It was one of the more improbable state baseball championship games in recent history.
The No. 8 Mount Abraham Eagles beat the No. 6 Bellows Falls Terriers, 11-1, for the Division II title at Centennial Field last Saturday. But that doesn't even begin to tell the story of these two longshots and how they ended up playing for a state championship.
Despite only having three seniors on the roster, the Terriers made it to the Division II final for the second straight year. BF had an up-and-down season, as you would expect with a young team. But their 8-8 regular season was not nearly as tumultuous as that of Mount Abe.
The Eagles lost their first six games. By all accounts, they were a team in name only. The players didn't get along. In five of those six losses, their opponents scored 11 runs or more. After getting blown out at home, 20-4, by Middlebury on May 3, the team met for 90 minutes and decided that enough was enough.
“None of us were getting along,” Eagles catcher Anthony Robideau told the Burlington Free Press, “We made an oath … we were going to turn around the season."
They won five of their 10 remaining games, and made it into the playoffs as the No. 8 seed. They rallied to beat No. 9 Lyndon in the first round, upset No. 1 Lamoille, the defending champs, in the quarterfinals, and shut out No. 5 Harwood in the semis to reach the state finals.
While BF's regular season was relatively placid, their postseason ride was almost as tumultuous as Mount Abe's. After beating No. 11 Springfield in the first round, the sixth-seeded Terriers needed comeback wins over No. 3 Lake Region in the quarterfinals and No. 2 U-32 in the semifinals to earn a second straight shot at the title.
“This is a bunch of overachievers, and I don't mean that in a mean way,” BF head coach Bob Lockerby told the Eagle Times after the U-32 win,.“We're achieving at the varsity level without a lot of experience. The guys with experience are doing their job, but it's these young guys that weren't a part of this a year ago, that weren't on that field, they are the ones helping us get this job done.”
So the scene was set with two underdogs who have already exceeded all expectations. But a few more improbable things had yet to happen.
Lockerby sent out his ace, senior Zac Streeter, as the starting pitcher, but the Eagles scored twice in the first inning. Streeter cut the lead to 2-1 in the bottom of the first after he was hit by a pitch, advanced to second on a sacrifice by his brother, Jacob, and scored from second on a towering fly ball hit by Brady Illingworth that was dropped by the center fielder.
But that was the last run the Terriers would score. The Eagles' starting pitcher, junior Adam Whitcomb, threw a two-hitter to get the win.
Whitcomb went 3-for-4 with three RBIs , and got plenty of run support from his teammates, as the Eagles chased Streeter from the game by the fifth inning.
The Eagles got 15 hits in all, the most they've had all season. Seven of those hits were for extra bases.
Chris Wood went 4-for-4 with a double and a triple to drive in two runs. Caleb Bonvouloir went 3-for-3 with a double, and Robideau was 2-for-2 with a double, a triple, and two RBIs.
BF finished its season at 11-9, while Mount Abraham finished with a 9-11 record and became the first Division II team with a losing record to win a state title.
• To get to Centennial Field, the Terriers had to pull off a big comeback against second-seeded U-32. BF scored three runs in the sixth inning and four more in the seventh to shock the Raiders, 9-3, in their semifinal game on June 6.
Alex Groenewold was 2-for-3 with four RBIs and Liam Hackett smacked a triple to drive in two runs to power Bellows Falls at the plate.
Zac Streeter struck out seven and allowed four hits, three walks and two earned runs to pick up the win.
Streeter, who was the class valedictorian, Groenewold, and Reid Coursen got their diplomas last Thursday. That leaves a strong core of players coming back for next season.
Rebels lose in 8 innings
• Leland & Gray had its title hopes dashed when Duncan Frazer's one-out triple brought home the go-ahead run in a two-run eighth inning as the top-seeded Rebels fell to the fifth-seeded Windsor Yellowjackets, 3-1, in a Division III semifinal in Townshend on June 6.
Winning pitcher Seth Balch took a no-hitter into the seventh inning. He struck out 13 and walked no one in a complete-game one-hitter for Windsor. Bryce Karg's single in the seventh was the Rebels' only hit.
