Castleton, Vt.
White River Junction will have to do it the hard way, however, after Sunday’s 9-4 loss to Brattleboro Post 5 at Castleon University. The result snapped Post 84’s 14-game winning streak and drops it into the losers’ bracket. White River Junction plays an elimination game at 1 p.m. today against Colchester Post 91, the defending state champion.
A scoreless game through three innings Sunday evolved into a 2-1 lead for Post 84 after six frames. From that point on, it was overwhelmingly downhill for coach Jarrod Grassi and his Upper Valley troops.
Brattleboro rocked relief pitchers Steve Cerrone and Jordy Allard for four hits and six runs during the seventh inning, with two crucial errors playing significant roles in the explosion.
“You can point the blame, or somebody can step up and make a play,” said Grassi, whose team won the state’s Southern Division. “We had opportunities to score runs, and we didn’t execute. You’ve got to be hot and, right now, (Brattleboro) is swinging the bats and making the plays defensively.”
More troubling than the opposition, however, may be White River Junction’s physical condition. Multiple players are hurting and getting by on painkillers, ice and grit.
“Sponsored by Tiger Balm and Tylenol,” said Wyatt Connor, Sunday’s starting pitcher, rubbing the former on his back after allowing six hits and one run in five innings. “I might not be able to walk tomorrow.”
Connor suffers from a lingering spinal disc injury suffered last winter, but he was stellar nonetheless.
“Wyatt is a gamer,” Grassi said. “I don’t know how many times he had three balls on a kid, then there were a bunch of foul balls and he still got the kid out. He’s not overpowering by any means, but he just gets outs.”
Designated hitter Moises Celaya left Sunday’s game after smacking a ground ball deep into the hole and slowing to a limping walk partway down the line. He said his pain is linked to an injury suffered before this spring’s high school season.
Infielder Dylan Spencer and outfielder Codi Smith are slowed by bum legs, and infielder and pitcher Hunter Perkins is generally banged up. Catcher Tyler Hamilton is another with a bad back, and outfielder Jacob Perkins recently tweaked the knee upon which he had surgery last fall.
“It’s not going to change and if you sit around talking about it, that’s not going to win you ball games,” Grassi said. “Some guys are a little more limited than you’d like, but that’s what happens when you play this much baseball.
“We’ve been battling it all year. It’s not like it just happened. So you can’t use that as an excuse.”
Brattleboro put three runners on base during the first inning but Connor, varying speeds and locations, stranded them and another two during the fifth. The top of that frame ended when Allard, playing shortstop, extended himself to reach a ground ball and fired a missile to first to barely retire the runner.
Post 84 led, 2-1, at that point, its runs coming during the fourth when Cerrone singled home Hunter Perkins and Allard doubled in Cerrone. After Allard’s defensive gem, however, White River Junction began to sputter.
During Post 84’s fifth at-bat, Spencer was on third and Hamilton on first with one out. Hamilton took off for second base and Spencer broke late for home when the catcher threw over the pitcher’s mound. The return throw back to the plate cut down Spencer and although the next batter walked, he was soon retired for the inning’s third out on a force play at second.
Cerrone took the mound to start the sixth inning and Brattleboro stranded two runners. After allowing a single and a one-out walk to start the seventh, however, Cerrone was replaced by Allard, who threw roughly 50 pitches during two pitching stints during Saturday.
Allard induced a textbook double-play ground ball to second baseman Spencer, but the ball rolled through his legs and a run scored for a 2-2 tie. After a wild pitch, the next batter singled, putting Brattleboro ahead, 3-2. Another walk loaded the bases and a line drive to left field with two strikes on the batter was overrun by Cerrone, resulting in a 6-2 score.
“When we get into that sort of spot, we rely on (Allard), but he just wasn’t sharp today,” Grassi said. “He made some mistakes and he gave up a big hit on an 0-2 pitch. He wasn’t locating and wasn’t throwing his breaking ball until the very end. But I’ll never second guess myself on going to Jorday. He’s usually automatic.”
Psychologically, the game appeared to be over at that point. White River Junction’s players were clearly stunned, and Post 5 scored once more during the sixth inning and twice more in the seventh.
“The wheels came off, and we got down on each other rather than looking forward to the next pitch and trying to make a play,” said Cerrone, a recent graduate of New Hampshire’s Phillips Exeter Academy who hopes to wrestle and play baseball at Trinity (Conn.) College. “We’ve just got to stay positive if things don’t go our way. That’s going to be the key to tomorrow.”
White River Junction (17-3) scored once during the seventh inning and again in the ninth. Seth Balch pitched the last two innings for Post 84.
Grassi said his players would have to do some serious soul-searching before today’s game.
“Getting to the championship game is not easy,” he said. “Your seeding really means nothing. It’s just a number. You’re going to have to beat good baseball teams, period. But it’s not impossible.”
Said Cerrone: “This loss doesn’t mean anything, really. We still have just as good a chance as anyone else.”
Notes: Post 84 scorekeeper Shannon Spencer, standing at the dugout rail, had a sharply hit ball bounce up towards her face during the sixth inning but deftly deflected it with her clipboard. … Smith smacked a long foul ball over the Brattleboro dugout and onto the Castleton football field, the horsehide splitting the uprights from roughly 50 yards. “He’s even better than you, Moises!” shouted a teammate, referring to Celaya’s field-goal kicking prowess for Hanover High during the fall. … Hartford police officer Logan Scelza, a former player of Grassi’s at Hartford High, attended the game with his Huskies, Echo and Kato. Scelza is on administrative leave from his department pending a Vermont State Police investigation of an incident late last month in which he shot and killed a pit bull engaged in a fight with one of his dogs.
Tris Wykes can be reached at twykes@vnews.com or 603-727-3227.