Castleton, Vt.
Rutland Post 31’s 5-4 victory in the Vermont state tournament’s de facto semifinal game at Castleton University ended Post 84’s participation in the double-elimination contest and its campaign overall.
Post 84 led, 2-0, after the first inning but trailed, 3-2, following 6½ frames. White River Junction’s Tyler Hamilton singled home Brandon Gaudet and Austin Gaudette for a 4-3 lead during his team’s seventh at-bat, but closer Jordy Allard couldn’t slam the door in the ninth, surrendering a double, a single and a double to consecutive batters.
Post 84 dodged a bullet Tuesday when a two-run lead in the ninth against Brattleboro collapsed, but it still prevailed in 11 innings. White River Junction was playing Wednesday for a title-game rematch with Post 5 and a return to the stage it reached last season. Brattleboro beat Rutland, 7-6, in 11 innings later Wednesday to advance to the upcoming New England regionals in Bristol, Conn.
“These kids gave us everything they could,’’ said White River Junction coach Jarrod Grassi, whose Hartford High team, on which a majority of the Post 84 players also compete, lost in the Vermont Division I semifinals during the spring. “The Legion season is a grind, and you go through highs and lows.”
Including scrimmages, Post 84’s season began June 14 and it played 28 games in 41 days. By the end, the players’ minds and bodies were near or at their breaking points.
“You get to the point where you’re overtired,” said Hunter Perkins, a rising junior at Hartford High, where he plays three sports. “We didn’t get home last night until 11:30 (p.m.), and we were back on the bus by 9:30 this morning. This tournament eats at you, and it definitely shows who has the most depth.”
Depth seemed to be what kept Post 84 from capturing the state crown last season, when it was unaffiliated with a Legion post. In response, assistant coach John O’Hara recruited players from other towns to join the program.
Windsor High youngster Ryland Richardson emerged as the senior team’s starting second baseman, his high school teammate Seth Balch joined as a backup pitcher and first baseman, and Oxbow third baseman Eddie White was a potential standout before he ended his season last week to go on vacation. Unlike the 2015 state tournament, however, this time around Post 84 lost its third game and didn’t earn the automatic title-game berth a 3-0 start would have earned.
“When you’re a No. 1 seed, you have a target on your back,” said Perkins, whose team won the Southern Division title for the first time in roughly 30 years this summer. “And it’s baseball. You could beat a team, 15-0, one day and lose to them the next day. You never know how things will turn out.”
Nagging injuries to the likes of Perkins, catcher Tyler Hamilton, center fielder Codi Smith and infielder Dylan Spencer played a role. Pitcher and infielder Moises Celaya of Hanover High hurt his back and wasn’t available. Rivendell’s Dash Fukushima carried a heavy pitching load for the Raptors this spring and was mostly given the summer from hurling, instead becoming a backup infielder.
The best-laid plans of mice, men and baseball coaches don’t always come to fruition.
“It’s going to take some time to process this,” Grassi said.
White River Junction (18-5) seemed as though it might knock Braydon Shannon, Rutland’s soft-throwing sidearmer, out of the game early. Hamilton led off with a double, Perkins singled him home and himself later crossed the plate courtesy of a Steve Cerrone grounder.
Shannon, however, hung tough for 6 innings and his batting-practice lobs frustrated his foes. Post 84 grounded out seven times, flied out nine times and hit into three double plays against him. It was harder than it looked to keep one’s weight and hands back and remain patient so as not to chase pitches or lunge forward at them.
Wyatt Connor, White River Junction’s starting pitcher, competed on three days’ rest despite a disc problem in his back. Battling with an array of off-speed offerings and a well-placed if not powerful fastball, the righthander surrendered only two hits and two runs during a 4-inning stint that include 69 pitches.
“Gutsy,” Grassi said. “And he was icing his back and would have thrown again if we needed him in a second game today.”
Rutland parlayed two walks, a single and two sacrifices into a pair of fourth-inning runs and a 2-2 tie. Post 31 went up by a run during the sixth when it managed two singles and a walk off Smith, who followed Connor on the mound.
During the White River Junction seventh, Gaudet and Gaudette produced consecutive one-out singles, and a Richardson sacrifice bunt moved them over. Hamilton followed with a two-run single down the right-field line. Perkins singled and Smith walked to load the bases, but a Cerrone grounder was turned into a force at second that ended the inning.
Allard entered for the last two-thirds of the eighth inning, but he ran out of gas in the ninth. Post 31 went double, single, double, sacrifice bunt and hit batsman before Grassi yanked his standout and replaced him with Perkins, who threw four innings Tuesday. The lefty got the second out but began to look pained. After a walk, he doubled over on the mound and appeared near tears as Grassi switched him with left fielder Cerrone.
Perkins said the day’s most painful facet wasn’t physical discomfort or failing to reach the title game for a second consecutive year. It was feeling that he and Post 84’s younger players had let down elders such as his brother, Jacob, and Smith, who both hope to play at Lyndon State next year. Smith’s Legion eligibility is over, Hunter Perkins said, and he’s not sure where his sibling will play next summer.
“I can go home and prepare for next year but some of our guys don’t have that,” Hunter Perkins said. “We wanted them to go out well.”
Tris Wykes can be reached at twykes@vnews.com or 603-727-3227.