BORRELL EARNS NECBL ALL-STAR MVP
By Adam Bloch, North
Adams Transcript
NORTH ADAMS - On the biggest stage the summer has
provided so far, the North Adams SteepleCats never looked so
good. What began as a weekend to celebrate the Tunnel City
and the SteepleCats' organization with the 2007 NECBL
All-Star game ended as a showcase for the baseball players
they call their own.
And no one shone under the lights at Joe Wolfe Field on
Sunday night quite like Ozzie Borrell. The North Adams third
baseman known for his motormouth and smooth swing stepped up
to the plate in the third inning and didn't wait long to
seize the spotlight. He sent the first pitch he saw over the
fence for a two-run homer that spurred the Southern Division
to a six-run rally and an 8-0 win over the Northern
Division.
"I had a great time with a bunch of great guys," said
Borrell, who also had a single and received the Johnny
Watterson MVP award after the game. "I'd be happy to play
with them any day. I was just here to have fun. You can't
feel any pressure. The key is to be relaxed, have fun and
play hard because that's how the game is supposed to be.
That's how I always play."
The third inning started with Newport Gulls first baseman
Ryan Wiegand lining a single over the shortstop. It was only
the first of many blows Lowell All-Americans right-hander
Drew Bignall would suffer in his lone inning on the mound.
Bignall's next toss was an 85 mph fastball that stayed up
and zoomed right over the heart of the plate. Borrell
launched the ball high into the air and over the 358-feet
mark in right-center field. It was his first home run of the
summer. "I was just hoping it would go out," Borrell said.
"I knew it had a chance as soon as I hit it, but the ball
has trouble carrying here, so I wasn't
sure."
Clutching his trophy case and recalling his moment of glory
after the game, Borrell's normal ebullience suddenly melted
away as he spoke about the only thing that marred an almost
perfect day in North Adams: the sudden and unexpected death
of SteepleCats infielder Neiko Johnson's mother, Carol
Brown-Edmonds.
"I was up and down all evening," Borrell, who got the news
with his teammates right before gametime, said. "It was
hard. Neiko's a great kid, and I couldn't feel worse. I love
my teammates. I've known them for only two months, but I
love them anyway. This team is really close.
"This (award) means a lot to me. This is for Neiko and his
mom. I don't even have words for it."
It seems that even the SteepleCats' resident chatterbox goes
silent sometimes.
"She was here for parents' weekend last week," North Adams
general manager Sean McGrath said of Johnson's mother. "She
had a tremendous time here, but she had some health issues
that really escalated over the past two days."
Edmonds-Brown had been suffering from liver problems. Her
death led to the immediate departure of Johnson, who went
home to Georgia and will not return this summer.
Even as the rest of the 'Cats reeled from the tragedy, their
performance made the hometown fans proud. Catcher Michael
Moras performed well in his three innings behind the plate
and pitchers Nick McCully and Jack Britton provided
back-to-back innings of solid relief.
McCully was particularly impressive, reaching 93 mph on the
radar gun and striking out two during a perfect fourth.
"I felt pretty good. It was nice to have the home fans
behind me," said McCully, who spent much of the spring as a
closer for Coastal Carolina and didn't feel hampered by the
game's one-inning-per-pitcher format. "I just wanted to come
out and show off a little for the fans and the scouts -
throw a couple of good fastballs."
But the North Adams All-Stars weren't the only SteepleCats
who stood out Sunday. They dominated the between-innings
competitions, with Sean Conley winning the frozen T-shirt
contest and McGrath prevailing in the chip-to-win event.
Even the fans put forth their best effort as 4,210 turned up
to set a record for All-Star game attendance. North Adams
also owns the NECBL mark for single-game attendance, set
last year on July 4.
Dan Williams, meanwhile, was a runner-up in the home run
derby. He clobbered four round-trippers in the first two
rounds to advance to the final but only went yard once in
the last round, losing to the Holyoke Giants' Kyle Bellows,
who had four homers.
"I just needed to get into that rhythm," Williams said.
"It's not like hitting a home run in a game. Here, you have
to really juice up on the swing, so the key is really
getting into a groove and hitting a couple in a row."
John Servidio dominated the most accurate arm event, hitting
one of the three targets on all six of his throws. His best
tosses came in the third round, when the distance to home
plate was increased to 250 feet. Servidio served up two
lasers that ricocheted off the middle target to earn him the
victory with 14 points overall.
"I do long toss all the time," Servidio said. "Two hundred
and twenty-five feet can be a long way for some people. But
I stretch and throw a lot every day."
All that came hours before gametime, before Borrell's
decisive home run and before the myriad other activities
enlivening the day.
But once Borrell swatted his dinger, the rest of the game
was almost elementary.
Newport's Matt Vance followed with a walk, and the
Pittsfield Dukes' Alex Hassan beat out an infield single on
a slow roller to third. Cory Underhill of the Danbury
Westerners followed with a quick grounder through the hole,
and the throw home from the outfield bounced off the lip of
the grass and sailed high over Sanford Mainers catcher Bubba
Ruddy, allowing Vance to score.
A sacrifice fly, single and double brought in three more
runs, making the score 6-0. After that, it was just a matter
of nine Southern Division pitchers combining for a
three-hitter.
Extra bases: Underhill finished the game with three singles
and three RBI ... Besides McCully, the three most impressive
pitchers were Sanford's Kevin Landry, the Torrington
Twisters' Steve Strasberg and Justin Gutsie of the Vermont
Mountaineers. All three struck out the side ... Newport's
Adam Wilk got the win ... The Mainers' Brian Kemp won the
fastest baserunner competition ... The 'Cats will host the
Concord Quarry Dogs at 7 p.m. today for skydiving night.
