By Adam Aucoin
THE RUTLAND HERALD
The Bellows Falls Post 37 American Legion baseball team’s bats wouldn’t let their season come to an end just yet.
Third-seeded Bellows Falls used a powerful offense to push past No. 4 Franklin County Post 1 13-5 on Thursday in a Legion state tournament elimination game at St. Peter’s Field.
It didn’t look pretty in the early going for Post 37, trailing 4-1 heading into the bottom of the second inning, but just like Bellows Falls has done all season, it weathered the storm.
“I knew that we would battle back. It was just about keeping the guys energy up,” said Bellows Falls coach Shawn Burke. “I’m proud of the way they battled down 4-1 to put up a (scoring) number like that and live another day.”
Post 37 kept afloat, cutting the lead to one in the bottom of the second and tying it 4-4 through three innings, but Bellows Falls truly took control in the fourth.
Post 37 pushed five runs across with 10 batters coming into the plate to take a lead it had no plans to surrender.
No. 9 hitter Cam Harriman and leadoff hitter Jamison Nystrom led off the inning with singles and Elliott Graham reached via a fielder’s choice.
Two batters later, Grady Lockerby, son of the late Post 37 coach Bill Lockerby, had an at-bat his father would have been proud of. He laced a ball just out of the second baseman’s reach and into the outfield to score the eventual-game winning runs.
The offense wasn’t done. Green Mountain alumnus Ty Merrill drove in two more on a single later in the inning and Harriman finished it with an RBI of his own to close out the onslaught.
From there, it was all about insurance. Two runs apiece in the fifth and sixth did the trick.
Bellows Falls pitcher Cam Boardman wasn’t incredibly sharp, but he did enough to get the job done. He gave RBI hits to Jackson Porter, Matt Gonyeau and Peyton Graham early on, but limited damage for much of his outing.
Boardman went six innings, striking out five and allowing five hits. Left-hander Sam Boxer got the final three outs.
“We got it done. I wanted my relief to only have to go in for an inning and that’s what happened,” Burke said.
UPDATE: Bellows Falls Post 37 fell on Friday to South Burlington 10-5. Bellows Falls held a 4-0 lead early, before South Burlington’s bats would take control.
Colchester 11, Lakes 1
(6 innings)
The second-seeded Colchester Cannons are no stranger to early leads. The important factor is keeping those leads in check.
The Cannons couldn’t do so on Wednesday against Manchester, but they got the job done on Thursday against fourth-seeded Lakes Region, winning 11-1 in six innings in a state tournament elimination game at St. Peter’s Field.
Colchester posted a four-run opening inning and there wasn’t much looking back from there.
Lakes Region stayed afloat in the opening couple innings with reliable pitching from Carson Babbie, but it couldn’t get a ton going offensively.
The 49ers pushed across their lone run in the top of the third on a ground out by Trey Lee that scored Noah Woodbury, but missed a golden opportunity to add more, leaving the bases loaded. It was a similar story in the next inning, where they stranded two.
Colby Beaupe and Malakai Callahan did the bulk of the pitching for the Cannons and were tough to hit. As a staff, they allowed just five hits.
“They were getting ahead and throwing strikes and keeping the pitch count low,” said Colchester coach Tyler Bushey.
The Cannons started breaking the game open in the later innings. Two runs in the fourth and one run in the fifth widened the deficit, while a three-run sixth was the final blow.
“We kept the pressure on throughout the game and didn’t let (Lakes Region) come back,” Bushey said.
Nolan Simon and Dylan Grimm had three hits apiece for Colchester. Grimm drove in a trio of runs. The only Lakes Region player with multiple hits was catcher Noah Woodbury with a pair of singles.
Lakes Region was a young club this year, meaning plenty of contributors have the chance to come back next year. With another year of experience, and another high school year under their belt, the hope is there will be more wins on the horizon.
“I’m looking forward to our spring (high school) season,” said Lakes Region coach Adam Greenlese, who is also the Fair Haven Union High School coach.
His players surely feel the same way.
adam.aucoin @rutlandherald.com
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