NORWICH – The playoffs for the District 6 Junior Legion playoffs proved to be a somewhat of a rude awakening for the Junior Hellcats, who fell back to earth with a 7-2 loss on Saturday to Maine-Endwell.

“It was rough game. Overall, we didn’t play terrible. They just played better. We didn’t execute pitches when we needed to, we didn’t execute consecutive at bats to really get anything going,” said Junior Hellcat head coach Nick McCullough.

The Junior Hellcats battled – however, a big setback in the outcome came in the early innings when a 0-0 first inning turned into a quick 4-0 lead for Maine-Endwell after the top of the second.

“We went with Nick (Shoemaker) on the mound to start. He didn’t pitch bad. We had a rough inning in the second, they put together good AB’s. But he settled down really well and got in a pretty nice groove. Kept us in the game, and that’s all you can ask for. Too bad we couldn’t get him a lead,” said coach McCullough.

The Junior Hellcats managed to connect with the ball for six hits as a team, a fair mark but nothing to be amazed at in the loss. Leading the way at the plate was Mike Trevisani and Tyler Hagen. Hagen finished 2-3 with a run, while Trevisani went 2-3. Marcus Cashman, and Shoemaker each added a hit a piece in their efforts.

Shoemaker was credited with the loss, pitching five innings for three strikeouts and five walks, allowing five hits for six runs – four being earned. Justin Bates came in for the final two innings, pitching five strikeouts and no walks, but allowing four additional hits.

“We went to the bullpen with Justin (Bates). He pitched really well, bases loaded and no outs, striking out the side without allowing any runs. Pretty impressive.”

After getting blanked to the tune of a 6-0 lead for Maine-Endwell, the Junior Hellcats finally managed to string some positive plays together in the bottom of the sixth – allowing for a two-run inning.