Batgate

Recently posted on the clubhouse wall at Dodd Stadium is a list of approved bat manufacturers. So when the umpires took Connecticut shortstop Ryan Soares’ bat following an eighth-inning single because it was produced by a company not on Minor League Baseball’s list of valid bat makers, there was certainly a sense of irony.
It also added to what was already a difficult inning for Soares.
Minutes earlier, it was his throwing error on a routine play in the top half of the frame that allowed Hudson Valley to tie the game at 2.
Fortunately for Soares, his teammates were there to pick him up. The Tigers beat the Renegades, 3-2, Thursday night at Dodd Stadium. And in the process they moved into sole possession of first place in the New York-Penn League’s Stedler Division. Vermont, which lost to Auburn, 7-4, fell a half game behind Connecticut.
Connecticut (26-21) goes for the sweep of Hudson Valley tonight at 7 p.m.
“It’s a bottom line situation, and the bottom line is we won -- somehow,” said Tigers skipper Howard Bushong.
Bushong said somehow Renegades manager Jared Sandberg knew Soares was using an illegal bat. He simply waited until Soares did something before bringing it to the umpires’ attention.
It’s a brand of bat Soares had been using all season and was caught off guard by the confiscation.
“I have no idea,” Soares said of how the Renegades knew his bat was illegal. “I couldn’t tell you, it doesn’t look any different especially when you can use composite bats in this league. It doesn’t make sense.”
Said Bushong: “It was real strange that they knew.”