By Christopher Shaban
EAGLE TIMES STAFF
WALPOLE- The Stevens Cardinals are a much different team than only a month ago as they made up for an early season loss to Fall Mountain and claimed the Kirby Cup on Thursday, 11-7.
“We have found a lot of confidence and our hitting, fielding and pitching are all coming together at the right time,” said Stevens head coach Bill Bundy.
Back to back doubles from Ty Theriault and Eric Peaslee gave the Cardinals a quick lead but Fall Mountain would respond with a Hayden Anastasio RBI that plated Dom VanLaere-Nutting before the crowd had settled into their seats. Stevens scored in each of the first four innings and held an 8-5 lead heading into the 6th inning with the game still up in the air.
Hubbard Field was ringing with hits from both sides as Stevens ripped out 13 while the Wildcats collected eight, with VanLaere-Nutting grabbing five of them for Lance Cormier’s team. Not only were the bats hot but there was some great fielding. Peaslee jumped out of his catcher’s position to snag a pop-up as Bundy hurdled over him in front of home plate to close out the 3rd inning. “We had some great defensive plays today, that might have been the difference in the game,” said B. Bundy.
Stevens would get some breathing room in the 6th as Peaslee started the inning off with a sharp single then Matt Becker punched a double. Dominic Puksta ripped a double and an RBI, then a couple of unearned runs pushed the Cardinal lead to 11-5.
Fall Mountain would respond in their half of the inning and could have been a lot more runs except for a great play in left field by Puksta. A beautiful diving catch from the Cardinals left fielder with the bases full of Wildcats was game changing as the Wildcats would only scratch out two runs in the inning.
Neither team would add any more runs but Fall Mountain didn’t go quietly in their last at bat. VanLaere-Nutting would blast a triple after two screaming outs to the Cardinal outfield. Foster Willet would draw a walk but a rope to center field off the bat of Mitch Cormier would end things as Stevens boarded the bus with the cup in hand.
“We have stuck together this season, we never got down on ourselves and now we have won five of our last six games and are looking at the playoffs,” said Peaslee. “This feels amazing.”
Theriault led the Cardinal hit attack going 4-for-5 at the plate while Peaslee collected three hits on the night.
Zach Bundy started for Stevens and grabbed the win before maxing out his pitch count in the bottom of the 6th inning as Cody Pellerin came on to finish the game. VanLaere-Nutting got the start on the mound and gave way to Cormier and Anastasio as the game wore on.
“I think these two teams are pretty evenly matched, we hurt ourselves with some errors today but give credit to Stevens, they had some timely hitting and are a different team then when we beat them last month,” said Fall Mountain head coach Lance Cormier. “Our goal was to make the playoffs and we’ve done that now we need to keep it going”.
Fall Mountain finished up the regular season with a 9-7 record and sit in the 10th spot in Division 3, while Stevens is on a roll and finishes with a 6-10 record in a crowded Division 2 group. “This was a great win today against a well coached Fall Mountain team,” said Bundy. “We really needed this win tonight, I’m not sure where we stand in the seedings but all we want is one more game, just one and we’ll see what happens, this team is hot”.
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