By Tom Haley
THE RUTLAND HERALD
CASTLETON, Vt. — Cam Boardman spent three years playing baseball at Oxbow Union High School in Bradford and two more at Vermont Academy, He learned about the importance of tempo at the Saxtons River prep school.
It served him well in Bellows Falls Post 37’s s American Legion baseball game, an 8-0 victory over Lakes Region on Wednesday evening at Castleton University.
Boardman allowed only one hit, a single to Ryan Alt in the first inning. He retired 12 batters in a row at one point during his complete game gem.
“I just got more confident in the mound (at VA) and learned to take my time. Tempo helps a lot,” Boardman said.
He started strong. Four of his five strikeouts were rung up in the first two innings.
“I just wanted to attack the zone early,” Boardman said.
Boardman has closed out a couple of games but this was his first start for Post 37.
Bellows Falls presented Boardman with the only run he would need in the first inning when Jamison Nystrom doubled to deep left, took third on Boardman’s ground out and scored on Grady Lockerby’s sacrifice fly.
Post 37 pushed across two more in the second, an inning where 8-9 hitters Ty Merrill and Cam Harriman had back-to-back base hits.
They scored two more in the fourth with the bottom of the order coming through again, Merrill and Harriman slapping the hits to ignite the inning.
They put it out of reach with two in the sixth and two in the seventh.
Merrill went 3-for-4 with a double and reached base all four times. Nystrom added two hits and two RBIs in the leadoff spot.
The defensive gem of the day was turned in by Post 37 center fielder Chase Swisher. He had a spectacular diving catch coming in on a sinking line drive to rob Kyle James of a base hit.
“Chase is great at getting to everything. That’s why we have him out there,” Bellows Falls coach Shawn Burke said.
It was a big win for 5-3 Bellows Falls after being swept by Brattleboro Post 5 in a doubleheader the last time out.
“This definitely gives us a lot of confidence in ourselves. It was just a nice rebound,” Boardman said.
“We did not play that badly against Brattleboro. They just got the timely hits and we didn’t,” Burke said. “We only had one bad inning in the doubleheader.
“This was a very good win.”
Carson Babbie pitched the first four innings for the Lakers and surrendered four runs on six hits.
Alt relieved him to start the fifth and retired the side in order, two via the strikeout.
Alt gave up two walks and was also done in by errors behind him in the sixth and Walker James finished up.
Boardman played on a championship team at Vermont Academy this spring now he and his Post 37 teammates would love to hoist another trophy at the Vermont American Legion Tournament which will be held at Castleton and Rutland’s St. Peter’s Field later this month.
First, they must get there. They are in a dogfight for one of three remaining playoffs spots in the Southern Division with Manchester, Brattleboro, White River Junction and Rutland.
One of the four spots from the Southern Division will be awarded to Lakes Region, now 2-10, for being the host team.
Boardman will be playing baseball at the University of Hartford. The Hawks are eyeing him not as a pitcher but as an infielder.
“They showed a lot of interest and it felt like a good fit,” Boardman said.
He was effective in pitching to contact and Post 37 backed him with solid defense.
“We asked them to make the plays tonight and they did that,” Burke said.
Bellows Falls will try to improve its playoff stock on Saturday at St. Peter’s Field in a doubleheader against Rutland Post 31.
As your daily newspaper, we are committed to providing you with important local news coverage for Sullivan County and the surrounding areas.