South Royalton
The two-time defending VPA Division IV champions swept Sharon Academy in a doubleheader on Saturday then beat Chelsea on Monday.
“It’s been hard,” Royals coach Devin Cilley said. “Luckily, we’ve had a lot of pitching, and it’s worked out good. The way we set it up, it went well. Having leads early, that helps a lot, too. If we were down by a lot, we’d have to go through a lot more people.”
The first-year head coach said he has eight pitchers, five of whom comprise the core of the staff.
Cilley gave the ball to Logan Martin against Twinfield (0-1) and the sophomore came up big, striking out nine and giving up just one hit over five dominant innings. Martin induced two 1-2-3 innings, including the fourth when he struck out the side. The only hit Martin gave up was a slow infield roller by Twinfield’s Carter Martin in the first inning.
The Royals loaded the bases in the first thanks to two Twinfield errors, but the runners were stranded as Trojans starter Gavin Comolli worked his way out of the jam.
The second was more fruitful for the Royals after Ryan Smith and Tyler Ballentine both reached base on one-out walks. Carder Stratton then hit into a fielder’s choice before George Carr drove in two runs with a double.
Carr, SoRo’s catcher, took third on a fielding error and was driven in by Jacob Hewitt (two hits). Dominick Small (two hits) contributed a single to the inning before the side was retired.
The Royals added a run in the third when pinch hitter Jacob Barry drove in Smith (who reached on a walk) with a groundout to third. Small drove in an insurance run in the fourth, and Chris McCullough added another on a hustle play in the fifth.
McCullough led off the inning as a pinch hitter and was hit by a pitch before stealing second and third. The latter drew an errant throw from Twinfield catcher Bradley Duke that reached the outfield and allowed McCullough to take home.
The visitors nearly broke up the shutout in the sixth inning, but a heads-up play by Barry kept the slate clean for SoRo.
With two out and Noah Slayton on second base following a double, Twinfield’s Martin drilled a shot at SoRo shortstop Stratton, who was unable to come up with the ball. Barry, the second baseman, quickly picked up the ricochet and threw home to get Slayton at the plate. Carr, who threw out a would-be base stealer in the fifth, applied the tag perfectly.
Dominick Craven, one of four eighth-graders on the Royals’ squad, pitched two shutout innings in relief, striking out two batters.
“For the last five games, we’ve had at least two eighth-graders in the lineup all game,” Cilley said. “We had some suspensions early on. We’re a really young team, even though we’ve got everyone back now.”
This year’s team is far less experienced than last year’s undefeated bunch, which featured nine seniors.
“This group really hasn’t played together a whole lot,” Cilley said. “There are five of them that returned from last year, and the rest of them have played some Little League and stuff, but they haven’t all come up together, so they’re finally starting to kind of figure it out and mesh with each other. We knew that was going to take a little awhile, but I think they’re finally getting there.”
Hewitt, a co-captain with Small, seems to like what he sees out of the newcomers thus far.
“We’ve learned that they are experienced and being a freshman doesn’t really matter, even an eighth-grader,” he said. “We had an eighth-grader throw shutout innings, so it’s helpful. Having an eighth-grader step up like that. … I mean, all the eighth-graders have stepped up. They’ve played their roles.”
Notes: Tuesday’s game was delayed twice by hand injuries to infielders. Twinfield third baseman Kristopher Utten was involved in a fifth-inning play that led to a bloody finger. The blood stained Utten’s pants, rendering him ineligible until he retreated to the dugout to exchange with a teammate who wasn’t in the lineup. … Later, it was SoRo’s Stratton, who needed timeout on account of a popped blister that required attention before the game could resume. … The Royals return to action on Thursday at MSJ.