EAST CLARENDON – Host No. 2 Mill River snapped a tie with two outs in the bottom of the seventh and ousted the No. 7 Otter Valley Union High School baseball team from the Division II playoffs, 3-2, in a Friday quarterfinal.
The defending champion Otters finished at 10-8, while Mill River advanced to the semifinal round with a 15-3 mark.
Minuteman Dan Blanchard’s single off losing pitcher Will Claessens plated the winning run from third base.
Claessens went the distance, striking out three and working out of trouble with his off-speed pitches.
OV took a 1-0 lead in the second inning off MRU starter Lincoln Pritchard on two walks, an infield hit, and Emmett Thurston’s fielder’s choice grounder.
Prtichard doubled home two runs in the third to give MRU the lead.
OV tied the game on a Dean Douglass RBI single in the sixth off reliever Ben Upton, who ended up as the winning pitcher. A mix-up on a suicide squeeze cost OV a shot at the go-ahead run in that inning.
OV had three other hits, by Shane Quenneville, Connor Gallipo and Claessens.