MIDDLEBURY — As the American Legion baseball season neared the midway point, Addison County faced a tough test, a recent stretch of five games in five days.
AC responded with four wins, while the fifth game was suspended entering the ninth inning. Addison was set to visit Montpelier on this past Tuesday and South Burlington the next day, but both games were postponed due to bad weather.
AC started the stretch with a victory over Burlington at home, 8-7, on June 27. On June 29, Addison earned a 10-0 victory at S.D. Ireland, avenging its only loss. On June 30, AC swept visiting OEC in a doubleheader, 7-3 and 9-8, running its league record to 5-1. Monday, July 1, saw a 3-3 home game vs. Essex called after eight innings due to darkness.
Vs. Burlington on June 27, Charlie Stapleford started for Addison, lasting 4.1 innings while striking out seven batters and giving up two hits and walking two. Josiah Benoit pitched the final 2.2 innings, grabbing his first career Legion victory.
AC led, 7-3, entering the fifth inning before Burlington tied the score using one hit, three hit-batsman, and a pair of walks.
AC responded in the bottom of the seventh. Sawyer Kamman doubled to right field with one out. Casey Covey followed by reaching on an error. Timmy Shea worked a walk to load the bases before Marshall Hastings walked to plate the winning run.
Devin Hayes went 3-for-4 for Addison, while Hastings reached base three times, Stapleford reached twice, and Covey reached base twice while scoring once and knocking in a run.
On Saturday, June 29, AC traveled to Hinesburg to knock off S.D. Ireland, 10-0, in five innings and avenge an earlier 3-2 loss. Hayes went the distance for AC, striking out three while yielding two hits.
Wade Steele blasted a three-run homer for AC, while Ian Shaw (1-for-3), Stapleford (2-for-4) and Kamman (2-for-3) all scored twice. AC plated two in the first before a six-run outburst in the second, aided by Steele’s blast to left field, sparked the win.
On Sunday, June 30, AC played host to a pair of league games vs. the OEC Kings. In the first game, Addison again took an early lead, scoring twice in the first and four times in the second en route to a 7-3 victory. Kamman got the complete game victory for AC, striking out four and surrendering six hits. Hastings (two walks) and Stapleford (3-for-4) each scored twice while Steele tallied a pair of hits and Shaw reached base twice.
In the second game, Addison had to rally for a dramatic 9-8 victory. OEC plated six runs in the first inning against Benoit before adding two runs in the third. Benoit settled down after that, retiring 12 of the final 14 batters he faced.
AC chipped away at the OEC lead in the first and third innings, scoring one run in each frame, before pushing three across in the fourth. The decisive blow came in the sixth, when Hayes cranked a three-run, inside-the-park homer to create the final score. Shea (2-for-2) scored once and walked twice, Hastings (1-for-1, three walks) scored four times and Tyler Delancey scored twice.
In the July 1 3-3 contest, Stapleford threw the first eight frames for Addison. The game will resume from the top of the ninth inning when AC and Essex play later in the season.
Addison was set to host to South Burlington on Saturday for a pair of league match-ups before traveling to S.D. Ireland on Sunday for a nine-inning league game. The games took place after deadline for this edition of the Independent. Make-up dates for the Montpelier and South Burlington games had not been set as of late last week.
Marshall Hastings is a summer intern at the Addison In