The Sturgis West bench mobs Jonathan Avis when he scores the winning run in Thursday’s 4-3 affair at Cape Cod Academy.
Sean Walsh/Capecod.com Sports Photos
OSTERVILLE – In a well-pitched, hard-fought, low-scoring affair, the Sturgis West Navigators got just what they needed in the bottom of the seventh inning from Nick Pepe.
With a pair of runners on base and no outs, deadlocked in a 3-3 tie with the Cape Cod Academy baseball nine (1-1), Pepe laced a 2-0 Jacob Siegel offering down the leftfield line to plate Jonathan Avis for the 4-3 victory. Avis led off the seventh by reaching on an infield error, followed by an intentional walk to West’s Chris Parkin to put men on first and second before Pepe hammered the game-winner.
The rope single gave Pepe a 2-4 day at the plate and made a winner out of his battery mate J.P. LaBarge who went the distance.
LaBarge struck out nine and allowed three runs (two earned) on seven hits while walking one. Siegel, who came on in relief of Cape Cod Academy starter Danny Crossen in the fifth inning, took the hard-luck loss in spite of a solid effort. Siegel is only an 8th grader. He walked one and allowed a pair of hits.
Crossen struck out four in four innings of work, walked one and allowed two earned runs.
Johnny Ryan tripled but was stranded in the third inning and Max O’Hare doubled in the second inning but was also stranded by Crossen who fanned the last two batters he faced that inning to get out of a second and third base jam.
Sturgis West’s J.P. LaBarge went the distance for the win over Cape Cod Academy Thursday.
Sean Walsh/Capecod.com Sports Photos
Cape Cod Academy first baseman Ben Siegel went 3-3 on the day and scored one run, Massari tripled and Will McCutcheon and Aaron White both had basehits.
Cape Cod Academy next faces a tough Sturgis East squad on April 28 after April school vacation, while Sturgis West returns to action on the same date against Nantucket in a pair of Cape & Island League match-ups.
— Sean Walsh is the sports editor for www.capecod.com. His email is [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @coachwalshccbm
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