Taylor Cole Shuts Out Rock Cats 1-0

MANCHESTER, NH - Roemon Fields scored on a shallow sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth inning off the bat of Dwight Smith Jr. to give the Fisher Cats a 1-0 victory over New Britain before 6,838 on the Fourth of July.

In the bottom of the ninth, Dalton Pompey bunted for a base hit to start the inning. Fields tried to sacrifice him over, but Pompey was thrown out on the play. Jon Berti singled Fields to third and Smith Jr.'s fly ball ended the game.

Taylor Cole (3-7) pitched the complete game shutout for the Fisher Cats. He allowed seven hits, walked one and struck out nine, a season best. It was the longest outing in Cole's pro career, giving him his first win since beating Reading on May 19. 

Matt Flemer (4-4) was the hard luck loser, going the distance for the Rock Cats. He allowed only five hits, did not walk a batter and struck out two.

For the second consecutive night, New Hampshire saw a franchise milestone matched. Last night in Portland, Ryan Schimpf hit two homers to become the club's all-time franchise leader. Tonight, Pompey extended a consecutive on -base streak to 34 games, tying Darin Mastroianni's franchise mark. The streak dates back to Pompey's first stint in Double-A last July. He is hitting .400 over that span (56-for-140).

The series with the Rock Cats continues on Sunday night at Northeast Delta Dental Stadium. An Atlas Fireworks Show follows the 6:35 p.m. game. For tickets and information, please visit www.nhfishercats.com, stop by the stadium box office, or call (603) 641-2005.

New Hampshire's starter on Sunday will be RHP Murphy Smith, who will be making his first start for the Fisher Cats.   New Britain counters with LHP Ryan Carpenter (4-8, 3.97). Coverage with Tom Gauthier and Ben Gellman starts at 6:15 p.m. on the WGIR Fisher Cats Radio Network and online at www.nhfishercats.com.