Burlington Central puts it to Hampshire
Burlington Central’s baseball team wanted to send Hampshire a message.
After losing to the Whip-Purs earlier in the season and drawing them in the opening round of the Class 3A Hampshire regional, Central made its statement quite clear Thursday.
The Rockets recorded 7 extra-base hits and 14 overall in their 9-1 victory over Hampshire in Big Northern East action at Hampshire. The Rockets (16-7) finish BNC East play at 8-2, needing Hampshire (12-9, 5-3) to now beat front-runner Richmond-Burton on Monday to clinch a tie for the league title.
Either way, Central definitely felt good walking out of Hampshire.
“We went up to bat right away and we were waiting for our pitch,” said Central’s Joey Lange, who finished the game with a pair of doubles 2 runs and 2 RBI in the victory. “Coach told us not to swing at junk and wait for the fastball. That’s what we did.”
Central got the bats going early. The Rockets knocked out 3 extra base hits in the first 2 innings to take a 3-1 lead. Sam Klein opened the game with a leadoff triple and Tanner Scott promptly brought him home with a sacrifice fly a batter later.
BC pitcher Nick Hahn got a 2-out single and courtesy runner Clem Acitelli quickly stole second. Lange then blasted his first of 2 doubles on the day to score Acitelli, giving Central a 2-0 lead in the first inning.
The Rockets added 5 runs off Whips starter Tyler Carter (4-3) in the fifth. Scott and Hahn each had an RBI double and Luke Fleming jacked a 2-run home run to left center field.
Central starter Hahn (3-3) held off the opposition despite the Whips being able to string hits together.
The Whips started making a 2-out rally in the third. Leadoff hitter Danny Grzywa kicked off three straight hard-hit singles, but Hampshire was not able to push a run forward. Hahn finally got Nick Holze to ground out to end the inning.
“I just had to throw strikes,” Hahn said.
Hampshire jumped out with 3 straight hits in the fourth inning, but Hahn got Cameron Waterworth to strike out looking and then Fleming threw out Zach Skog at the plate to save the 4-1 lead.
“That’s been our problem all season, coming up with the big hit,” Whips coach Steve Ream said. “It was a momentum breaker for us.”
Holze hit a first-pitch home run to right field to open the second inning for Hampshire.
“Nick came out and threw the ball excellent,” Central coach Kyle Nelson said. “He got defensive support and run support. It was great. He put the ball in play and trusted the defense.”