HOLYOKE – Entering Sunday, the Valley Blue Sox averaged over ten walks per game.
On Sunday afternoon, though, the Blue Sox walked just a combined three batters in their 5-1 win against the Danbury Westerners. They improved to 2-3 on the season.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Second inning: Zack Ramppen hit a leadoff single. He scored on a single and two walks to make it 1-0 Danbury.
Fifth inning: Andre Vidal led off the inning with a double and scored on an RBI single from Connor Larson. Larson would go to third base on an error by pitcher George Viebrock III and score on a Logan Hugo sacrifice fly.
Seventh inning: Michael O’Conor led the inning off with a double and scored on a Kyle Henington RBI single to make it 3-1 Valley. Henington would steal second base, advance on an error, and score on a sacrifice fly from Larson to make it 4-1.
Eighth inning: Jonathan Hogart got hit by a pitch and advanced to third base on two singles. O’Conor would drive him in with a sacrifice fly to center field to make it 5-1.
Complete game by Blue Sox pitchers:
Mike Jensen: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K.
Zachary Laird: 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K.
Jax Traeger: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K.
Zero unearned runs and errors: The Blue Sox gave up zero unearned runs and zero errors, something they’ve struggled with this season.
Attacking the strike zone: Blue Sox pitchers induced many soft ground balls and soft flyouts. They only gave up five hits and struck out seven.
Starting pitcher lines:
Blue Sox: Christopher Torres: 4.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K.
Westerners: Hayden Tarisa: 4.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 K.
Next game: The Blue Sox host the Upper Valley NightHawks on Tuesday from MacKenzie Stadium at 6:35 p.m. EDT. The game can be streamed on ESPN+.
