The North Adams SteepleCats dropped their fifth straight game to open the season on Friday, losing 5-1 to the Upper Valley Nighthawks at Joe Wolfe Field.

Despite the loss, the ‘Cats were able to keep it close, and put pressure on the Upper Valley pitching staff as the game progressed. In fact, they put runners in scoring position in four of the last six innings, but were only able to push across a singular run. The pitching, too, looked

excellent for long stretches of the game, with the ‘Cats being burned by just a couple of big innings from the Nighthawks offense.

After a couple of dominant innings from North Adams starter Jake Foster (RIC) in which he struck out five total batters, primarily with a splitter that Upper Valley was having a very difficult time handling, the Nighthawks opened the scoring with two runs in the top of the 3rd inning. Foster managed to get two outs in the frame with a runner on first, but after a double by James Love (Eastern Illinois), another double by Charley Magoulick (Rider) scored Alejandro Puig (Dartmouth) and Love.

Following a quiet top of the 4th, Upper Valley would strike again in the top of the 5th. After Nick Quagliato (Portal) reached via an error and William Hurt (Virginia Tech) lined out to the center fielder Chris Diaz (Marist), five straight Nighthawks would reach base, and three would come around to score. The frame would be Foster’s last, putting an unpleasant cap on what was otherwise a very solid season debut for the RIC product.

Coming out of scoreless 6th and 7th innings for both sides, North Adams would make it interesting in the 8th by plating a run. After Evan Meier (Mount St. Mary’s) grounded out to the third baseman, Bobby Stang (Dayton) would single and advance to second on a wild pitch. A batter later, Chris Diaz would double on a sharp line drive to score Stang and place himself in scoring position with two outs. A larger comeback was not to be, however, as Matt Collela (Lafayette) would ground out to the second baseman to end the frame. That would be it for the scoring in the game, as a quiet 9th inning would end the game in a 5-1 victory for the Nighthawks.

Even in defeat, there were several positives to take away from the game for North Adams. For one, starter Jake Foster looked downright dominant at times, placing himself as a name to watch as the season progresses. The pitching staff as a whole should hold their heads high, too, as they held a potent Nighthawks offense in check for large parts of the game. All in all, defeat may have been the outcome, but North Adams made it close and should be able to take away lots to learn for the rest of the season.

Next up, the SteepleCats return to Joe Wolfe Field for a 6:30 matchup with the North Shore Navigators, before traveling to Sanford to take on the Mainers in a doubleheader, with the games scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m., respectively.