HOLYOKE, Mass. – Vermont’s season came to a heartbreaking end at the hands of the Valley Blue Sox, falling in the opening round of the New England Collegiate Baseball League playoffs, 7-4, in Holyoke, Mass., at MacKenzie Stadium.

After an opening inning with little fanfare, the Mountaineers struck through the scoreless deadlock in the second frame on a Cam Climo (Billerica, Mass. / University of Massachusetts-Lowell) home run that just hugged the foul line. Valley’s Isaac Alexander nearly returned the favor, sending one to center field that fell just short of the fence, but it was quickly retrieved by Connor Charping (Trenton, Mich. / Western Michigan University) before any further threat could commence.

A masterful pitching performance by Sean Kealey (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Allegheny College) prevented the Blue Sox from gaining much offensive momentum in the opening half of the tilt. Vermont capitalized on the defensive excellency, posting two more runs in the fifth frame on a Brian Goulard (Hofstra University / Garden City, N.Y.) ground ball to right field that barely landed in play, allowing Straton Podaras (Radford University / Glen Head, N.Y.) and Evan Giordano (Sewell, N.J. / Stony Brook University) to score.

Kealey’s tremendous night came to an end in the bottom of the fifth frame, surrendering his first two hits back-to-back as Valley steadily loaded the bases. Michael Wroth wasted no time making the Mountaineers pay, driving a ground ball to third base which resulted in a costly error for Vermont that paved the way for Alexander to exact revenge and pick up the first Blue Sox run. Despite a swift Vermont pitching change, Valley continued their onslaught, piling on three more runs in the inning to take the 4-3 lead.

The home team nearly added to their advantage in the following frame, quickly getting two runners on base. A follow-up bunt by Wroth resulted in an awkward double play, kicked off by Giordano who got Travis Holt out at third before noticing that Wroth never ran, throwing to Goulard at first to destabilize the danger. The Mountaineers, meanwhile, took advantage, tying the game up in the seventh after a Valley error gave way for Corey DiLoreto (Reading, Mass. / Northeastern University) to make the safe dash home.

Valley got the last laugh, collecting the game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning after the first three batters rallied off three straight singles to load the bases. Alexander finished the job on the ensuing at-bat, getting a sacrifice fly out to right field to plate Carter Williams. The Vermont offense could not break through the resilient Blue Sox defense the rest of the night, as Valley collected the 7-4 victory.

Rob Griswold earned the win for the Blue Sox, allowing just two hits and one run in two frames of play. Hunter Waldis got the save, pitching the final inning and collecting a strikeout. Beau Keathley (Taylor, Mich. / Oakland University) took the loss, giving up seven hits and three runs in just under three innings.

The loss ends Vermont’s season at 25-20, the highest win total since the 2015 season, all the while recording the franchise’s first NECBL postseason appearance in four years. Valley, meanwhile, will advance to take on the Keene Swamp Bats in the league's Northern Division Championship series.

Thank you to the Vermont fans, families, volunteers, staff, players and coaches for following along with the Mountaineers this summer.

Ben Zacher