Its been a long wait, but the Braves and Pirates finally got their season underway on Saturday. It didnt look good in the morning with the early game at New Scotland being postponed, but by afternoon the field was in perfect condition and the rain stayed away from Voorheesville.
The Pirates jumped in front with a run in the first inning but the Braves came right back in the bottom half with 2 runs of their own and then another in the 3rd. The Pirates got one back in the 4th but that was all they could muster against a strong pitching performance by Braves pitcher Mark Denicola. The Braves broke it open in the 4th and cruised to a victory by a final score of 12-2. Denicola went 6 innings for the win, giving up no earned runs, 4 hits, no walks and 5 strikeouts. Jim Bonaparte pitched a scoreless 7th to finish it off.
Offensively, the Braves had a balanced attack with 9 different Braves scoring in the game, on 10 hits, including 3 hard hit doubles by Ray Colletta in his CDMSBL debut.
The Pirates were hampered by a few pulled hamstrings; I hope they heal quickly and get back out there. Good luck to the them the rest of the way. They are a great group of guys.
