Montpelier, VT - Vermont scored four runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to break a 1-1 tie as they went on to defeat the Holyoke Blue Sox 9-4 in New England Collegiate Baseball League action on Sunday night. The win was the Mountaineers second in a row and fifth in their last six as they jumped the Danbury Westerners for third place in the Western Division.
Starter Matt Whitehouse (Diamond Bar, CA/UC Irvine) pitched three solid innings giving up one run on one hit and striking out five in a no-decision effort. The lone run came in the top of the first inning when Alex Glenn led off with a walk and scored on Ronnie Freeman's RBI double. Vermont would tie the ball game up on Rob Griffith's RBI double off the left centerfield wall in the bottom of the second to score Rolando Gautier.
Whitehouse would be relieved after three inning by fellow starter JD Leckenby in an effort for the Mountaineers to set their rotation come playoff time. Leckenby would staked a four run lead after Rob Kelly led off the bottom of the fourth with a triple and scored when Gautier (Pennsauken, NJ/Austin Peay) singled off starter Kyle Hooper to break the 1-1 tie. Griffith (Ronkonkoma, NY/Sacred Heart) would follow with a single before Russ Hopkins was awarded first base on catchers interference to load the bases. Hooper was then replaced by Christopher O'Hare to try and get out of the bases loaded, one out jam. Matt Wallenzin then hit a ground ball to first baseman Evan Scott who stepped on the bag to retire Wallenzin. His throw home to try and tag out Gautier hit Wallenzin in the base path allowing the run to score and the inning to continue. Brian O'Grady then hit a two RBI single scoring Griffith and Hopkins to give Vermont at 4-1 advantage.
The Mountaineers would add another run in the fifth on Brett Johnson's double that scored Jeff Cammans. Those insurance runs would prove useful as Leckenby (Buhl, ID/Washington State) would struggle in the top of the sixth as Tom Murphy hit an RBI single to make the score 6-2 in favor of Vermont. With runners at second and third, Sam Eberle hit a sharp ground ball to third that Hopkins (Piscataway, NJ/Rutgers) bobbled allowing Eberle to reach on the error. Spencer Jackson would then replace Leckenby with the bases loaded and nobody out. He would give up two inherited runs that were charged to Leckenby before getting Frank De Sico to ground out and end the inning as Vermont lead 6-4 through six innings.
Vermont would then tack on insurance runs in the seventh and two more in the eighth as they led 9-4 going into the ninth. Jackson (Aurora, CO/Washington State) pitched three scoreless innings in relief to preserve the win while Kyle Grana (St. Louis, MO/Bellarmine) tossed a scoreless ninth inning.
Leckenby (2-3) received the win going two plus innings in relief giving up three runs, two earned, on three hits with one strikeout and a walk. Hooper (1-2) is saddled with the loss going three and a third giving up five runs on six hits while striking out three.
The Mountaineers (25-15) finish their regular season home schedule tomorrow August 1st as they host the Mystic Schooners in a 6:30 tilt at Montpelier Recreation Field. You can hear all the action live on ESPN 1240, WSKi and online at www.thevermontmountaineers.com.
Game Notes: Brian O'Grady (Warminster, PA/Rutgers) stole his league leading 25th stolen base upping his Mountaineers single season record and bringing the team total to 114...Grana's scoreless ninth marks the tenth straight relief appearance without giving up a run.
