Vermont holds off Holyoke 5-3, advances to championship series
Toolbox
Staff Report - Published: August 7, 2009
HOLYOKE, Mass. – The Vermont Mountaineers have saved their best for the playoffs once again.
The Mountaineers rolled to their second straight playoff sweep on Thursday, posting a 5-3 victory over the Holyoke Blue Sox to claim the Western Division title in New England Collegiate Baseball League postseason action.
"The morale is sky-high," Vermont manager Troy Moock said. "We're Western Division champs and now we have to go and play either Sanford or Newport. But either way we're OK. The guys feel good right now."
The Mountaineers return to action on Saturday when they will travel to play the winner of today's Eastern Division title game between the Newport Gulls and the Sanford Mainers. Vermont's final home game will take place on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. at Recreation Field in Montpelier.
"I'm glad we got a day off," Moock said. "Especially with the way our pitching staff is – we were in between starters for (today) anyway – so a day off will be a big help."
Justin Jackson pitched seven strong innings for the Mountaineers and was backed by the hitting of Nick Martinez, who went 2 for 4 with a double, a triple and two RBIs.
Vermont got on the board in the first with an RBI single by Steven Rosado that drove in Henry Dunn. The Mountaineers did most of their damage in the fourth after they loaded the bases with nobody out by way of two singles and an error. Martinez continued his hot hitting by doubling to right-center field, driving in a pair of runs. Jantzen Witte followed with a sacrifice fly to give Vermont a 4-0 lead.
The Blue Sox responded in the fourth when Murray Watts scored on a single by Steffen Arcure, but Holyoke helped the Mountaineers pad their lead in the fifth. Steven Felix singled and then took advantage of a passed ball and wild pitch to score Vermont's fifth and final run.
Murray Watts hit a two-run home run in the eighth off Mountaineer reliever Colin Duffie to cut Holyoke's deficit in half, but that was all the offense the Blue Sox could muster.
"We were up 5-1 and we walked a guy – by the umpire's opinion – and then we gave up a home run to straightaway center that made it 5-3, but it wasn't as close as the score said," Moock said. "But at the same time they were still within reach, so we brought in Kevin Vance to close it out and he did a great job. He shut them down again. And I thought Justin Jackson did a great job going seven full innings on the mound."
Vance pitched a scoreless ninth to earn the save, his first of the postseason.
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