WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — A second time was not the charm for the Hartford Hurricanes on Tuesday night.
Facing a Bellows Falls team they’d seen just four days prior for a second consecutive game, the Hurricanes were mistake-prone all night and couldn’t generate consistent offense, falling 7-2 at Maxfield Sports Complex.
“They swung the bats very well. They’re a good team,” Hartford coach Bill Villieux said of the Terriers. “We knew that coming in; we played them the other day.”
Bellows Falls never trailed, and pounced for four runs in the top of the third inning that set the tone of the game. Hartford cut the lead down to two in the fifth inning, but failed to muster the offense needed to close or the defense to keep the margin from extending from there.
Hard-throwing Hartford starter Wyatt Chambers notched 11 strikeouts in 5 ⅔ innings of work, but walked six batters, hit another and put several runners in dangerous spots with wild pitches. The Hurricane fielders committed four errors, including a pair of run-scoring errors.
“Pitching-wise, we’ve got to limit our walks. Fielding-wise, we have to limit our errors,” Villieux said. “Have a good time. Play baseball.”
Both starters opened the night firing, with Chambers and Bellows Falls starter Steve Joslyn setting down the first five batters combined on strikes and running scoreless through the first two innings, but Chambers was first to blink.
The lefty walked the first two batters of the third on nine pitches and gave up a single to load the bases before walking Jacob Kissell on a full count to give up the opening run. A wild pitch to the next batter, Tim Fletcher, doubled the margin, before Fletcher looped a ball into right field that dropped and gave the outfielder enough trouble to empty the bases and make it a 4-0 game.
“I think Wyatt lost command a little bit during that inning,” Villieux said of the third. “But he’s good at recovering.”
Recover Chambers did, both at the mound and at the plate. After setting down the side on 12 pitches in the fourth, Chambers started the Hartford rally himself, blasting a ball well over 300 feet into right field and off the fence for a one-out triple.
Carter Williams drove in Chambers via a chopped groundout to first, and Hartford threatened further by putting two men on, but the threat ended via an infield pop-up.
Another strong half inning from the mound sent the Hartford offense back to the plate with real comeback aspirations in the fifth. A dropped fly ball started the rally, before a sharp single and a sacrifice fly on consecutive pitches put the meat of the Hartford order up with two outs, two runs to score, and clear momentum.
Instead, a cruel bounce cut off the Hurricane momentum. A routine 1-0 foul off by Chambers took two spinning bounces and hopped back into fair territory untouched, allowing the Terrier first baseman to field the ball and step on the bag to end the inning.
Bellows Falls re-extended the advantage from two walks, a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly, ending Chambers’ night in the top of the sixth.
With Joslyn’s night done as well, there would be no let-up in strong pitching facing the Hurricanes. Reliever Jaden Bazin entered from center field and immediately tossed nine consecutive strikes, setting down Hartford with an immaculate sixth inning.
A pair of two-out runs from the Terriers put the game out of reach in the top of the seventh, and Hartford produced just a single hit before falling in the bottom of the inning.
Hartford falls to 9-4 with the loss. The Hurricanes travel to Otter Valley on Friday for the final game of the season before postseason begins.
“That’ll be a good game, but if we can come out of that with a good solid win, I think we’ll be in a good spot hitting the playoffs,” said Villieux.