White River Junction
Now six months into what he was told would be a six-to eight-month recovery, Perkins is happy again. The injury isn’t causing him to miss his favorite game of all — baseball — and he’s excelling.
While still dealing with periodic soreness from an injury the running back suffered on his own 40-yard rush in week 4 against BFA-St. Albans, Perkins’ production on the baseball diamond hasn’t suffered. He smashed a grand slam and pitched a perfect inning in Hartford’s 16-0 throttling of Mill River on Saturday and had an RBI double in Thursday’s 10-3 win over Bellows Falls at Maxfield Sports Complex.
“Football’s always been one of my favorite sports; it was really tough to miss all of those games,” said Perkins, who finished 1-for-3 Thursday as Hartford (3-1) won its third in a row. “But it’s awesome to be out here playing my favorite sport. I’ve always loved baseball the most.”
Perkins is complemented — and sometimes challenged — by his younger brother, Hunter, Thursday’s starting and winning pitcher. The two have both supported and pushed each other since they played various youth-level sports together in Sharon, where they lived until coming to Hartford when Jake was a sixth-grader.
“I’d say, yeah, we definitely feed off of each other, but we’ve always been competitive with each other, too,” Hunter Perkins said. “I might be the better pitcher, but he’s the better hitter.”
Hunter Perkins showcased a stinging curveball as part of his arsenal through 5 innings Thursday, striking out eight Terriers, walking none and surrendering just two hits before finally getting into trouble with one out in the sixth. He gave up four hits, three earned runs and hit a batter before being chased, but fortunately already had been staked to a 10-0 lead.
Hartford stranded the bases loaded after having them juiced with no outs in the third inning, but batted around during an eight-run fourth.
“It was not a good beginning of the game for us; we came out with no energy,” Hurricanes coach Jarrod Grassi said. “That was a big point of emphasis for us after the game.”
Shortstop Jordy Allard led off the fourth when he singled up the middle, then stole second and reached third on Dylan Spencer’s groundout before speeding in on a suicide squeeze bunt laid down by Nate Walz to make it 1-0.
Walz ended up reaching on a two-base throwing error and scored on Austin Gaudette’s double, the first of three straight extra-base hits by the Hurricanes. The top and middle part of Hartford’s lineup — the culprit in stranding runners the previous inning — this time delivered as Tyler Hamilton and Codi Smith both produced run-scoring triples, Hunter Perkins was hit by a pitch and Jacob Perkins walked. Smith scored from third on a double steal to make it 5-0 before a wild pitch scored another and Brandon Gaudette cranked a two-RBI double to chase Bellows Falls starter Brady Illingworth (3 innings, five strikeouts, four walks, seven earned runs).
“We needed to do the little things to give us a spark,” Grassi said. “Dylan Spencer putting the ball on the ground to get Jordy to third, that’s doing what he’s supposed to do. The next batter, Jordy comes in on a suicide squeeze and we end up batting through the order that inning.”
Austin Gaudette’s double down the left field line and Hamilton’s sliding triple in the fourth were both to the opposite field, an encouraging sign for Grassi.
“When you’re hitting it the other way, it means you’re seeing it well as it comes to the plate,” Grassi said. “Both of those pitches were down and away, and that’s the location most pitchers are going for in high school baseball. So when you can drive those the other way, it’s a way to put pressure on the defense. We did a lot of that in the opener (a 1-0 loss at Rutland), but unfortunately, they all went right to the defense.”
Hartford has outscored opponents 36-4 since christening Maxfield with a 10-1 romp of Windsor last week before Saturday’s mercy-rule win at Otter Valley.
The Hurricanes, who return eight starters and all of its pitching from last year’s 13-4 team, is hopeful for a strong run in Vermont Division I this season, particularly after being upset by traditional nemesis Mount Mansfield in the first round a year ago.
Count Hunter Perkins among those who believe this year could be the Hurricanes’ best shot at a state championship since its last title in 2009.
“I’ve heard that ’09 team was pretty stacked, but I’m really excited about what we have now,” Hunter Perkins said. “I think we can go really far.”
Jacob Perkins was quick to point out Grassi’s point of emphasis following the game.
“We struggled early today and we have to make sure we bring energy every time we step on the field,” he said. “We can’t just coast through games; we can’t rest until it’s over.”
Extra Bases: Jacob Streeter, Zach Streeter (double), Illingworth and Clayton Groenewold all had hits to help the Terriers score three runs in the sixth and chase Hunter Perkins, who issued strikes on 53 of 75 pitches. … Hartford added a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth off Bellows falls reliever Zach Streeter when Hunter Perkins (walk) scored on his brother’s RBI double and Brandon Gaudette beat out an infield single to score Jake Perkins. … A foul ball struck by BF’s Ried Courser damaged the sun roof of a black SUV parked a little too close to the backstop in the fifth inning. … Former Hurricane Mat Pause is a Hartford assistant who was first base coach for part of Thursday’s game.