FAIRFAX — The third-seeded Otter Valley Union High School baseball team on Wednesday defeated No. 2 Fairfax, 2-0, in dramatic fashion in a Division II semifinal, and will play No. 4 U-32 for the title. The Otters will be seeking their first title since 2013.
The D-II final has been set for University of Vermont’s Centennial Field at 7 p.m. on Monday.
OV (13-6) and U-32 (13-5), which knocked off top-seeded Lamoille on Wednesday, 5-2, did not face each other this spring.
Senior Derek Aines sparked the Otters’ victory over Fairfax. Aines tossed a complete-game, four-hit shutout and struck out 14 and walked two, and he also drilled a two-run, bases-loaded single with one out in the seventh inning to break a scoreless tie.
“Derek pitched the best game today that he has in four years,” said OV coach Mike Howe. “Fairfax is a very good baseball team. They scratch and they claw, and we knew that it was going to be a battle coming into today. I was hoping it didn’t take until the seventh to scratch a couple across, but we got the runs when we needed them the most.”
Patrick McKeighan, Nate Hudson and Daniel Allen poked two hits apiece for the Otters vs. the 13-4 Bullets.
At the same time, for U-32 against 17-2 Lamoille, pitcher Jackson Root carried a no-hitter into seventh inning and finished with a three-hitter, walking five. Hayden Roberge doubled twice for the Raiders and drove in two runs, and Cooper Lamb doubled and singled. The Raiders also eliminated defending champion Mount Abraham in the quarterfinal round, 3-2, in eight innings.