when Evan Scott hit a two-run shot making it 26-4, which would be the final score and with Scott’s home run it marked the seventh home run of the game for the Blue Sox.
Holyoke  (24-12) now heads into Tuesday’s game against the Danbury Westerners with a chance to pad its lead in the Western Division as the Blue Sox hold a one-game lead over the Keene Swamp Bats and a game and a half lead over Danbury.
The meeting between Holyoke and Danbury is scheduled to start tonight at 6:30 p.m. in Danbury, Connecticut.