Castleton, Vt.
Move over, Upper Valley Nighthawks of the NECBL. This week let the spotlight shine on Post 84. They routed the defending champion Colchester Cannons, 15-3, on Monday in a game abbreviated by the 10-run mercy rule after the top of the seventh inning in the double-elimination Vermont American Legion state tournament at Castleton University.
Post 84 served notice early in Monday’s elimination game that they were intent on staying in the tournament at least another day, building a 5-0 lead after four innings.
By the sixth inning, the 84s had a large enough advantage to make a shambles of the contest.
That was a lot more offensive support than White River Junction pitcher Steve Cerrone needed. He was brilliant, blanking the Cannons through six innings.
“He did a great job,” Post 84 coach Jarrod Grassi said. “That is what we needed until we got the bats going.”
“Warming up before the game in the bullpen, my arm was actually a little sore,” Cerrone said. “But once I got on the mound, I just started throwing hard, harder than normal. And my slider was really good.”
When the Cannons did hit the ball with authority, Post 84 made the plays. One of the best was a spectacular diving catch by Codi Smith in center to take a hit away from Tyler Peacock in the fourth when the game was still competitive.
“That just picked the whole team up,” Cerrone said.
“When you see the ball go out there, you know it’s going to be caught 90 percent of the time. Codi is a special kid,” Grassi said.
It was a sweet win for Post 84, which made last year’s championship game — under the name of Hartford — but fell to the Cannons. This day, they knocked the Cannons out of the tournament.
WRJ lost a few early this season to a Rutland Post 31 team that is also still alive in the tourney. Then things turned around.
“We won three games pretty close together to Brattleboro, and that’s a great team,” Cerrone said. “That got us going, and we have never stopped.”
Post 84 scored twice in the second without the benefit of a hit. An error and two walks loaded the bases. Hunter Perkins and Smith drew walks to force in runs.
Colchester starter Saul Minaya only lasted into the second and took the loss. Tyler Lamphere relieved him and also had a short outing. Jacob Perkins singled off him and scored on an error in the third.
Two more runs in the fourth built the lead to 5-0. The big blow was an RBI triple by Hunter Perkins.
Then came the big inning. The Upper Valley contingent struck for 10 runs on six hits to balloon the score to 15-0. There were three consecutive hits in the inning by Jordy Allard, Nate Walz and Ryland Richardson, and all of them drove in runs. Allard had two hits in that inning, the other being a three-run triple. Jacob Perkins also had two hits in the frame. There were five walks in that inning alone. Four Colchester pitchers issued 11 walks total.
Allard and Jacob Perkins led Post 84 with three hits apiece. Allard had four RBIs. Hunter Perkins had a two-hit day.
The Cannons scored all three runs in the seventh when Cerrone left in favor of Smith with one out. Smith retired the next two batters to end the game.
It has been a whale of a summer in the Upper Valley for baseball, and it’s not over yet. Tournament play continues today — WRJ meets Brattleboro at 4 p.m., following a Rutland-Essex opener — and the championship game is slated for Wednesday, with all remaining action at Castleton’s diamond.