After last night’s exciting, extra-inning walk-off win in Laconia, the Muskrats got right back to work against the New Bedford Bay Sox on the road Thursday night. Laconia took a page out of New Bedford’s book, jumping out to a 3-0 lead before any outs were recorded in the first.
After Marcus Davis (Walters St) was hit by a pitch, Danny Collins (Troy) hit a long homerun out to dead center field, traveling over 380 feet. Ethan Bennett (Tennessee) followed with a double to the same spot, missing a homerun by just a few feet. Dylan Kelly (Middle Georigia) then reached on a walk, and Regan Flaherty (Seminole St) brought in the third run with a single.
But New Bedford replicated their first inning from Wednesday night at Robbie Mills Field in the bottom of the frame, again scoring five runs before an out was recorded. Collins gave two runs back, committing two errors at third in the inning, as New Bedford got six runs, four of them earned.
They never relinquished the lead from that point on, running away with a 10-7 win. The two teams combined to hit four homeruns at the usually spacious Paul Walsh Field.
The Bay Sox added a solo homer by Alex Black (Columbia) in the second and a two-run shot by Alex Witkus (Fairfield) in the third, and led 9-5 for a majority of the game.
Laconia kept the scoring going in the second, with Vince Conde (Vanderbilt) hitting his own homerun out to centerfield, and Bennett adding an RBI single. The Muskrats were then kept off the scoreboard until the seventh inning, as Conde added an RBI single, and Flaherty raced home safely on a wild pitch.
The Bay Sox put across a necessary insurance run in the bottom of the eighth to make it 10-7. Laconia intentionally loaded the bases to create a force out, just as they had successfully done last night. But it backfired on this occasion, as reliever Tim Ponto (St. Joseph’s) followed with another walk, bringing in a run.
Laconia managed 12 hits, but stranded 11 men on base. They will hit the road again Friday, looking to redeem themselves against the Mystic Schooners. The last place Schooners’ only two wins of the summer have come against Laconia.
