ADDISON COUNTY — In local high school softball play earlier this week, Mount Abe, Middlebury, Otter Valley and Vergennes all won their games, with the Tigers prevailing twice.
As for Tuesday, three local teams were in the top five in the Division II standings, according to the Vermont Principals’ Association website. Lyndon (9-1) and defending champion BFA-Fairfax (12-0) with VUHS (8-2) in second, Mount Abe (10-3) in fourth, and OV (8-3) in fifth.
EAGLES
On Tuesday, the Eagles bolted to a 12-0 lead and held on for a 16-12 victory over visiting Rice. The Eagles scored four in the first, one in the third and seven in the fourth to take their big lead before Rice began to score on starting pitcher Rachael McCormick, who was seeing her first action since a home-plate collision on May 13.
McCormick went 5.2 innings, allowing seven runs, four earned, on 11 hits while striking out six. Sam Forand finished up on the mound, surviving Rice’s four-run seventh.
Melanie Rotax andDani Forand both belted two-run doubles in the Eagle first inning, and Kendra Thompson andAshley Boise contributed RBI hits in the Eagles’ big fourth inning.
Sam Reiss reached base five times with two hits and three walks, scoring twice and driving in two runs; Rotax finished with two hits, two runs and the two RBIs; Dani Forand singled, doubled and drove in three runs; and Madi Wood singled twice, walked twice and scored twice.
TIGERS
On Monday, the Tigers scored five runs in the first inning against visiting North Country on the way to an 8-2 victory. Payton Buxton tossed a complete-game five-hitter, striking out 11, and also drove in two runs. Hannah Lawrence knocked out three hits, and Janelle Mandigo singled home a pair of runs.
On Tuesday, Haley Davis tossed four innings of two-hit ball to earn the pitching win as the Tigers topped visiting Champlain Valley, 13-2. Lawrence sparked the attack again with three doubles, driving in three runs, and Makayla Foster tripled and drove in two runs.
OTTERS
On Monday, OV avenged an early-season, six-run loss by beating visiting Brattleboro, 2-0, as Taylor Aines tossed a three-hitter and fanned 12 batters while walking four. Laura Beth Roberts singled home one OV run, and Maia Edmunds later singled and scored a pad run as OV knocked off the defending D-I champions, who fell to 8-5.
COMMODORES
On Tuesday, Dani Brown tossed a complete-game one-hitter and struck out 15 as the Commodores blanked visiting St. Johnsbury, 7-0. VUHS broke open a scoreless game with a six-run fifth inning. Tamara Aunchman (double, single, two RBIs), Sarah Poirier-Thayer (two-run single) and Brown (two hits, RBI) produced the key offensive moments for the Commodores.