Rutland
Allard, a rising Hartford High senior, struck out six in three relief innings over two separate appearances, earning the win in White River Junction’s 2-0 victory over S.D. Ireland on Saturday in the opening round of the Vermont American Legion baseball tournament at St. Peter’s Field.
It was a classic pitchers’ duel between S.D.’s Andrew Bortnick (eight innings, six hits, two runs, one earned, three walks, five strikeouts) and Post 84’s Hunter Perkins (five-plus innings, four hits, walk, seven strikeouts) until Perkins left after taking a ground ball off his hand in the sixth inning following the last of his 82 pitches.
Allard relieved to retire the side in order, striking out the final pair to strand runners at second and third. He yielded to Codi Smith in the seventh, but Smith lasted just one inning thanks to nagging leg cramps.
Smith, who’s been hampered by cramps since playing wide receiver for the Hurricanes’ football team last fall, felt them flare up on him again in the eighth, grimacing and limping noticeably to home plate while scoring White River Junction’s insurance run during that inning.
No problem for Allard, who seamlessly re-entered and recorded two more scoreless innings. After digging out of a second-and-third jam in the eighth, he struck out two in a 1-2-3 ninth to preserve Post 84’s win.
Victors in 14 straight games, South Division champion White River Junction (17-2) faces division rival Brattleboro in the second round at 2 p.m. today at Castleton University. Brattleboro bettered Essex in an afternoon tilt on Saturday at Castleton, 6-2.
“People ask me why I don’t start (Allard), and today you saw why,” said Post 84 coach Jarrod Grassi, whose then-unsponsored team last summer was tournament runner-up. “His role is being a bridge guy, getting us out of a jam or pitching for an inning while another guy gets loose. He’s actually had a couple of starts this year because we’ve been trying to extend him, and he pitched really well in those games. But mostly, what you saw today is what his role has been, and it was the same way for (Hartford High, also coached by Grassi) last spring.”
It’s also not the first time Allard has relieved in a game and departed, only to re-enter later in the game. He has no problem flipping the proverbial switch and refocusing to get back on the hill.
“I don’t mind it at all; that’s my job,” said Allard, who started at shortstop Saturday and returns as the Hurricanes’ starting soccer goalie this fall. “It’s my job to go in there and shut it down. I don’t really feel any pressure in (baseball). It’s all about having fun for me in this game.”
Allard can be animated — and loose-lipped — while pitching. Twice on Saturday, he openly complained to home plate umpire Mark Cassler, claiming on each occasion that S.D. Ireland batters hadn’t called timeout before it was granted.
“That was my timeout,” Cassler barked back during the second instance.
It’s just the way Allard competes.
“I’m kind of like a pest who’s always trying to find an edge,” he said. “That’s how I’ve always been.”
Added Smith: “If you’ve ever watched the Boston Bruins and you know Brad Marchand, Jordy’s pretty much just like him.”
The teams mustered just six hits apiece, Perkins striking out six of the first nine batters and Bortnick perfect through 3 innings.
“Will somebody please make an adjustment?” Grassi blurted to his team from the third-base coach’s box after Hunter Perkins struck out for the second out in the fourth. Post 84 responded with back-to-back singles but stranded the runners at second and third before going down in order again in the fifth.
“(Bortnick) wasn’t coming inside on us at all. Every fastball was away,” Grassi said. “All we really needed to do (to get hits) was square up on those. I wasn’t asking my guys to dive over the plate, but we weren’t aggressive enough and we were waiting too long for the perfect pitch.”
Jake Perkins led off the bottom of the seventh with the first extra-base hit of the day, a double to center. White River Junction had runners at the corners with no outs after Brandon Gaudet’s single, but pinch runner Seth Balch was picked off first and Bortnick retired Allard and Dylan Spencer to leave Perkins stranded.
A fielder’s choice, walk and steal helped put S.D. Ireland runners on second and third with two outs in the eighth, but Allard recovered to strike out Nick Fecteau to silence the threat.
Post 84 finally broke through in the bottom of the eighth. No. 9 hitter Eddie White drew a full-count walk and went to second on Tyler Hamilton’s bunt.
Hunter Perkins drew another walk, but was erased on a potential double-play ball when Smith grounded to short. Second baseman Sam Mikell’s throw to first sailed high, allowing White to come around and break what had seemed an impenetrably scoreless deadlock.
It didn’t take long for the next batter, Steve Cerrone, to add to the advantage, driving an 0-1 pitch deep to right center to score the limping Smith and make it 2-0.
“I was definitely drawing off the energy of the previous play, seeing us finally score and just wanting to put it away,” Cerrone said. “I got the pitch I wanted.”
White River Junction did not have an error and committed a number of strong defensive plays. Hunter Perkins threw from his knees and from across the infield for the first out of the fifth inning; Allard swooped up a roller barehanded and threw on the run for the next out; and Jake Perkins made a full-sprawl dive in left field to record the first out of the seventh.
“One thing about our team, besides having a deep lineup, is we have plenty of guys who can get people out,” Grassi said. “When you can get people out, you can be dangerous in the playoffs.”
Jared Pendak can be reached at jpendak@vnews.com or 603-727-3225.