Sports
County baseball teams win in playoffs
ADDISON COUNTY — The Mount Abraham, Vergennes and Otter Valley baseball teams all posted comfortable wins at home in the first round of the playoffs on Tuesday. All three will also head onto the road for Friday quarterfinals.
EAGLES
On Tuesday the Eagles, seeded No. 7 in D-II, opened their title hunt with a 12-3 victory over No. 10 Stratton. Adam Mansfield notched the pitching win for the Eagles, striking out 10 and allowing two hits and one walk in five innings of work.
Gus Hill and Joe Graziadei sparked the Eagle offense with three hits apiece, and Ryan Whitcomb and Colby Lathrop each added two hits.
The 10-7 Eagles advanced to a Friday quarterfinal vs. No. 2 Spaulding (14-2). The Tide took two out of three from Mount Abe in the regular season, but the Eagles dealt Spaulding its first loss.
As the regular season wound down last week, on May 27 the Eagle nine blanked host Milton, 12-0, in five innings.
Mansfield tossed a one-hitter, striking out six. Lathrop doubled twice, singled twice and scored three times to lead the attack. Zeke Savage contributed three hits and two RBIs, while Neil Guy drove in four runs with three hits. Whitcomb and Carter Monks added a pair of hits apiece.
COMMODORES
VUHS earned the No. 6 seed in D-III with a 6-9 record against a schedule heavy with D-II competition. They opened on Tuesday vs. No. 11 Randolph and cruised to a 15-1 victory in five innings, breaking the game open with an eight-run third inning.
Jarret Muzzy earned the pitching win, striking out 11 while allowing one hit and one walk. Offensively, Barret Barrows drove in four runs with a pair of doubles; Elijah Duprey doubled, singled, drove in two and scored three times; Parker Kayhart tripled, singled, scored twice and drove in two runs; and Tucker Stearns tripled, walked twice and scored twice.
Next up for the Commodores is a Friday quarterfinal at No. 3 Montpelier (11-5-1) at 4:30 p.m.
In the regular season on May 27 host Enosburg, the No. 3 seed in D-II, blanked VUHS, 9-0, as Justis Orton tossed a complete-game three-hitter. Stearns took the pitching loss.
OTTERS
The Otters finished at 7-8 in the regular season to earn the No. 8 seed in D-II and opened on Tuesday by defeating No. 9 North Country, 10-5. They advanced to face undefeated No. 1 Hartford in a Friday quarterfinal at 4:30 p.m.
OV scored seven runs in the first inning against NCU (7-9-1), jumpstarting it with walks and a key two-run single by Jordan Beayon. Also boosting the Otters’ offense on the day were Caleb Whitney, who tripled and singled, Fraser Pierpont, who doubled and singled, and Lane Eddy, who poked two hits.
The early outburst allowed Pierpont, the OV ace, to leave the mound after one inning according to the Rutland Herald, while Matt Greeno did the bulk of the pitching. Although Pierpont returned late to nail down the win, his pitch count remained low enough to allow him to pitch against Hartford on Friday, per the Herald.
In the regular season, on May 27 the Otters upended visiting Rutland, 9-3, as Pierpont tossed a complete-game four-hitter, striking out five. Pierpont also doubled twice, singled and stole four bases. Parker Todd drove in a run with a squeeze bunt, and Ethan Blow, Lucias Sheldrick and Beayon also drove in runs for the Otters.
On Saturday host Hartford defeated OV, 10-7. Details were unavailable.
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