BRANDON — The next stop for the Otter Valley Union High School baseball express is the Division II final, for the second time in three years. They will be seeking another D-II title after the program captured the 2013 and 2017 championships.
On Tuesday, the 18-1 Otters dismissed No. 4 Harwood, 6-1, as ace Josh Beayon tossed a four-hitter, allowing only an unearned run in the seventh inning.
OV will meet a familiar foe in the final at the University of Vermont: Fair Haven. The Otters defeated the 13-5 Slaters twice in the last week of the season, 2-1 and 7-1. Slater ace Aubrey Ramey pitched into the seventh inning on Tuesday as Fair Haven knocked off No. 2 Enosburg, 1-0.
The Otters and Slaters will square off at Centennial Field at 7:15 p.m. on Friday.
On Tuesday, OV took a 3-0 first-inning lead vs. Harwood after an error opened the floodgates. A Marcus McCullough squeeze bunt plated the first run, and Kollin Bissette singled home two runs.
Beayon, who had two hits, singled and scored on an error in the third, and Patrick McKeighan singled home the final two runs, both unearned, in the sixth.