Champlain Valley stumbles in state title tilt

Until John Deyo knocked a fly to South Burlington centerfielder S Mazza-Bergeron for Champlain Valley Union’s final out, hope had remained high, both among the Redhawks’ faithful and the team they love, that somehow the miraculous would occur and CVU would come back from a 6-2 deficit to repeat as state champions.

But it was not to be.

The Redhawks had to settle for second place in the state on Saturday, June 15, at Burlington’s Centennial Field. With the passage of time the players will surely come to embrace what an amazing accomplishment this was, but that realization was blotted out on this afternoon by the pain of losing.

Someday, these Redhawks will take pride in their legacy. The seniors had been part of a program that won two state championships, came in second and made it to the semifinals during their four years of high school.

And although CVU lost, they had made history. Elise Berger came in to pitch in the bottom of the seventh, becoming the first female to pitch in a high school state title game in Vermont history.

It is thought that Berger is only the second female to take the mound in a title game in the country’s history.

After the game, assistant coach Sam Fontaine was shedding tears of sadness for the loss mixed with tears of joy for what the team had accomplished this year and over the past.

Towards the end of the season, the Redhawks, who had only one loss at that point, went through a string of three shutout losses. Fontaine said to come back from that setback to get to the title game was “humongous.”

Over his 11 years with the Champlain Valley program, Fontaine has been part of seven teams that made it to the state championship.

“Yes, the players change, the coaches change, but the success stays and that’s special,” he said. “It is the hardest thing to go out and win a state championship, and then go and win another.”

CVU’s downfall came in the first inning. In the bottom of the first. A James Chagnon triple with the bases loaded scored three runs for the Wolves.

Then, Nick Kelly was hit by a pitch, the second batter hit in the initial inning by CVU’s usually sure-handed Stephen Rickert. Cedric LaMothe followed with a line drive to left that scored Chagnon to put South Burlington up 4-0.

A grounder by the Wolves’ Andre Bouffard and a CVU fielding error brought home two more scores and the Redhawks were looking at a 6-0 deficit.

Rickert was CVU’s first batter in the top of the second and he appeared to have gotten his mojo back, hitting a double to left. But he was left stranded.

In the bottom of the second, Rickert had regained his swagger, making an amazing behind-the-back catch on a sharply hit ball and following with a throw to first for the third out. His catch and throw had the crowd cheering. Many had seen Rickert pull off a similar fielding feat before, most notably in last year’s state championships when Rickert made the same play to avoid being hit by a speeding ball, while still making the out.

With two outs in the top of the sixth, Travis Stroh hit a line drive to center that scored Aaron LaRose, and finally CVU was on the board 6-1.

Russell Willoughby followed with a double that scored John Deyo, but the Redhawks’ rally went no farther than 6-2, and that was where the score stood at the end of seven innings.

After the game, coach Nicky Elderton conceded that it was an emotional game, but said they knew it was going to be emotional whether his team won or lost.

“South Burlington’s a heck of a team, and they played really well,” Elderton said. “We played well. We had one bad inning.”

Elderton said making history by putting Berger in to pitch had nothing to do with that decision.

“I’m not worried about all that stuff. She’s just another ballplayer,” Elderton said. “She’s been so successful for us all year. So, no matter who we put it out there, we knew we had full trust in their abilities.”

Although Berger gave up a single to the first batter she faced, she sat down the next three.

After the game Berger, ever the competitor, was visibly upset about the loss and agreed with her coach about the significance of her performance.

“For me, it was just another game, another inning,” she said, although she did admit she was honored her team trusted her to take the mound in that situation.

Rickert gave up four hits and four walks while striking out three in his five innings on the mound.