A good pitching effort can wipe away a lot of other frustrations on the baseball diamond.
Brattleboro Post 5 pitcher Danny Richardson delivered a gem in a 1-0 win over Bennington Post 13 in an American Legion Baseball game in Bennington on June 24.
Richardson needed only 80 pitches to throw a complete-game, four-hit shutout, with four strikeouts and one walk. He was aided as well by three double plays.
Bennington entered the June 24 game with Brattleboro after starting its season with a doubleheader loss to Bellows Falls Post 37 on June 21 (Post 37 beat Post 13 3-2 in the first game, and 7-0 in the second), followed by a big win over South Royalton on June 22.
The only run of the game came in the fifth inning. Post 13's Brady Sausville, pitching in relief of starter Devin Babson, gave up a pair of singles to Cam Wright and Kassadi Ramirez, and then hit Kevin Tao with a pitch to load the bases for Post 5. Ryan McAuliffe then hit a long fly ball to center fielder Matt Upright, plenty deep for a sacrifice fly to score Wright from third.
Pitching and defense definitely ruled in this game, as neither team could put together a big inning.
Post 5 followed up that effort with a 7-1 win over Hartford Post 26 at Tenney Field last Thursday. Winning pitcher Jimmy Mills was shaky in the first three innings but settled down after that for the complete-game victory. He walked five and struck out four, and gave Hartford's only run of the game early on.
Brattleboro took the lead to stay with a five-run third inning that featured a two-run single by Wright, an RBI double by Ramirez, and an RBI single by Chris McAuliffe. Post 5 then scored a run in the fifth, and another in the sixth to improve to 4-1 in league play.
• Last Thursday, Post 37 went up against Lake Region - arguably the most talented Legion team in the state - and fell short, 3-2.
Lake Region draws from Mill River, Poultney, Mount St. Joseph, and Otter Valley - all teams that have played for or won a state high school baseball title in the last couple of years. On top of this, they had their best pitcher, Brett Patterson, starting against Post 37.
Bellows Falls seemed unfazed by this array of talent, and jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Doug Avellino doubled on the fiirst pitch of the game and later scored on a Mike LaBeau groundout. Carson Fullam followed with an RBI double.
In LaBeau, Post 37 had its ace on the mound, and LaBeau and Patterson dueled the rest of the way. While Patterson stayed out of trouble after a shaky first, LaBeau gave up three runs in the fifth on a pair of errors and an infield hit by Lake Region's Lincoln Pritchard.
Patterson held Post 37 to three hits as Lake Region stayed undefeated in league play at 3-0. Post 37 fell to 3-2.
Pirates host July 4 baseball tourney
• The Saxtons River Pirates are hosting a seven-team men's wooden-bat baseball tournament on July 4 and 5 on Vermont Academy fields and Hadley Field in Bellows Falls.
The tournament is named the Joseph B. Meagher tournament, honoring the first commissioner of the Northern League and former coach of the Saxtons River Pirates.
Burlington (three teams), St. Albans, Norwich, Walpole, N.H., and the host Saxtons River Pirates are represented. All teams will play three games, with the championship game being held Saturday afternoon in Saxtons River.
Eleven games will be played leading up to the championship game. Game times for the Fourth of July are 10:30 a.m., 1 and 3:30 p.m. Play on July 5 is 10 a.m., 12:15 and 3 p.m.
Global hoops
• The New England Colonials International Basketball Club, a team of 11 players ages 16 and 17 from 11 countries, will be in Brattleboro on July 3 and 4 as part of its annual three-week tour of New England.
Players and coaches on this year's International Colonials hail from Austria, Brazil, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Romania, Scotland, Serbia, and Switzerland. These players are recommended to the program by their club and school coaches overseas.
Local sponsor Peter Boyle of Brattleboro says the International Colonials teams have traditionally celebrated the Fourth of July in Vermont.
The International Colonials program is sponsored by the New England Colonials International Basketball Club. Founded in 1980, the New England Colonials International Basketball Club is a nonprofit, volunteer-run program aimed at supporting and encouraging international friendship and understanding between New England student-athletes and their peers worldwide.
Boyle said that a number of Brattleboro students have traveled and played with New England Colonials teams over the years. For more information, contact Boyle at 802-257-1622 or [email protected] or visit www.NewEnglandColonials.net.
Running Fourth
• The Red Clover Rovers running club again hosts the Bill Powers Memorial Firecracker 4-Miler Road Race, a Fourth of July tradition in Brattleboro for years.
The race begins at Living Memorial Park at 9:30 a.m. and finishes at the Common just before the parade. For more information, write Donna Smyth at [email protected].
Don't forget the Red Clover Rovers' bi-weekly fun runs on Upper Dummerston Road in Brattleboro. Runners can choose 1-, 2-, or 3-mile routes on the road, or a 2.4-mile trail run. Meet at the Brattleboro Country Club at 6:30 p.m. on July 2, 16, and 30; Aug. 13 and 27; and Sept. 10.