Contact: Bruce Bosley (bbosley.vbca@gmail.com)
June 23, 2018
Game One: Vermont 8, New Hampshire 1
Game Two: Vermont 10, New Hampshire 3
WHITE RIVER JUNCTION, Vt.— Strong pitching in the opener and a pair of two-run triples by Leif Bigelow of Brattleboro and Tyler Hamilton of Hartford in game two led Vermont to a sweep of New Hampshire in the 2018 Twin State Baseball Classic at the Maxfield Complex Saturday morning. Vermont pitchers held New Hampshire to one hit in its 8-1 victory in the lid lifter and it came back in the nightcap to win 10-3.
It is the first sweep in the fourth year of the annual border series that resumed in 2015 after an 11-year hiatus. Vermont and New Hampshire had split six one-run games the previous three seasons.
The Vermont MVP, Bigelow struck out two in the seventh on the mound and went 1-for-2 in game one and in the second game, went 2-for-3 at the plate along with a pair of nice plays at shortstop to take hits away from New Hampshire. Bound for UConn, Bigelow had a two-out run-scoring single in the first and his booming two-run triple in the fifth snapped a 3-3 tie in the nightcap. Hamilton capped the seven-run frame with another long triple to plate two more. RBI singles by Jacob Bortnick (Champlain Valley) and Jake Choiniere (St. Johnsbury) added two more in the sixth.
Seth Balch of Windsor picked up the win in game two allowing just one hit in the fourth and the fifth. Hamilton and Brayden Howrigan of Enosburg Falls followed with scoreless innings to complete the sweep.
New Hampshire MVP Max Lamora of Bishop Brady singled and doubled, scoring twice to give his team an early 3-1 lead. He came home on a RBI-single by Charlie Lynch of Derryfield in the first. He led the third with a hard double down the left field line and scored on a sacrifice fly by Dan Heise of Mondanock. Lynch then scored on a wild pitch to make it 3-1.
Vermont rapped out 11 hits in game two and held New Hampshire to five, just two after the third inning. Heise pitched a strong three innings in game two allowing the one first inning run.
Backed by a two-run double by Nate Selby of Lamoille in the second of the opener, Vermont jumped out to a 3-0 lead. It opened it up with four more in the fourth, two unearned, taking advantage of a pair of errors and two wild pitches. An infield hit by Sky Rahill of Burlington plated South Burlington's Sammy Premsager, who scampered in from second in the frame. Bortnick doubled and scored on a single by Harwood's Jake O'Brien in the fifth for the final run.
Nick Fitzgerald of Lamoille started for Vermont and struck out three in the first two innings to earn the win. New Hampshire scored its lone run in the bottom of the second on a pair of walks, a wild pitch and a RBI-ground out by Brendan Bean of Stevens. He was followed on the mound with scoreless innings by Premsager, Owen Tarleton of Woodstock, Brandon Brunell of Lyndon Institute. Liam Reiner of CVU (two Ks) and Bigelow.
Vermont rapped out 13 hits in game one with O'Brien and Rahill each with a pair to go along with the doubles by Bortnick and Selby. Michael Tollman of Moultonborough had the lone New Hampshire hit, a leadoff single in the fourth.
Special thanks to the Town of Hartford Recreation Department and the Upper Valley Nighthawks for this year's Twin State Baseball Classic. The classic will likely return to the Maxfield Complex in June of 2019.
No comments:
Post a Comment