CVU proves adept at notching wins while dodging rain

CVU 6, BFA-St. Albans 2
The Redhawks traveled northwest to an away game with BFA-St. Albans on Thursday, May 15, and tallied another win.

In the bottom of the first inning, the Bobwhites were the first to get on the scoreboard when Carson Neveau hit a double to score Gavin Clark from second base.

The score stood at 1-0 until the top of the fourth when Zavier Barnes tied it up at 1-all on a sacrifice grounder to first to bring home Andrew Nunziata.

John Deyo’s single in the fifth and a Bobwhite error scored Riley McDade to give CVU a 2-1 lead in the fifth.

Deyo’s single was one of a barrage of singles he had. In his four trips to the plate, he hit singles in the first, third, fifth and sixth innings. Deyo’s single in the sixth, scoring Daniel Tuiqere and Tommy Barnes, gave the Redhawks a more comfortable 4-1 advantage.

Another run in the sixth on a Ryan Wood grounder to right field that scored Deyo made it even more comfy.

Quinn Vincent hit a double shortly after to score Wood for the Redhawks’ sixth and final run of the game.

A BFA-St. Albans score in the bottom of the seventh with two outs was too little too late.

Riley O’Brien threw five innings of one-run ball, giving up just two hits. It was a memorable game with O’Brien pitching against his cousin Evan Marchessault.

Assistant coach Sam Fontaine said they had expected a big game against a vastly improved BFA-St. Albans team.

“This was the ultimate team win, that had many great things to take away,” Fontaine said. “One of those was putting the ball in play, which we did. It proved to be the key to winning baseball, keeping it simple at the plate.”

CVU 9, Burlington 1
CVU easily dispatched the visiting Seahorses on Monday, May 19, starting their scoring in the first in their first at bat, when Noah Musgrave knocked a double to left field and scored on a fielder’s choice by McDade.

Deyo scored from second on a Quinn Vincent grounder to center field, and CVU was up 2-0.

In the second inning, a McDade double, scoring Will Myers and Tommy Barnes, put the Redhawks up 4-0. A Deyo sacrifice grounder scored Musgrave. Wood followed with a triple to score McDade, putting CVU up 6-0, and the rout was on.

Burlington crossed the plate in the top of the third, and that was all of the offense the Seahorses would muster.

McDade and Wood both went 2-for-3 at the plate. McDade had a single, a double and three RBIs. Wood ended up with a single, a triple and two RBIs.

Vincent took the win on the mound for the Redhawks, throwing three innings of no-hit ball and striking out three.

St. Johnsbury 3, CVU 1
Champlain Valley traveled to St. Johnsbury on Tuesday, May 20, for a pitchers’ duel.

The Hilltoppers got on the board with a run in the bottom of the first when Carson Finn hit into a sacrifice double play that scored one run. That was all of the scoring for either team, until the bottom of the sixth when St. Johnsbury added two more.

In the seventh, Tuiqere scored on a wild pitch, but that, as they say, was all she wrote. Well, almost all: With the bases loaded in the final frame, two outs and the bases loaded, Deyo hit a lineout to center field that was barely caught by Will Eaton to end the game.

Nunziata took the loss on the bump with six innings of two-hit ball, giving up three runs and striking out six.

Cage Thompson was the winning pitcher, giving up three runs and striking out seven.

CVU 7, Rice 3
After the Wednesday, May 21, win at Rice, coach Nicky Elderton gave the game ball to team captain Wood. Elderton emphasized the word “captain,” noting that there aren’t too many juniors who are captains.

So, it wasn’t just this game in which Wood has been a defensive and offensive standout. He has been contributing from the plate and with his play at first and third base. The game at Rice was CVU’s third game in three days, and Wood had been particularly adept at helping to pick the team up in big situations during that three-game stretch, Elderton said.

In the first inning, Wood hit a double, scoring McDade and John Deyon, to put the Redhawks up 2-0 shortly after the game had started.

O’Brien hit a fly that was at the fence for a double in the second inning. Tuiqere knocked him home for a third run to put CVU up 3-0.

In the bottom of the fifth with two outs, Rice’s Oliver Quong hit a double to right field that scored Holden Mulvey. Coleton Merchant followed with a pop-fly single to right that scored Quong to make things interesting at 3-2.

The top of the seventh started with Henry Bushey drawing a walk. Tommy Barnes and Tuqiere followed with bunt singles to load the bases.

A passed ball put McDade on and brought home another run for Champlain Valley. Wood hit a drive that bounced off the top of left fielder Bryce Phelp’s glove to make it 5-2.

Quinn Vincent hit a grounder to right field and was thrown out trying to make it to second, but Tuiqere and Deyo scored to put the Redhawks up at 7-2.

The Knights managed a third run in the last inning but no more.

The switch to bunting in the final frame came, Elderton said, because Rice is a really good team, and one run didn’t seem like a big enough margin.

“We just always want to put pressure on teams, and we wanted to manufacture a couple insurance runs,” he said. “Small ball puts a lot of pressure on teams, and things went our way.”

CVU 8, Rutland 3
At the last minute, because of the weather the Redhawk’s home game at 11 a.m. on Saturday was changed to a 2 p.m. game at Rutland.

Fontaine said they were proud of how the team handled the uncertainty, grinding out a dominant win on a confusing day.

O’Brien shone on the mound, hurling six innings while giving up three hits, striking out 13 and committing no errors.

In a scoreless game to that point, CVU got on the scoreboard in the third inning when a hard-hit ground ball led to a Rutland error that scored Tommy Barnes and McDade, putting the Redhawks up 2-0.

In the sixth, Wood and Quinn Vincent scored off a Zavier Barnes double with two outs.

The Redhawks added four more in the top of the seventh, and Rutland responded with three runs in the final frame, but it was just window dressing with CVU leaving town with a 8-3 victory.

CVU tallied 12 hits. Once again, Woods made big contributions at the plate, going 2-for-4 with a triple and two RBIs.

Going into the last week of the regular season, Fontaine said, the team is focusing on a new word — finish.

With three games remaining, the Redhawks were in seventh place in Division 1.

South Burlington 4, CVU 3
On Tuesday, for once playing on a beautiful day at South Burlington, the result was not as beautiful as the Redhawks wished. CVU dropped a game it had led from the third inning on a walkoff.

Champlain Valley was scheduled for another away game on Wednesday at Essex and its final game of the regular season, a home game on Thursday against Colchester. Those games were played too late for this edition of the newspaper.

With the season moving to the regular season culmination, Elderton is happy with how his team has evolved and their prospects for the postseason.

“The games that we’ve lost, they’ve been playoff intensity,” he said. “You’ve got to go through those battles to be ready. The postseason is a whole other beast.

As of Tuesday, Wood is the hitting leader with a .404 average and 15 RBIs. Deyo is batting .333, Vincent .311 and McDade .300. Musgrave is leading in steals with eight.

The team’s ERA is 3.08. Vincent has an ERA of 1.75 in 36 innings on the mound, and O’Brien has an ERA of 1.79 with just over 27 innings.