Mountaineers Sweep into Second Round

Published on August 6, 2014 under New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL)
Vermont Mountaineers News Release


Laconia, N.H. - The top-seeded Vermont Mountaineers defeated the four-seeded Laconia Muskrats 7-4 in game two of the Northern Division semifinals at Robbie Mills Field on Tuesday night. With the win, Vermont sweeps the opening round of the 2014 New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL) playoffs. The Mountaineers will await the winner of the Sanford/Keene series, which is tied at one game apiece.

Pitching was the story of the game for the Mountaineers, as starter Dan Koger (Alabama-Huntsville) exited the game with a no-hitter with two outs in the bottom of the seventh due to a high pitch count. Koger dealt six and two-thirds innings, allowing four runs (three earned) on no hits and six walks. He struck out five. With the win, Koger moved to 1-0 in postseason play.

Ty Wiest (Columbia) threw and inning and one-third, bridging the gap to closer Jared Gesell (UNCW). Wiest allowed just one hit. Gesell struck out two, pitching a perfect ninth, en route to earning his first playoff save.

Laconia managed the four runs on one hit, and had just six hits over the two games.

Laconia starter Shea Spitzbarth (Molloy) pitched five innings and gave up four runs (two earned) on six hits and one walk. He struck out six. The right-hander took the loss, falling to 0-1 on the season.

Vermont spread out seven runs, scoring in five innings. The Mountaineers held a 4-1 edge entering the seventh inning, when Nick Solak (Louisville) crushed a leadoff homerun the opposite way to right centerfield to make it 5-1. Laconia went on to score three runs in the bottom of the inning to cut the deficit to 5-4.

Vermont added two insurance runs in the ninth inning. Solak led the inning off with a bunt single and moved to second on the play when Laconia third baseman Braxton Martinez (St. Louis) overthrew first base. Two batters later, Alex Caruso (St. John's) smacked an RBI single to score Solak from second and provide Vermont with an insurance run, making it 6-4. Caruso reached second on the throw home. Ian Sagdal (Washington State) followed with an RBI single to score Caruso and make it 7-4 Vermont.

The Mountaineers return to action Thursday night, when they host the winner of the Sanford/Keene series in game one of the Northern Division finals. The first pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. The game can be heard on CBS Sports 1240 WSKI and online at thevermontmountaineers.com.

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New England Collegiate Baseball League Stories from August 6, 2014


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