Mountaineers Edge Danbury 3-2

Posted: 07-31-2011

Kyle Grana - Closer Extraordinaire @2011 Crowley Photos

Montpelier, VT - Greg Bachman hit a go-ahead RBI single with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning as the Vermont Mountaineers defeated the Danbury Westerners 3-2 in New England Collegiate Baseball League action on Saturday night. The win was the fourth in the last five for Vermont and evened the series between the two Western Division squads.

Vermont got on the board first in the bottom of the inning as Brian O'Grady hit a double to lead off the inning thanks to left fielder Tyler Horan's trouble battling the sun. He would then steal third and come home on a bizarre fielders choice from Brett Johnson that hit off the glove of starting pitcher Kevin Link and rolled to third allowing O'Grady to score. That one run looked to be all that starter Ryan Fasano would need as he cruised through the first three innings.

Fasano (Stony Point, NY/Rutgers) would then hit the lead off man Horan in the top of the fourth before giving up a one out RBI single to Chase Butler that evened the score at 1-1. The righty would then come back and retire two batters on back-to-back strikeouts to end the inning. He would be lifted after four innings for Troy Scribner (Washington Depot, CT/Sacred Heart) who pitched a scoreless two innings in relief.

The Mountaineers would break the tie in the bottom of the seventh when Rob Kelly hit a single to start things off before advancing to second when Rolando Gautier was hit by a pitch. Ty Young then hit a slow roller to shortstop but the Westerners were unable to turn two allowing Kelly to reach third and Young to be safe at first with two outs. Russ Hopkins (Piscataway, NJ/Rutgers) then hit a clutch single to score Kelly (Rancho Santa Margarita, CA/Saint Anslem) and give Vermont a 2-1 lead.

Danbury would be able to tie it up in the top of the eighth inning when Andrew Garner led off with a triple and scored on a ground ball double play as the Mountaineers traded their one run lead for two outs. Liam Rafferty (Westminster, MA/Sacred Heart) was then able to retire the side ending his two strong innings in relief.

In the bottom of the eighth, O'Grady (Warminster, PA/Rutgers) worked a lead off walk from reliever Jimmy Reed. He would advanced to third on a soft base hit to left field off the bat of Rob Kelly before Bachman (Germantown, TN/Austin Peay) lifted a two out line drive into centerfield scoring O'Grady and what was eventually the leading run. Closer Kyle Grana then pitched a perfect ninth striking out two to preserve the win.

Rafferty (2-3) gets the win giving up one run on one hit walking one and striking out two. Reed (1-2) is saddled with the loss giving up the one run on two hits in the eighth. Grana (St. Louis, MO/Bellarmine) picked up his league leading 11th save of the season for the Mountaineers.

Vermont (24-15) is back in action at home on Sunday July 31st as they host division leading Holyoke at 6:30 p.m. at Montpelier Recreation Field. You can hear all the action on ESPN 1240, WSKI and online at www.thevermontmountaineers.com.

Game Notes: O'Grady stole third base in the first inning upping his league leading total, and Mountaineers record, to 24 this season while Vermont's team total is now at 114...Grana has not given up a run in his last nine relief appearances.

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Mountaineers Edge Danbury 3-2

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