Windsor
The senior catcher for top-seeded Windsor, Frazer has been carrying on a one-person tribute to his mother, Lisa, who died in January 2016. Every time Frazer comes to the plate, he carves her initials in the dirt near the batter’s box with the handle end of the bat. Then, with the meat end of the stick, he makes the sign of the cross on home plate.
“This to just let her know that I am always thinking about her,” Frazer said.
Frazer will get a few more chances to carve his mom’s initials into the dirt when the Jacks take on Green Mountain Union for the crown, a title that Windsor last claimed in 2016. Green Mountain reached the championship game with a 6-0 win over Randolph in its Tuesday semifinal.
The game will be played at Burlington’s Centennial Field, with a date and time that has yet to be determined.
Frazer, like several other Windsor athletes on this year’s team, played on that 2016 team.
“While we knew we had a lot of good young players when we won two years ago, you never know if you’ll ever get back to that championship game again,” Frazer said. “So you can imagine how happy I am right now.”
It was a relatively easy win for Windsor, as it took a 6-0 lead after two innings and was never seriously challenged by the fifth-seeded Rebels (12-7).
Windsor’s record of 14-4 can be a bit deceiving as it played only one Division III game (Thetford) during the regular season. The Jacks lost twice to defending Division II champions Otter Valley.
“I would like to play them some more,” coach Jamie Richardson said after the second loss. “You learn a lot playing tough teams.”
Meanwhile, three of Leland & Gray’s losses came at the hands of Division IV foes.
The highlight of the Jacks’ victory was the outstanding pitching performance of senior Seth Balch, who allowed four hits in six innings and struck out 12 and didn’t walk a batter. His 93-pitch effort means he will be eligible to throw on Saturday. While Balch has a decent fastball, he has a knee-buckling breaking ball. Three of his first four strikeouts came on called third strikes.
Robbie Slocum pitched the seventh inning and couldn’t stop smiling as he anticipated another championship game.
“This is amazing,” said Slocum, who, as a freshman, drove in four runs in the 2016 championship win over Randolph.
Ben Meagher, who had three hits in the game, drove in two runs in the first inning, plating Slocum, who walked, and Frazer, who was hit by a pitch. In the second inning, Balch had a two-run single. Balch, along with Dakota Page, drove in runs in the sixth with singles.
“Getting that early lead is important,” Richardson said. “It takes a lot of things away like the running game from the team that’s behind.”