WINDSOR- Yellow Jackets’ baseball started off red-hot on offense, scoring three in the first and three more in the second, and used this early lead to coast to a statement win, 8-2 over visiting Leland and Gray in the VT D-III semifinals. Windsor will head to Centennial Field on Saturday to take on MVL neighbor Green Mountain in the state championship game.
In the bottom of the first, Dakota Page got the offense started by scoring Seth Balch on a groundout. Ben Meagher followed that up with a 2-RBI single to left that scored Duncan Frazer and Robert Slocum.
In the second inning, the Jackets put three more on the board. Balch had a 2-RBI single on a line-drive to right, scoring Justin Smith and Adam Stapleton. Ryland Richardson was then able to cross home plate on a dropped third strike to give Windsor a 6-0 lead after just two innings of play.
Leland and Gray was able to plate one run in the top of the third on an error to cut into the lead, 6-1. After two scoreless innings, Windsor put two more runs on the board in the bottom of the sixth. Balch picked up another RBI on a liner that drove in Richardson, and Balch was later knocked in by a Page single.
Facing an 8-1 deficit going to the seventh, Leland and Gray was only able to manage one run, as the game ended with a Slocum strikeout.
Balch pitched the first six innings for the Yellow Jackets, striking out 13 and only allowing 4 hits, 1 walk, and 1 run. On the pitching performance Tuesday, Windsor head coach, Jamie Richardson, said, “Seth threw good… he got into a little rhythm but give Leland and Gray credit… they battled at the plate. Robert looked sharp in his inning of relief, so he’s ready to go.”
On offense for the Jackets, Balch went 2-3 with 3 RBIs and 2 runs, Richardson was 2-3 with 2 runs, Meagher was 3-3 with 2 RBIs, Page went 2-4 with 2 RBIs, Frazer had an RBI and a run, and Smith, Stapleton and Slocum each scored a run. “We had four guys with multiple hits,” said coach Richardson. “So we are swinging the bats pretty well right now.”
Windsor is heading back to Centennial Field, where they will hope to win their second state title in three years. Balch, Frazer, Richardson, and Slocum all started for the Windsor team that won the state championship in 2016. “The boys are happy to be going on to Centennial Field. I told them, ‘Enjoy this win tonight, but back to work tomorrow at 3 p.m.,’” said coach Richardson.
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