Cats Notes:
The NOLL/SOLL AA Cats opened their season with a 9-3 victory over the Timber Rattlers. The game was scoreless until the third inning, when with the bases loaded Luke Bowyer singled in the Cats first run of the season. Then Gabriel D'Ambrosio slugged an inside-the-park grand slam, beating the throw to the plate with a perfect slide. Southpaw D'Ambrosio also pitched two shutout innings, recording six strikeouts.
The 'Sluggin' Cats' chipped away at the Timber Rattlers and manufactured four more runs in the game, scoring by a single, a walk, a hit batter, and a ground out. Tyler Lear had three hits and an RBI and scored the Cats first run the year.
The Cats showed some sharp fielding in this game. Catcher Alex Levine combined with third-baseman Alex Sommer to catch a runner in a pickle, and outfielder Joshua Barza forced one runner at second, and held another runner at third with a fine throw to the plate. Barza also had three hits and scored twice.
Bowyer recorded two strikeouts and gave up two runs in two innings on the mound, and Levine struck out four and allowed just one unearned run while pitching the final two innings.