Blue Sox Fall to Mountaineers 9-4 in Vermont
Published on July 31, 2011 under New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL)
Valley Blue Sox News Release
Montpelier, VT - A possible playoff preview is how some people viewed the final meeting of the regular season between the Blue Sox and Mountaineers on Sunday.
Entering the game the Blue Sox led the season series 4-1, having won both of their previous meetings at Montpelier Recreation Field, but the Mountaineers would change that with a 9-4 victory.
Holyoke got the scoring started in its first at-bat as Alex Glenn led the game off with a walk, and advanced to second base on a baulk by Vermont starting pitcher Matt Whitehouse, who was limited to just three innings on the evening and he struck out five in his shortened outing.
Glenn would score on a RBI double by Ronnie Freeman making it 1-0 Holyoke.
That would be the lone run the Blue Sox would score until the sixth inning, but in the meantime the Mountaineers took a commanding lead.
Holyoke's lead would last for only an inning as in the second frame as Rob Griffith doubled in Rolando Gautier to tie the game at one apiece.
The game would remain knotted up until the fourth inning, which would turn out to be interesting for both teams.
Rob Kelly, the Vermont designated hitter, got the inning started with a leadoff triple and he would score on a Gautier one-out single giving the Mountaineers a 2-1 lead.
The next batter, Rob Griffith, singled to put two men on and the Russ Hopkins would reach base to load the bases on a catcher's interference call. Tom Murphy was tagged with interference as he reached too far over the plate for the pitch, and the home plate umpire granted first base on it.
With the bases loaded Matt Wallenzon stepped up and grounded out to the first baseman Evan Scott, but then was hit by the throw from Scott which was intended for Murphy at the plate.
No runner's interference was called on the play and that allowed Gautier to cross the plate extending the lead for Vermont to 3-1.
Brian O'Grady drove in two more runs on a two-out single driving in Griffith and Hopkins to make it 5-1 in favor of the Mountaineers.
Vermont tacked on another run in the fifth inning on a RBI double by Brett Johnson driving in Jeff Cammans to take a commanding 6-1 lead.
All of those runs came off Kyle Hooper, who started for the Blue Sox and got tagged with his second loss this season, but the Blue Sox would show life in the sixth inning.
Freeman led off the inning with a single and advanced to second base as Mountaineers reliever JD Leckenby, who got the eventual win improving to 2-3 on the season, walked Trey Mancini to put two men on.
Eberle would reach base on an error by the third baseman to load the bases, and with Justin Ringo at the plate a wild pitch would allow Freeman to score making it 6-2.
With no outs and the bases still juiced, Ringo would drive in Mancini on a single making it 6-3, and the Blue Sox would score their final run of the game on a Evan Scott double play scoring Murphy, who singled earlier in the inning.
Those would be the final runs the Blue Sox (27-14) would score, but the Mountaineers (25-15) would tack on three more runs to make the final tally 9-4 in favor of Vermont.
With the loss, and the Keene Swamp Bats pulling out a 11-7 win over the Danbury Westerners earlier in the evening, Holyoke takes a half game lead into the final day of the regular season.
The Blue Sox take on the Danbury Westerners in the regular season finaleon Monday at Makenzie Stadium with the game starting at 6:30 p.m.
New England Collegiate Baseball League Stories from July 31, 2011
- Gulls Win 11th Straight, Lead Chase for Home-Field Advantage - Newport Gulls
- 'Cats Get Swept in Double-Header - North Adams SteepleCats
- Navs playoff role to be determined tonight at Fraser - North Shore Navigators
- Montville Blasts Two, Mainers Still Lose - Sanford Mainers
- Mountaineers Outhit Division Leading Holyoke in 9-4 Win - Vermont Mountaineers
- Keene's six-run seventh inning rally gives Swamp Bats 11-7 win over Danbury - Keene Swamp Bats
- Blue Sox Fall to Mountaineers 9-4 in Vermont - Valley Blue Sox
- Blue Sox Defeat Mystic 10-3 - Valley Blue Sox
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