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Mountaineers Finish the Road Trip with 4-2 Win Over Bristol

June 28, 2023 - New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL)
Vermont Mountaineers News Release


Vermont Mountaineers' Eddie Smink in action
Vermont Mountaineers' Eddie Smink in action
(Vermont Mountaineers, Credit: Cierra Loomis, Digital Media/Photography Director)

BRISTOL, Conn. - The Vermont Mountaineers finished a three-game road trip with a 4-2 victory over the Bristol Blues on Wednesday night from Muzzy Field.

The Mountaineers, who have gone 9-1-1 in their last 10 games, improved to 13-4-1 while the Blues dropped to 7-11 on the season.

Both starting pitchers were dominant in the early part of the game, limiting both offenses to just three hits combined. Vermont starter Eddie Smink (Stony Brook) had three strikeouts in the first three innings.

Vermont came out swinging in the fourth with their second hit of the game coming from Luke Cantwell (Pittsburgh), as he grounded one to right field. Two batters later, Nathan Waugh (Cornell) hit a ground-rule double to deep center field for his second hit of the game, putting both runners in scoring position. The first run of the game came on a ground out by Grant Voytovich (Bucknell).

The Mountaineers defense shined in the home half of the fourth inning. A pair of diving catches by Voytovich made what would have been extra bases into two outs, including one to end the inning with a runner on first.

The Mountaineers loaded the bases with no outs in the fifth. Santino Rosso (Hofstra) singled, while Evan Fox (Stony Brook) was hit with a pitch. Jace Jeremiah (St. Johns) reached on a bunt single. A sacrifice fly to left field by TJ Williams (Notre Dame) allowed Rosso to score and make it 2-0 Vermont. Fox was thrown out on the play. Bristol starter Mason Ulsh got a flyout to center to escape without further damage.

After a scoreless sixth for Vermont, the Blues had a runner reach on an error off reliever Max Moss (Clark) with one out. Moss got out of trouble by striking out the next batter and catcher George Rosales (Fairleigh Dickinson) throwing out Ryan Daniels trying to steal second to end the frame.

Vermont's offense went quietly in the seventh and the Blues cut the lead in half. A leadoff walk and single started the bottom of the seventh, chasing Moss from the game. A wild pitch allowed both runners to advance into scoring position, still with no outs. A full-count walk loaded the bases. Reliever Max Parker (Le Moyne) got the first out as the lead runner was thrown out at the plate on a force out. William Hoffacker (Le Moyne) came in and walked in a run with one away. Hoffacker struckout the next batter, before getting a groundout to first base on a close play to keep the Mountaineers ahead 2-1.

Bristol reliever Bryce Helgath kept Vermont's bats quiet again in the top of the eighth inning.Hoffacker had a shutdown inning of his own in the bottom of the eighth to keep Vermont up by a run.

The Mountaineers added two insurance runs in the ninth inning. With two outs and runners on first and second, Marshall Toole (Wofford) came up with a pinch-hit single to left field, allowing both runners to score as the ball got by the left fielder.

The defense shined in the bottom of the ninth to snuff out any rally by the blues. After a leadoff walk, shortstop Brandon Butterworth (North Carolina State) made a leaping catch and doubled off the runner at first for the first two outs of the inning. The Blues put two more runners via a fielder's choice and hit batter. A single through the middle by pinch-hitter Cal Parillo scored the runner from second to make it 4-2 Vermont. Luke Carpenter (Dartmouth) came in to face Gavin Noriaga and walked him on a full count to load the bases. Carpenter got the next batter to pop out for his first save of the summer.

Smink finished his night with 5.0 innings of work, striking out three batters while walking two to get his second win of the season.

The Mountaineers return to the friendly confines of Montpelier Recreation Field for the next three days. A four game home-stand starts with the North Shore Navigators coming to town on Thursday, June 29 for a 6:30 p.m. start. You can follow all the action on the NECBL Broadcast Network here

For continuing coverage of the Vermont Mountaineers, bookmark thevermontmountaineers.com and follow the Mountaineers on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and on TikTok.




Images from this story

Vermont Mountaineers' Eddie Smink in action
Vermont Mountaineers' Eddie Smink in action
(Cierra Loomis, Digital Media/Photography Director)		   

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