RUTLAND — Big innings were the story of the day as the White River Junction Junior Nighthawks swept Rutland, 10-5 and 13-3, on Saturday at St. Peter’s Field to clinch a first-round bye in the upcoming Vermont Summer Baseball League tournament.
The Junior Nighthawks (12-3) blew open a 2-2 opening game with a seven-run fifth inning. They repeated the feat in the sixth inning of the nightcap, ripping apart what had been a closer 5-3 contest at the time.
Ryan Pepe (Thetford Academy) reached on a hit-by-pitch and scored on a Robbie Slocum RBI single in the first inning of the opener. Rutland countered in its half of the frame for a 2-1 lead, but Pepe tied the contest with a run-scoring single in the third, plating Alex Bushway (Hartford).
WRJ blew the game open with the seven-run fifth, sending 11 batters to the plate. Kyle Hamilton (Hartford), Ryland Richardson (Windsor), Slocum (Windsor) and Jacob Barry (White River Valley) all provided RBI singles, highlighting a seven-hit frame for the Junior Nighthawks.
Zach Whitmore (Randolph/Husson College) earned the win, throwing six innings of four-hit ball.
After an error on a Richardson grounder, WRJ rattled off consecutive singles from Slocum, Jacob Dwinell (Hartford), Bushway, Drew Martin (Hartford) and Tommy Bissaillon (Woodstock) to take command of the nightcap with its seven-run sixth frame. Slocum and Bushway drove in a team-high three runs in the second contest, and Slocum picked up the mound win.
The Junior Nighthawks wrap the regular season by hosting Brattleboro on Tuesday evening at the Maxfield Sports Complex.
NASHUA, N.H. — The Upper Valley Anglers (10-7) won their third straight game, beating Nashua at Bishop Guertin High School in a New Hampshire COVID Baseball League game.
Tied 3-3, the Anglers used a four-run sixth inning to pull away. Trey Chickering (Proctor Academy) provided the key blow, a two-out triple that scored Nolan Gantrish (Hanover), Casey Graham (Hanover) and Ben Williams (Hanover). Chickering (2-for-3, 3 RBIs) then came home on an run-scoring single from Keegan Silovich (Hanover).
Upper Valley hosts Seacoast Pirates Silver on Wednesday night.