Post 37 continues its big-time ride
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ALBERT J. MARRO / RUTLAND HERALD |
Toolbox
By Tom Haley STAFF WRITER - Published: July 10, 2009
Bellows Falls Post 37 has a rich baseball history that includes the likes of Hall of Famer Carlton Fisk and Kevin "Goofy" Keefe, who pitched in the Dodgers organization.
But the ride this year's edition is taking can take its place among any of the stories. So far, anyway. After Quentin Young's gutsy complete-game performance in a 10-7 victory over Rutland Post 31 at St. Peter's Field on Thursday evening, Post 37 stands at 9-0 in the league and 11-0 overall.
Rutland was also riding high coming into the game following a doubleheader sweep at Brattleboro Post 5 the previous night that hiked its record to 6-2 and 7-2 overall.
But BF pushed across a run in the first without a hit as Chris Marcucci scored on a wild pitch and the 37ers led the rest of the way.
Young has been nursing a sore arm and had not pitched in a week. And it appeared as though Post 31 might feast on him when they hit three shots in the first inning with Rob Dorion, Jeff Perry and Geoff Bloomer launching the rockets. But they were all outs as center fielder Justin Beebe ran down two of them and right fielder Nick Gendron the other.
"Rockets are no good if they are fly balls. We need to hit line drives or hit it on the ground," Post 31 coach Kevin Bellomo said.
Young settled in and finished with an eight-hitter.
"I felt great. It was good to be back on the mound," Young said.
"I didn't imagine we would be undefeated, but I knew we would have a good team."
Young said the infusion of talent from the Division III state champion Leland & Gray team, along with the Vermont Academy players, has been a big boost in complementing the players from his Bellows Falls Union High club.
Marcucci, one of the Leland & Gray players, went 3-for-3 with a double and four RBI in leading the 10-hit attack.
Bellows Falls added four in the second inning to take a 5-0 lead. They batted around with Zach Whitcomb, Marcucci, Brian Bashaw and Justin Spaulding getting base hits.
Rutland answered with three runs in the bottom of that inning, the biggest blow being a two-run triple by Matt Merritt, the MVP of the 2008 American Legion Southern Division Tournament. Mike Triller knocked in the other run with a double and Ryan Carter singled and scored.
Triller singled home Geoff Bloomer in the third to close it to 5-4.
Both teams plated a run in the fourth, but it all came apart for Rutland in the fifth when they committed two errors and Marcucci made the miscues hurt with an RBI double. That was part of a four-run inning that put Post 37 in command at 10-5.
Rutland didn't quit, scoring twice in the sixth. Dorion had an RBI single in the frame. The BF defense had been solid, but in this inning there were two errors and Mitch Blair and Merritt crossed the plate to cut the score to 10-7.
Rutland used four pitchers. Left-handed starter Kyle Horvath took the loss and gave way to Justin Godzik in the second. Godzik pitched well but didn't make it out of the fifth when the defense caved in. Alex Miskovsky relieved him. Mike McMahon finished the game for Rutland, striking out the side in the seventh.
"Mike McMahon pitched well. He threw strikes," Bellomo said.
Whitcomb and Spaulding had two safeties each to follow Marcucci in the hit parade for Bellows Falls.
Dorion, Triller and Merritt had two hits apiece for Rutland.
"Bellows Falls played well defensively and we did not. Undefeated teams will do that," Bellomo said.
"The fun thing about this team is that I have known the greatest percentage of them since they were very young," BF coach Bob Lockerby said. "This is their last time around and they all know what each other is capable of.
"It's fun to be a part of it."
Bellows Falls will play at Woodstock on Saturday at noon and then make the short trip over to Windsor for a game at 4 p.m.
Rutland plays at South Royalton Post 51 at noon that day and might try to follow that up with a game at Woodstock.
Legion lines: Rutland High School graduate and Northeastern University student Molly Candon will be the guest speaker at Post 31's team banquet Nov. 27. She is in her second full season as an intern with the Boston Red Sox. … The entire American Legion World Series, Aug. 14-18 in Fargo, N.D., will be videocast live for the first time.
Tom.haley@rutlandherald.com
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