South Royalton – The old adage says it’s difficult to beat an opponent three times in the same season. South Royalton made doing it four times look easy.

Junior pitcher Josh Scoskie struck out 10 in a three-hitter, Nicholas Howe had four RBIs on four hits and the No. 2 Royals took care of seventh-ranked Whitcomb-Rochester in six innings, 16-1, in Friday’s Vermont Division IV quarterfinal at South Royalton School.

The win was the fourth this season over the Mountaineers for the Royals (14-2), who conquered Whitchester three times during a two-week span in April. It was the third win on the mound against Whitcomb-Rochester for Scoskie, who also struck out 10 Mountaineers in South Royalton’s season opener.

The Royals will be back at home in Tuesday’s semifinal against No. 6 Blue Mountain, a team they defeated, 21-7, last Saturday in Wells River. The No. 6 Bucks knocked off No. 3 Chelsea on Friday.

In its first year as a two-school cooperative in baseball, Whitchester finished 8-10.

Things appeared to be shaping up as a pitchers’ duel early; Scoskie and Whitcomb-Rochester’s Matt Townsend both retired the side in order in the first inning and were efficient through a scoreless second.

The Royals took advantage of a third-strike passed ball and an outfield error to plate four runs in the third inning, then batted around while scoring seven times in the fourth. They executed textbook aggressive base running, Dominick Small scoring on a double steal, Dalton McDougall charging home on a passed ball, Howe coming in on a ground out and Andy Moore scoring via sacrifice fly by No. 9 hitter Max Stearns. 

Townsend (10 hits, four strikeouts, nine runs, seven earned) left with two outs before South Royalton scored two more in the fourth off reliever Kevin Kingsbury.

“We like to take advantage of whatever is going to allow us to score,” summed up South Royalton coach Mike Ballou, whose team finished with four steals and has totaled 52 runs in its last three games. “Whether that’s bunting a guy over, playing a hit and run, stealing bases, we’re always trying.

“The trick to that is getting guys on base to begin with. We struggled a little bit early today, swinging at balls instead of strikes. Once we started getting ahead in counts, our bats came to life.”

Scoskie, meanwhile, was excellent. The right-hander used mostly heat to strike out five of the first seven batters he faced and retire 15 of 19 through five innings before the Mountaineers tagged him for a run in the sixth.

“My curveball wasn’t really working for me, so I worked my fastball a lot,” said Scoskie, who improved mechanics last offseason after participating in South Royalton’s Senior Babe Ruth summer league team. “As the team started hitting, I got more confident. My arm just started getting a little tired (in the sixth).”

By then, the Royals had built a 14-0 lead. In the fifth, they took advantage of RBI singles from Stephen Paige and McDougall, the latter later scoring on a wild pitch.

Whitcomb-Rochester got on the board in the sixth on an RBI groundout by Daniel Labejsza to score Kingsbury (walk), but the Royals ended the game via 15-run mercy rule in the home half of the inning. 

Howe cranked his second double to center field, plating substitutes Jon Nielson (error) and Kyle Spaulding (single). The speedy Howe came around to score on the same play thanks to a misplay at center, sending the Royals to a semifinal for the sixth time in seven years after falling in the D-III quarters a year ago.

Extra Bases: The Mountaineers’ eight wins matched the total games won by Whitcomb (5) and Rochester last year. Both teams had dropped first-round games each of the last two seasons before the combined squad knocked off No. 10 West Rutland in the first round Tuesday. … There was no singing of the National Anthem as the scheduled singer had car trouble, according to South Royalton Principal Dean Stearns. “You don’t want to hear me sing it,” he chimed. … Fifteen of Townsend’s first 19 pitches were for strikes. …  McDougall (RBI, three runs), Small (two runs), Scoskie (two RBIs, two runs) and Jacob Hewitt (RBI, run) all finished 2-for-4 for the Royals, who had 17 hits. … McDougall will likely start on the mound Tuesday against Blue Mountain. 

Jared Pendak can be reached at jpendak@vnews.com or 603-727-3225.