Mainly clear. Low 56F. Winds light and variable..
Mainly clear. Low 56F. Winds light and variable.
An Essex player moves in for the tag at second base on Manchester's Will Addington, right, during their American Legion tournament matchup held at Castleton University on Friday afternoon.
Manchester Union Underground's Charles Kunz (12) is congratulated by teammates for hitting a home run during their American Legion Tournament matchup with Essex Post 91 on Friday at Castleton University.
Manchester Union Underground relief pitcher Jack McCoy (22) fires a pitch to an Essex Post 91 batter during their American Legion Tournament matchup on Friday afternoon at Castleton University.
An Essex player moves in for the tag at second base on Manchester's Will Addington, right, during their American Legion tournament matchup held at Castleton University on Friday afternoon.
Manchester Union Underground's Charles Kunz (12) is congratulated by teammates for hitting a home run during their American Legion Tournament matchup with Essex Post 91 on Friday at Castleton University.
Manchester Union Underground relief pitcher Jack McCoy (22) fires a pitch to an Essex Post 91 batter during their American Legion Tournament matchup on Friday afternoon at Castleton University.
CASTLETON — The Vermont American Legion state tournament can be a grind. Teams are potentially playing five days in a row, making fresh bodies vital to get through it.
Nothing does a body any better than a rest day, a chance to recharge the batteries for the stretch run. Essex Post 91 earned that opportunity for some rest, topping Manchester Union Underground 9-2 in a state tournament winner's bracket game on Friday at Castleton University.
The win pushed Post 91 to Sunday's championship, with two opportunities at earning its second straight Legion title.
A major strength for Essex in the spring high school season was its pitching. Their hurlers played a massive role in earning a Division I state championship and they've been doing the same over the summer.
Andrew Goodrich tossed a gem in the opening tournament game against Bellows Falls on Wednesday and Mathew Safer provided plenty of length in Thursday's win against Brattleboro.
It was Braedon Jones' time to shine on Friday against Manchester and he answered the call in a big way.
Jones, a recent CVU graduate, tossed a four-hitter. He struck out just five, but pitching to contact, his defense stepped up huge behind him.
Goodrich, playing shortstop, was a ball magnet and made play after play. His middle infield partner Owen Pinaud, made one of the plays of the day late in the contest, diving to his left to make a stop, before getting the runner at first.
With quality defense and a pitcher in the zone, Manchester had a tough task.
"It would be hard to beat them any time he throws," said Manchester coach Eddie Lewicki. "He throws hard, so it takes the guys a little bit of time to adjust. We got better swings after that. You score two runs against (Essex), you're not going to win."
"(Braedon) is good. He's been like that every game," said Post 91 coach Reese Tanguay. "I'm proud of him and I'm proud of our catcher (Eli Bostwick). So far, out pitching has been great."
It's tough for a team to beat Essex when the opponent is playing clean baseball. It's doubly hard when the defensive effort isn't up to snuff.
Post 91 scored two runs in the first on a triple by Goodrich and a sacrifice fly by Bostwick, but Essex created separation with a three-run third, which was aided by shaky defense from Manchester.
Two throwing errors allowed Safer and Ben Deibler to score and Storm Dusablon came in soon after on a Pinaud single. Manchester made four errors on the day.
Charlie Kunz provided one of the few Manchester offensive highlights of the day with a home run over the left field fence in the top of the third, but Manchester couldn't make much of a dent in the lead.
Will Addington provided the other Union Underground run in the sixth inning on a hit that scored Trevor Greene. Greene was named the Southern Division Player of the Year for his standout summer.
Essex got insurance runs in the fifth with an RBI apiece from Deibler and Dusablon, before adding on two more in the sixth on a pair of balks.
It was a rough start, but Lewicki thought his team was competitive.
"Not good baseball to start it off, but we get to play another day because of the position we put ourselves in," Lewicki said.
It all comes back to the cat and mouse game of the state tournament. Teams have to factor in the next day and who may be available to pitch if you get through.
Manchester certainly had that on the mind with how it handled its pitching once it got down. Griff Briggs provided 1 2/3 innings, Jack McCoy pitched 2 1/3 innings, Will Addington pitched 2/3 of an inning and Tor Majorell finished it out.
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