Box Score | Dan Kolodin postgame video comments

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. – Propelled by a pair of multi-run home runs, including the game-deciding, three-run blast off the bat of Charlie Law (Rutgers) in the bottom of the seventh, North Adams erased an early 2-0 deficit and helped its starting pitcher win for the first time in nearly three weeks, as the SteepleCats downed Danbury, 6-3, on Friday night at Joe Wolfe Field.

Off the arm of spot-starter Dan Kolodin (UC San Diego), the SteepleCats (17-12) snapped a stretch that began on June 24 and lasted 13 games during which the starting pitcher did not record a victory, and in the process snapped a five-game winning streak brought in by the red-hot Westerners (15-14) to maintain a two-game lead for second place in the Western Division.

Kolodin, who had made three previous appearances all in relief, went six innings with two runs allowed on four hits, during which he struck out five and walked only one. The Westlake, Calif., native still trailed after his final inning pitched but became the hurler of record after North Adams went ahead with three runs in the bottom of the sixth.

David Gibson took the loss for Danbury, allowing three earned runs on six hits over 5 1/3 frames with two walks during that span. John Porter, the second reliever in the game for the Westerners, also surrendered three runs – all on Law’s line drive homer in the seventh.

After being shut out through the first five innings and trailing by a 2-0 margin, the SteepleCats got some offense in the bottom of the sixth, as Shane Klemcke (UT-Pan American) reached on a single before Brett Clements (Nova Southeastern) launched his third long ball of the year to deep right center to tie the match at 2-2.

That would not be all in the sixth, as Bryan Soloman (Eastern Kentucky) put the ‘Cats ahead with an RBI single to score Conor Biggio (Notre Dame) from second. Biggio entered to pinch run for Will Klausing (UT-Pan American), who singled after the Clements home run.

Ahead by a run, 3-2, in the bottom of the seventh, Law did not have to wait long to smash his third jack of the year. The Linwood, N.J., native – who replaced Klausing at first base after a double switch an inning earlier – teed off on the first offering he saw from Porter to tag on three important runs and give the home side a 6-2 advantage.

That homer proved to be the difference, as Danbury would strike for one more run in the top of the eighth against Matt Longfield (Villanova). After Zach Shank singled to start, Jake Ivory would send him home on an RBI double to cut the lead in half.

But that would be the closest that the Westerners would pull to, as Tom Bammann (Dowling) notched his league-leading fifth save of the season to end things in the top of the ninth.

The SteepleCats continue their four-game homestand as Parents Weekend continues Saturday, July 14, with a cross-division showdown pitting North Adams against the New Bedford Bay Sox. First pitch from The Joe is set for 6:30 p.m.

---GO STEEPLECATS---