ADDISON COUNTY — Higher seeds won all the playoff games this past Wednesday involving local high school softball and baseball teams. All the games were either postponed or suspended from Tuesday.
In softball, the Vergennes, Mount Abraham and Otter Valley squads — the Nos. 2, 4 and 5 seeds, respec- tively, in Division II — all won one- sided games without allowing runs, while No. 7 Fair Haven ousted No. 10 Middlebury.
In baseball, No. 7 Otter Valley, the defending D-II champion, advanced, while in D-I No. 11 MUHS lost a heartbreaker to No. 6 Rutland. VUHS SOFTBALL
In softball, the host No. 2 Com- modores posted the biggest win, 18-0 over No. 15 Lamoille (2-13)
in five innings. Taylor Paquette tossed a no-hitter, striking out seven and walking one, and also drilled a bases-loaded double to spark the at- tack. Phoebe Plank added two hits and two RBIs for VUHS, which im- proved to 15-2.
EAGLE SOFTBALL
The host No. 4 Eagles won al- most as impressively, 15-0 over No. 14 Rice (4-13), also in five in- nings. Rachael McCormick and Sam Forand teamed up to toss a no- hitter and Melanie Rotax homered, tripled, singled twice, and drove in three runs. Kelsey Haskins picked up two RBIs, while Meghan Liv- ingston and Ashley Boise drove in a run apiece as Mount Abe improved to 14-3.
OTTER SOFTBALL
In Brandon, OV (12-5) finished up a suspended game by topping visit- ing No. 12 Lake Region, 14-0. The Otters led, 4-0, when play resumed and pulled away. Taylor Aines tossed a two-hit shutout and fanned 11, and also homered, singled and drove in three runs. Brittany Bush- ey knocked out three hits and drove in two runs, Megan Santell doubled and singled twice, and Maia Ed- munds drove in two runs. LRU fell to 6-10, while OV moved to 12-5. SLATERS VS. TIGERS
Fair Haven pulled away late to top the Tigers, 13-5. The Slaters scored six runs in the fifth after the Tigers had rallied to tie the game at 5-5. Anna Fabian earned the pitching win, while Timi Carone (four hits) and Marissa Lamoureux (three
hits) led the attack as the Slaters improved to 11-6. Justina Jackson started for MUHS and took the loss, while Haley Davis pitched in relief. Krisandra Provencher had three hits as MUHS finished at 7-10, in- cluding many close losses.
OTTER BASEBALL
The OV baseball team advanced by edging visiting No. 10 Enosburg, 4-2. Winning pitcher John Win- slow tripled home Will Claessens to snap a 2-2 tie in the fifth inning, and then scored an insurance run on a single by his brother Mike Winslow. Shane Quenneville added a pair of hits to boost OV. John Winslow tossed a complete game, striking out 11, as OV improved to 10-7. Enos- burg dropped to 6-10. TIGER BASEBALL
In Rutland in D-I, No. 6 Rutland edged the No. 11 Tigers, 1-0, on an unearned run in the sixth inning: Andy Cassarino tripled and scored on a throwing error. That was all the Raiders could muster off MUHS se- nior hurler Aaron Smith, who struck out eight while allowing three hits and two walks in six innings.
The game was suspended in the second inning on Tuesday, and Rut- land hurlers Cassarino and Andy Kenosh combined to hold the Tigers to one hit, a Sam Messenger single. That came in the fifth, when the Ti- gers put runners on second and third with none out. But a double play on a failed squeeze bunt helped Rutland out of the jam. The Tigers finished at 7-9, while the Raiders improved to 11-5.