MIDDLEBURY — First-place Northern Division squad Orleans/Essex/Caledonia Kings swept three games from the Addison County American Legion baseball team on Wednesday and Thursday as AC’s season concluded late last week.
AC finished at 7-16, representing a six-win improvement over 2015. Almost all of AC’s 18 players will retain their eligibility for at least two more years, as only Chris Leach, Dylan Raymond and Calvin Desforges on the current roster will be too old to play next summer.
“Chris, Dylan and Calvin will be missed,” said Coach Mike Estey.
But OEC proved to be too much for AC last week. The 18-5 Kings, who advanced to the Vermont American Legion playoffs as the top Northern Division seed, swept AC at Middlebury College on Wednesday, 8-2 and 11-0, before defeating AC at home on Thursday, 11-2.
Thursday’s opener was a tight game through six innings, but OEC broke a 3-0 game open with five runs, two earned, in the top of the seventh.
Hunter O’Connor started for AC and allowed three runs through six innings, allowing five hits and five walks and hitting two batters. Both batters he hit and one he walked eventually came around to score.
OEC then scored its runs off reliever Greg Whitney, with a one-out error followed by four singles, with two errors on the fourth hit, and then an RBI groundout. George Bailey came on to get the final out.
AC plated both of its runs in the seventh. Will Wormer walked and Raymond singled, and a wild pitch and two balks scored them both. Bailey, Patrick Messenger and Whitney also had hits for AC.
In the second game, OEC’s Matt Page threw a five-inning two-hitter vs. AC, with a Devon Kimball triple and Desforges single the only safeties.
OEC scored nine times in two innings vs. Wormer, the AC starter. Bruce Wright allowed two runs in two innings, striking out two, and Wyatt Cameron struck out one during a scoreless inning.
On Thursday, OEC pulled away in the middle innings for an 11-2 victory. The Kings scored twice in the second inning and four times in the third off losing pitcher Adam Whitcomb; five of those runs were earned as Whitcomb surrendered six hits and six walks while fanning three in 3.1 innings.
The Kings added four runs, two earned, in the fifth off Cameron, who fanned two, and Dustin Whitcomb allowed one run while whiffing one batter in the sixth.
Leadoff batter Devon Kimball scored both AC runs. In the third, Kimball singled, stole second base, moved to third on a wild pitch, and scored on Dustin Whitcomb’s RBI fielder’s choice.
In the fifth, Kimball, Bailey, Messenger and Liam Smith all walked, with Smith earning the RBI by walking with the bases loaded. Four OEC hurlers held AC to three hits: Smith singled in the third, and O’Connor singled in the sixth.
   LIAM SMITH MAKES contact during a plate appearance for the Addison County American Legion baseball team vs. first-place OEC Kings on Wednesday. OEC took three games from AC late last week, dropping the local nine to 7-16 as their season concluded. The young AC team’s record was much better than a year ago and overall the squad was more competitive.
Independent photo/Trent Campbell