Smith and the
Mountaineers walk off with a third straight Northern
Division Title, 3-2.
MONTPELIER, VT -- The Vermont Mountaineers are headed to the
NECBL Championship Series for the third consecutive year
thanks to a walkoff home run by Curt Smith.
The Mountaineers swept the Holyoke Giants 2-0 in the
best-of-three series, winning 3-2 on Tuesday in front of
1307 at Recreation Field in Montpelier.
Vermont got on the board in the first, as Curt Smith began
his heroics early. He led off with a double against Holyoke
starter Colin Feneis and was moved over to third on a
groundout by AJ Pollock. Mike Sheridan drove him in on a
slow roller to second to make it 1-0.
The Mountaineers padded their lead in the fourth, When Chad
Durakis drew a leadoff walk. He moved to second on a
sacrifice walk by Shaun Hagey. Matt Wulfers singled through
the right side to bring Durakis home and give Vermont a 2-0
lead.
Holyoke finally broke through against Vermont starter
Arshwin Asjes in the fifth, when Jake Christman led off with
a double. He was moved to third on a sac bunt by Matt Riemer,
and came around to score on a ground ball off the bat of
Pete Vanderkolk that was misplayed by Mountaineer shortstop
Lanny Stanfield.
With the game 2-1, Holyoke would tie it up in their half of
the seventh. With two outs, Matt Riemer hit a grounder to
third. Matt Prokopowicz’s throw pulled first baseman Mike
Sheridan off the bag, resulting in an infield hit. The next
batter, Justin Little, tripled to deep left to drive home
Riemer and tie the game at two.
At the conclusion of the seventh inning, thick fog was
rolling in from left field towards right field, causing the
game to be delayed twenty minutes.
It turned out to be worth the wait for the Mountaineers.
Jason Mitchell entered the game for Vermont, and pitched two
great innings of relief, allowing just one hit and striking
out four batters.
Leading off the bottom of the ninth, Curt Smith walked up to
the batters box for his fifth plate appearance of the game.
In his first at-bat against Santo Maertz, Smith took the
second pitch he saw deep into the fog in left center field.
As the ball sailed over the fence, the Mountaineers dugout
emptied, and Vermont took a 3-2 victory to win the NECBL
Northern Division Championship for the third year in a row.
The Mountaineers will have Tuesday off to rest and soak in
the victory. Depending on the outcome of the Southern
Division Finals, which Newport leads 1-0, Vermont will see
action on either Wednesday or Thursday at the ballpark of
the Southern Division Champion at a time to be announced.
More details will follow at the conclusion of the Southern
Division Finals. Be sure to check
www.thevermontmountaineers.com and www.necbl.com for all the
latest information.
