White River Junction
Should the White River Junction Post 84 American Legion baseball team keep winning, however, that saying might take on a new, local meaning. Consider this: If the tournament hosts win twice against Franklin County on Friday at the Maxfield Sports Complex, they will have won five consecutive games in the losers’ bracket to capture the double-elimination Vermont state tournament.
Wednesday, White River Junction kept that scenario alive by first beating S.D. Ireland, 21-11, in seven innings and then topping the Orleans-Essex-Caledonia Kings, 12-7. With those squads eliminated, that leaves Post 84 and Franklin County, which got Wednesday off by virtue of wining its first three tournament games. Both teams will enjoy a similar rest today, the tournament’s finale having been moved to Friday to avoid a conflict with the NECBL’s Upper Valley Nighthawks tonight.
The tournament winner advances to the New England regionals, Aug. 2-6 in Shrewsbury, Mass. However, White River Junction coach Jarrod Grassi said he and his team can’t be thinking about that event or even a potential second game on Friday.
“It’s no different than a double play; you can’t look past that first one,” Grassi said.
Added Post 84’s Jacob Perkins: “It’s just one pitch, one out, one inning at a time now. If we’re fortunate enough to win the first game Friday, then we’ll worry about the second.”
Wednesday’s second game began badly for Post 84 and Perkins, who started on the mound and walked three of the first five batters he faced and surrendered a single to a fourth foe.
“I was very nervous because of the situation,” said Perkins, adding that he had pitched four or five times previously this summer. “There’s a championship on the line, and that first inning was the toughest part of the game for me.”
OEC led, 3-0, before White River Junction ever came to bat, posting the last of those tallies when a grounder zipped through the legs of second baseman Brady Clark, his fourth error in five tournament games and at three different positions. The Vermont Academy student also dropped a pop-up in the seventh, but had time to pick up the ball and force out a runner at second base.
“I don’t think we can take him out,” Grassi said of Clark, a rising sophomore from Springfield, Vt. “He’s too good an athlete. He’s an infielder by trade, and we’ve got him in a position where he’s comfortable now.”
White River Junction rallied in its half of the first inning, as leadoff man Tyler Hamilton stayed hot after a four-hit afternoon game by belting a double. Ryland Richardson followed with a single, and Jacob and Hunter Perkins also stroked one-baggers to pull the hosts within 3-2.
Post 84 scored four times during the third inning to move ahead, 6-3. OEC starter Patrick Greenan, a lefthanded standout from St. Johnsbury Academy, surrendered four hits and a walk. The big man hurt himself with an errant pickoff throw to first base that allowed a runner to advance and by chucking a Moises Celaya comebacker far down the right-field line.
The home team offensive continued during the fourth inning. Richardson walked, Hunter Perkins singled and Jordy Allard drove in a run with a bouncer to the first baseman. Celaya then beat out a two-out roller to third base, producing a second tally and an 8-3 lead. That was all for Greenan, who was replaced by Jack Moran.
The bottom of the fifth began with Kyle Hamilton pounding a ball off the plate and it landing behind the mound for a hit. Tyler Hamilton produced a one-out double, Richardson walked and Jacob Perkins’ fly ball behind second base fell in to score a run. Hunter Perkins then crushed a bases-loaded double to the right-field warning track, plating three runs and making the score 12-3.
Kyle Hamilton took over White River Junction’s pitching chores for the sixth inning. Jacob Perkins allowed one hit and three runs in five innings while striking out five batters and walking six. He threw 113 pitches.
The Kings rallied for one run during the seventh, and Kyle Hamilton was relieved by Gaudette four batters and two outs into the eighth, when the visitors struck for three more scores. Gaudette allowed two of those runs, but managed to escape by inducing a called third strike with two runners on base.
Thoughts of a Kings rally during the ninth inning were hamstrung when, after the first batter singled, he was doubled off the bag by center fielder Richardson, who ran in to catch a fly ball.
Tyler Hamilton finished the game with two doubles, and Hunter Perkins had two singles and a double. Richardson, Celaya, Clark and Jacob Perkins had two singles.
The day’s first game started as a Post 84 laugher before S.D. Ireland (19-22) scored four times in the fifth inning and five more in the seventh, pulling within 19-11 and raising the specter of a full nine innings. The teams’ first matchup, on the tournament’s opening day, went 10 innings, and there was a sense that White River Junction had been stretched to its absolute limit.
This time, the tournament hosts scored five runs during the second inning, seven during the third and five more during the fourth to lead, 17-1. White River Junction starting pitcher Hunter Perkins allowed eight hits and four runs while striking out one batter and walking one. He threw 94 pitches and was relieved by Walker Farley to start the sixth.
Farley gave up one run during that frame. Five runs crossed the plate during the seventh with the aid of two Moises Celaya errors at third and a disputed call at second base. The umpire signaled safe when Allard, the shortstop, dropped the ball while attempting an unassisted force at second; however, the runner didn’t reach the bag before Allard appeared to pick up the ball and tagged it.
White River Junction made it moot during the seventh when Tyler Hamilton led off with a triple and scored on a Richardson single to make the score 20-11. Hunter Perkins drew a walk and moved Richardson to second, and he dove under the catcher’s tag following an Allard single.
Notes: Grassi said Windsor High player Robert Slocum, who’s attending an out-of-state leadership conference, might make it home in time for Friday’s games. … Post 84 ace Allard will have had enough rest under Legion pitching rules to return to the mound Friday. … John O’Hara, Post 84 baseball program director and assistant coach, said it’s likely the organization will submit a bid by October to host next season’s state tournament. O’Hara said the event has gone well and feedback from the teams has been positive. … The Kings are named for the fact that they’re from the Northeast Kingdom. … Greenan was St. Johnsbury Academy’s ace and is headed to St. Lawrence University. … Mike Scelza, a former assistant coach for Hartford High and Hartford Post 26, the town’s precursor to Post 84, completed a 4½-day drive to Alaska on Wednesday. A longtime bus driver for the Hartford school district, Scelza plans to drop a line in The Last Frontier for five days before making the return trip. … Celaya’s older brother, Pedro, is a former Hanover High soccer standout and recent University of New Hampshire graduate who hopes to teach elementary school after completing graduate school.
Tris Wykes can be reached at twykes@vnews.com or 603-727-3227.