Sports

West Rutland edges Green Mtn. 6-5

By Poody Walsh
Rutland Herald Correspondent
CHESTER, Vt. – Throwing strikes was most likely the difference Monday afternoon at McKenzie Field in Chester where West Rutland held on for a 6-5 Marble Valley League win.

Golden Horde hurler Kiana Grabowski walked just one while Green Mountain pitcher Erika Knockenhauer walked eight, three of which scored.

It was the opener for the Chieftains and coach Terry Farrell gave Knockenhauer, his veteran pitcher, a pass for the day. “She’s got a bad back and hasn’t been able to pitch much,” Farrell said of his hurler who ended up throwing 177 pitches.

Grabowski, while giving up eight hits including two homers and a triple, walked just one in 103 pitches

‘I don’t worry about bases on balls when she pitches,” said first year West Rutland coach Laurie Serrani. “She’s always around the plate.”

Serrani was also quick to a give credit to a West Rutland teacher who pitched at Granville, New York High School for working with the Golden Horde pitchers. “I don’t know that much about pitching,” admitted Serrani.

Green Mountain came close to tying the game in the last of the seventh when a double by Rachel Guerra and walk to Meeka Hance put two runners on with nobody out in a 6-4 game.

However, when Clara Gignoux popped up and the infield fly was called there was some confusion on the bases. While the ball was dropped the batter was automatically out, but the pinch runner on first, who did not have to run, broke when the ball hit the ground and was thrown out at second. Kim Cummings followed with a single to score Guerra, but Grabowski got a strikeout to end the game.

It was the opener for the Chieftains and some of the defense showed it.

“We sure made some mistakes,” said Farrell. “We looked like a team playing its first game.”

Knockenhauer had most of her control woes early in the game as she didn’t walk anybody after the fourth inning. But in the second inning she walked four batters and three of them scored. Two of them crossed the plate on an Elizabeth Bailey two-run single. Bailey also had a big game at first base with her height as she reached up and grabbed four high throws,

Trailing 3-0 in the second Green Mountain got two of them back in the bottom of the inning when Alex Hutchins rifled a two-run homer over the center field fence.

West Rutland added a single run in the fourth, but the two runs in he fifth turned out to be crucial as the Westsiders had three hits in the inning, including an RBI triple from Grabowski.

Green Mountain kept scrambling as Annie Lamson tripled and scored on an infield out in the fourth and Maddie Wilson homer in the sixth. Lamson and Wilson each had two hits for the Chiefs.

West Rutland got a three-hit game from Grabowski and two from Bailey.

Black River comes to Green Mountain on Wednesday while West Rutland heads to Leland and Gray the same day.

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