WOODSTOCK — Green Mountain Union High junior Chase Swisher threw a complete game as the Chieftains defeated Woodstock, 9-2, on Thursday.
This was Swisher’s first career complete game. Only one of the two runs he gave up was earned, and both came in the seventh inning.
Green Mountain (3-4) entered the final frame with a 9-0 lead, but Woodstock (2-4) got on the board with a two-run home run by senior shortstop Tom Bissaillon.
While losing the shutout was disappointing, Swisher still felt good about the complete game.
“The fastball (was working) today,” Swisher said. “We came out and decided ‘We’ll see what they got. If they can’t hit the fastball, we’ll just keep rolling with it.’”
Swisher gave up six hits and four walks while striking out five. He worked out of numerous jams throughout the game. He only finished two innings without Woodstock runners on base (one of which was the seventh because of the home run). The Wasps stranded the bases loaded in the first and third innings. In all, they left nine runners on base.
Swisher credited his defense for making plays to get out of innings clean. Woodstock head coach Jason Tarleton lamented the early missed opportunities.
“If you get in a big enough hole, it’s a lot to come back from,” Tarleton said. “We definitely had the baserunners early on to score some runs, we just didn’t get the timely hit to kind of break it open a little bit. That would’ve changed the feel of that game had that happened.”
The Chieftains missed several opportunities themselves, stranding 12 runners on base. But they took advantage of enough chances throughout the game to build a comfortable lead.
Green Mountain scored one in the first inning right away. Its biggest inning was the three-run second, which included right fielder Skyler Klezos scoring on a true steal of home.
Third baseman Kagan Hance led the way for Green Mountain offensively, going 3 for 4 with one RBI. Swisher helped his own case with an RBI triple. Catcher Jack Boyle went 1 for 3 with two RBIs and one run scored.
Chieftains head coach Matt McCarthy said that while nine runs was enough for them to win, Swisher’s pitching was the reason that lead was comfortable.
“Chase kept us in the game,” McCarthy said. “Our team needed that, our pitching staff needed that. We needed a little break with the relief, and he came through big today. He kept people off-balance and (didn’t give up) a lot of hard hit balls.”
Bissaillon had a strong game for the Wasps, finishing 2 for 2 with the two RBIs and one run scored on his home run.
Woodstock used two freshmen on the mound. Jackson Martin started, lasting three innings and giving up five runs (two earned) on four hits with five walks and four strikeouts. Jacob Stone took over in the fourth and pitched the rest of the game, picking up eight strikeouts while surrendering four earned runs on six hits with three walks.
Martin’s unearned runs are due to three Woodstock errors. Tarleton said those defensive miscues can be difficult for a young and inexperienced pitcher to overcome. He added that Martin worked hard and would’ve been in a different situation if the Wasps gave him more run support.
“If we take care of things when we’ve got bases loaded, that changes his mindset too. That’s the way this game is played. It’s so much mental,” Tarleton said. “But I think there’s so much room for growth in this group. They really want to do well, and they work really hard in practice. It’s disappointing to see them make some fundamental mistakes that really are hard to overcome.”
Green Mountain returns to the Upper Valley on Saturday to face White River Valley. Woodstock is off until Tuesday when they face Bellows Falls on the road.
Seth Tow can be contacted at stow@vnews.com.