Mack guts out victory for Post 31
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By Chuck Clarino Staff Writer - Published: June 24, 2009
FAIR HAVEN – Chris Mack struggled mightily but turned in a complete-game effort, while Rutland Post 31 took what Fair Haven Post 49 gave them until they got the bats working, and came away with a 7-2 victory in Southern Division American Legion baseball play Tuesday at Bill Wood Field.
At times, it was like pushing a boulder up a hill for both teams, but Rutland emerged with its fifth consecutive victory of the young season. Fair Haven dropped to 1-1.
Mack only allowed six hits but threw 124 pitches as he was behind in the count much of the day and had to pitch his way back.
He did yield three hits in the first and gave up a run, but used his guile to move the ball around in the strike zone and get Fair Haven hitters out. He worked out of a huge jam in the sixth and that was one of the big keys to the Rutland victory.
Sporting a 4-1 lead, Mack surrendered a solid single to Sam Macomber to lead the inning and then gave up a long RBI double to Rich Coltey. A wild pitched moved Coltey to third with no outs. But that is where he stayed as Mack induced two fly shallow balls and a groundout to end the inning.
"I just bore down, took a couple of deep breaths and threw it in there," said Mack, a big right-hander, with a sigh of relief. "It's always good to finish seven innings strong."
Strong is how the Rutland Post 31 offense finished.
After Post 49 got the 1-0 jump in the first, Rutland came back with an unearned run off Fair Haven starter Kurt Hewes in the third to tie it, capitalizing on two Fair Haven errors. Post 31 went up 2-1 in the fourth, bunching two hits and a walk with another glaring Fair Haven error.
Post 31 took control of the game with a two-run sixth, knocking a pair of hits around the park, but again were helped by a Fair Haven error.
"We ended up on the plus side but it was too bad for Kurt, on the mound for them. They gave us a couple of runs with some throwing errors," Rutland coach Kevin Bellomo said. "We tried to put pressure on them when we had a chance. I guess, it worked for us and not for them today."
Hewes gutted it out on the mound for Fair Haven and if his defense had played better behind him, it might have been a different story.
Yet Hewes, a former Poultney Blue Devils star, also threw a lot of pitches and when he walked the first two batters in the seventh, he was replaced by right-hander Connor Johnson. Rutland greeted Johnson with a single by TJ Oliver and a triple by Ryan Carter that caromed off the 374 sign in center field.
Johnson also didn't have much luck. After inducing two outs, he yielded successive infield hits and a solid single as three runs scurried across the plate.
Fair Haven coach Bob Godlewski ended up bringing on Dan Brown to get the final out of the inning.
"They came out on Sunday with excitement and energy but they didn't show up today," said Godlewski of his 1-1 Post 49 team. "We had 21 hits the other day against a pitcher not much different than this one and I take the blame for it. I guess I didn't do enough to get them excited. Today, we just went through the motions. You've got to make plays and we didn't do that today."
While Mack held Fair Haven to only six hits, Rutland ended up with 10. It was the lower half of the order that did the major damage for Post 31.
Joe Rodolfy collected three hits, scored three times and drove in a run from the No. 7 spot. Sam Major added two hits, including a double with a run scored out of the sixth spot, while No. 9 hitter Nate Swahn was a catalyst, collecting a hit, scoring a run and driving in two. Cleanup hitter Carter had a pair of hits, including the RBI triple, walked once and scored a run.
"When we execute, good things will happen for us," Bellomo said. "But when we don't against a good team, they will make us pay."
Coltey was the big gun for Fair Haven with two hits, including a double and two RBI. Allen White slammed a double and scored a run for Post 49.
Rutland hosts Chester Post 67, while Fair Haven hosts Bennington Post 13 Thursday.
chuck.clarino@rutlandherald.com
Chester 17, Woodstock 15
In Chester, Ian Rebhan's grand slam highlighted a five-run sixth inning and powered Chester Post 67 to a come-from-behind victory over Woodstock Post 25.
Woodstock scored 13 runs in the first inning off Chester starter George Molner, but Post 67 chipped away at the lead until erupting in the sixth.
Kyle Ehlers gained the win with three innings of relief work, yielding a run, while Gavin Foley took the loss.
Rebhan was the big gun for Chester with three hits, including a pair of doubles and the homer, with six RBI. David O'Neil added three hits, including a double and a triple with two RBI. Molner banged out four hits with a RBI.
Andrew Weitzel collected three hits for Woodstock with two RBI, while Brendan Mayhew added three hits with five RBI, including a grand slam.
Chester improved to 2-0, while Woodstock fell to 0-2.
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