Still, the Rebels managed to get eight men on base, as Balch hit two Rebel batters, four more reached on errors, and another got on base with a fielders choice.
Freshman pitcher Casper Rowe also went the distance for Leland & Gray in taking the loss. Frazer and Nick Kapuscinski each went 2-for-4 for Windsor.
Windsor dropped five of its first seven games to start the season, but four losses came against Division I opponents, two of whom reached the semifinals.
Playing a tough schedule may have helped, because Windsor knocked off third-seeded Randolph to win the Division III championship, 10-3, at Centennial Field last Saturday. It was Windsor's first baseball title since 1975.
As for the Rebels, they lose four seniors to graduation - Owen Beattie, Jeremy Bovat, Max Cramp, and Nick Morrow.
Four local legends added to VPA Hall of Fame
• There was another big Windham County contingent as part of the Vermont Principals' Association Hall of Fame class of 2016.
Leland “Buddy” Hayford, Corey Mullen-Rusin, Fred Waryas Jr., and Eric Evans were among the 14 student-athletes, coaches, administrators, officials, and a contributor selected for this year”s VPA Hall of Fame class.
Hayford has been a long-time teacher, coach, and advocate of youth at Wilmington and Twin Valley high schools. In more than 30 years as the boys' soccer coach at Wilmington and Twin Valley, Hayford's teams have won about 70 percent of their games with seven state titles and three seasons as runners-up.
He has coached girls basketball for over 25 years and his teams have won two-thirds of their games. The girls' hoop teams have taken two state titles and were runners-up four times. Hayford has received numerous Coach of the Year awards and is an inductee into the Lyndon State College Hall of Fame. The Wilmington High grad also has served as the athletic director at the two schools.
Rusin, a 2005 Twin Valley graduate, is one of the best basketball players in Vermont high school history, but also was known as a standout soccer player. Her awards include selection as a two-time Burlington Free Press “Miss Basketball,” and two-time Player of the Year by both Gatorade and the Vermont Basketball Coaches Association before going on to play Division I women's basketball at Boston College.
The 1,791-point career scorer was well known for her drive and desire for success in the classroom as well as the basketball court, where her teams went 81-9 in four years. For soccer, Rusin still holds several school records, including for both career goals (82) and career total points (192).
Waryas, a 1986 graduate at Bellows Falls Union High School, was a football and track standout and also played basketball. He was a two-time Vermont Decathlon champion and finished third as a sophomore. Waryas won two state titles in the pole vault and was runner-up once. He won the New England pole vault title as a sophomore and senior and also captured the 300-meter hurdles twice and the 400-meter crown once.
In football, Waryas helped lead the Terriers to two state football titles (with a 19-1 combined record) and was voted to represent Vermont in the Shrine Maple Sugar Game.
Evans, who lives in Putney, served as a soccer official for over 20 years and is a longtime lacrosse official. He is one of the top officials in both sports and worked numerous post-season tournaments. Evans has served as an instructor for U.S. lacrosse and as the rules interpreter for Vermont Lacrosse Officials Association. He has contributed articles about officiating to several publications.
He has served as president of the Vermont Soccer Officials Association, and has refereed international lacrosse matches as well as NCAA Division I and II national championships.
The Induction Ceremony for the Class of 2016 was held last month at the Capitol Plaza Hotel in Montpelier.
SEVCA hosts 'Chipping Away At Poverty' benefit golf tournament
• On June 24, Southeastern Vermont Community Action (SEVCA) hosts its annual 'Chipping Away At Poverty' benefit golf tournament at the Brattleboro Country Club.
Players have the chance to win the Hole-in-One Grand Prize of a brand new Subaru Crosstrek, generously sponsored by Brattleboro Ford-Subaru, $5,000 cash in the Putting Contest, and a host of other valuable prizes.
Individual golfers and foursomes can register now by contacting Linda Brooks at [email protected]. or by visiting www.sevca.org/golf-tournament for more information and a link to online registration. Area businesses can also call to find out about event sponsorship opportunities.
Proceeds will benefit low-income residents affected by emergencies, financial hardships, unemployment, and other crises.