CHESTER/SAXTONS SWEEPS BRATTLEBORO, KEENE KNOCKS OFF CLAREMONT, SUNAPEE EDGES PUTNEY AND WALPOLE BEATS NEWPORT IN CRVBL ACTION

By Kevin McElhinney, CRVBL

The Chester/Saxtons Crush vaulted into first place in the Connecticut River Valley Baseball League by sweeping a doubleheader against Brattleboro, while the Keene Black Dawgs handed Claremont its first loss of the year. In other town team action, Sunapee’s Old Lakers edged Putney and the Walpole Wild Blue defeated the Newport Polar Bears.

The weekend’s action began in Walpole, and the host Wild Blue rode the hitting and pitching of Joey Parrott and Chris Ballou to a 14-7 victory over Newport. Parrott got the win after striking out 10 Newport Batters and giving up just four hits in eight innings before Ballou closed things out in the ninth. At the plate, Parrott singled and doubled, scoring two runs and driving in another. Ballou also singled and doubled and drove in a pair of runs while scoring one himself.

In Sunapee, Old Lakers pitcher Tom Frederick gave up just one earned run in his team’s 3 to 2 win over the Putney Fossils. Jake Stout was the offensive star, going three for three and scoring two runs. Richard Bissell went the distance for Putney on the mound, surrendering seven hits and striking out four.

At Keene State College, the Keene Black Dawgs needed 11 innings to give defending league champion Claremont its first loss of the year, 3 to 2. Tim Santaw got the win for Keene on the mound and scored the game winning run after doubling in the bottom of the 11th and coming home on a walkoff single by Matt Gilbert. Cardinals pitcher Jon Nicholas kept his team in the game throughout and scored the tying run in the ninth.

At Vermont Academy, the hitters of the Chester/Saxtons Crush were just too much for the Brattleboro River Rats as Chester moved into the league’s top spot by sweeping a doubleheader by scores of 11-2 and 9-0. Chester/Saxton’s first four hitters went a combined 22 for 31 on the day, with Scott Renfro going 6 for 7 with six runs scored. Chuck Harriman drove in six runs while going 5 for 8. Jason Albert was 5 for 9, scoring five runs and Jamie Spence was 6 for 7 with 2 RBI. The winning pitchers were Doug Roberts and Nick Wirrkala.

Most CRVBL teams are taking the Memorial Day weekend off, but there is a doubleheader at Vermont Acadmeny starting at noon Sunday May 26, with Chester taking on Newport. All CRVBL games are free of charge, and to learn more about the league, visit its website at www.crvbl.org .

STANDINGS

Chester 6 1
Claremont 4 1
Sunapee 4 2
Newport 3 2
Walpole 2 3
Keene 2 3
Putney 1 4
Brattleboro 0 6

By Kevin McElhinney, CRVBL

NEWPORT, CLAREMONT, PUTNEY, CHESTER/SAXTONS AND SUNAPEE ALL TAKE GAMES DURING CRVBL WEEK 3

The Newport Polar Bears and defending league Champion Claremont Cardinals are the only two undefeated teams remaining in the Connecticut River Valley Baseball league following a weekend featuring five league games. The Putney Fossils also picked up their first win of the season while the Chester/Saxtons River Crush and the Sunapee Old Lakers split a doubleheader.

In Walpole, fans witnessed two stellar pitching performances as Claremont’s Jon Nicholas picked up his third win of the year as the Cardinals defeated the Wild Blue, 3 to 1 Saturday despite Wapole’s Joey Parrott striking out 17 Claremont Batters. Bob Myers of Claremont went 2 for 4 with an RBI, while also picking up the save by pitching the ninth inning.

At Bates Memorial Field in Newport, the Polar Bears took advantage of four Brattleboro errors and erupted for 11 runs in the fourth inning to defeat the River Rats, 22 to 7. Matt Maxham went 3 for 6 with 6 RBI, and was just a home run short of hitting for the cycle. Brandon Stocker earned the win for Newport. Brattleboro’s Mike Chevalier had 2 hits and an RBI and also pitched two innings of scoreless relief.

The Chester/Saxtons win came in the first game of a doubleheader at Vermont Academy, as the Crush broke open a 2-all tie with single runs in the third and sixth innings to beat Sunapee, 4 to 2. The Old Lakers came back in the second game on the strength of three doubles from catcher Kyle Cummings and the pitching of Tom Frederick, to defeat Chester/Saxtons, 10 to 2.

The Putney Fossils collected their first win of the season by beating the Keene Black Dawgs in Marlborough, 7 to 3. Kyle Whitworkth led off the game with a home run and added a double, while Richard Bissell went the distance on the mound for the victory. Matt Gilbert and Bryan Lantz were Keene’s big hitters, collecting four and three hits respectively.

This week’s CRVBL action starts on Wedensday evening as Putney hosts Chester at Dummerston field at 6:00 p.m. On Friday, Newport hosts Claremont at 6:00 p.m.. On Sunday, Walpole travels to Sunapee for an 11:00 a.m. game, while Brattleboro hosts Keene for a 1:00 p.m. game at Dummerston Field. All CRVBL are free of charge. To learn more about the league for the area’s adult baseball town teams, please go to the league website at www.crvbl.org .

STANDINGS

Newport 3 0
Claremont 3 0
Chester 3 1
Sunapee 2 2
Putney 1 2
Walpole 1 2
Brattleboro 0 3
Keene 0 3