White River Junction
But a two-game losing streak midway through the regular season one year after finishing as the fourth seed for the Vermont Division I tournament is not exactly what the Hurricanes had in mind. A few losses with games still to play, however, might come as a relief, considering the circumstances.
Undefeated Burr & Burton Academy (8-0) jumped all over Hartford’s defense, piling on four runs in both the third and fourth innings en route to an 8-2 victory over the Canes on Tuesday afternoon at the Maxfield Sports Complex.
Hartford (6-3) knows the feeling of having a zero in the loss column and the pressure it creates after starting last season 12-0 and fizzling out in a first-round exit against No. 13 Mount Mansfield in the D-I playoffs.
Hartford head coach Jarrod Grassi knew before the season that his team, which lost only one starter to graduation, had to respond differently to adversity than a year ago. His team’s present two-game losing streak might be Hartford’s chance to do just that.
“We’re going through a skid right now,” he said. “We were just talking about it. We kind of went through this rut at the end of the year last year, in the playoffs. … We’re better than what we were today. There’s no doubt in my mind. But we’ve got to prove it.”
The good news is Grassi’s team still has plenty of time to figure out how to stop the bleeding, even if it is without one of its best starting pitchers.
Hartford first baseman Hunter Perkins, who was supposed to start on the mound in Hartford’s game Thursday against Rutland, was carried off the field and did not return after emerging from a fifth-inning collision with a bloody face and a welt above his right eye. Scott Mooney, BBA’s leadoff batter, overran the first-base bag on a wild throw to first base and rushed back, making contact with Perkins when the Hartford sophomore sprawled out to make the tag.
The extent of Perkins’ injuries, and how much time he may miss, were still unclear following the game.
“I would assume he’s going to miss significant time to a concussion,” Grassi said. “He’s been one of our best pitchers this year.”
Still, Grassi said, his team needs to play better against its tougher competition. BBA’s scoring rallies both occurred with two outs.
In the top of the third, Hartford starting pitcher Wyatt Connor induced a strikeout and a pop-up before allowing four consecutive singles to Bulldog batters. BBA senior outfielder Cody Roberts opened the scoring with a two-RBI single, and sophomore Jay McCoy, one batter later, cleared the bases with a two-RBI double to give the Bulldogs a 4-0 lead.
A miscommunication on the bases kept Hartford from answering in the bottom of the inning. With the bases loaded, a Jacob Perkins pop-up to shallow center field caught the Canes’ Tyler Hamilton and Hunter Perkins both on second base. Hamilton was tagged out and sophomore Austin Gaudette scored from third, but Hartford’s response to BBA was cut short. The Bulldogs piled on four more runs in the fourth inning to put the game well out of reach.
“We had opportunities; we just didn’t come up with the hits. When they had the opportunities, they did,” Grassi said. “I thought Wyatt pitched a good game. Unfortunately, we had opportunities to get off the field. That’s what Wyatt is, he’s a grinder and he’s going to give you an opportunity to make plays. We’ve got to play better (defensively).”
Connor finished the game with five strikeouts and nine hits allowed in five innings. Hartford senior Codi Smith entered the game in the sixth inning, recording one strikeout in two hitless innings.
“They put us in spots where we had to make plays,” said Connor, coming off his second start of the season due to a back injury suffered this winter. “We just got down on each other. We had an opportunity to get out of those two innings and we just got a bad hop, made one bad play. We kind of let it snowball, and we got down.”
Gaudette was the lone bright spot for Hartford offensively, hitting two doubles, scoring a run and adding an RBI. Connor scored the Hurricanes’ second run in the fourth inning. BBA junior pitcher Griffin Stalcup recorded three strikeouts, gave up five hits and allowed three walks in four innings.
“In the games we’ve been successful, we’ve been able to find a run early, pitch well, play good defense and been able to bunt,” Grassi said.
Hartford did not record one bunt on Tuesday.
Things are different for Hartford than a year ago, and it’s more than just its record through nine games. Now with time on their side, the Hurricanes hope they can figure out how to pull up from their recent nosedive. The question is how long it will take.
“We did the same thing last year,” Grassi said. “A lot of things went our way and then, unfortunately, we hit a skid like this and we couldn’t recover. Hopefully, this will be a learning experience for us to respond. … We’ve got seven left.”
Josh Weinreb can be reached at jweinreb@vnews.com or at 603-727-3306.