A walkoff single in the bottom of the ninth carried the Northern Division to a 4-3 victory over the Southern Division at Sunday’s 2014 New England Collegiate Baseball League All-Star Game at Mackenzie Stadium in Holyoke, Mass. All four of the Vermont Mountaineers representatives- Blake Tiberi, Mike Vigliarolo, Trey Amburgey and Jared Gesell- appeared in the contest, the first between the newly aligned divisions.
Amburgey, a outfielder from St. Petersburg, hit in the three spot for the North and was arguably the team’s MVP. He hit a sacrifice fly to right field in the first and then came around to score after hitting a leadoff single in the fourth inning.
“This was an awesome experience,” the rising senior said. “It was a very long day, but I was surrounded by the best players in the league this year. It was a true honor and a blessing.”
He gave the North an early 2-0 lead, accounting for both of the division’s early runs. He drove in leadoff hitter Vinny Zarrillo, an outfielder from Laconia, who reached on a leadoff single. Amburgey scored his run when Zach Lauricella, a member of the rival Keene Swamp Bats- grounded into a 4-6-3 double play with the bases loaded.
Tiberi and Vigliarolo sandwiched Amburgey in the lineup, with Vigliarolo batting cleanup and Tiberi hitting second. Tiberi grounded out to the first basemen and reached on a fielders choice in his two at bats. Vigliarolo struck out and then laced a single into left field in his next at bat.
He moved to third and was off on the pitch with Laconia second basemen Matt Byrne at the plate. Byrne struck out swinging for the third out of the inning but Vigliarolo had slid in and would’ve been safe with what would’ve been just his second stolen base in 20 games.
The rest of the Northern Division were held in check by a strong Southern pitching staff until the rally in the ninth. Newport’s Armand Rugel, Danbury’s Andrew Schwaab and Ocean State’s Mitchell Jordan all had 1-2-3 innings in front of a large contingent of scouts from all the major league teams.
Meanwhile, the Northern Division pitching was strong as well. Laconia’s Jack English struck out the side in order in the third and they shutout the South up until the fifth inning. Ocean State’s Ryan Blanton hit a RBI double off of Sanford’s Christian Lavoie and teammate Drew Ferguson laced a two-run single down the line to pull ahead.
Vermont’s closer, Gesell, came on in the seventh. He struck out the first batter he faced, Mystic’s Tyler Boyd, looking before allowing Plymouth outfielder James Bunn to lace a single. He got Mystic second basemen Aaron Hill to ground into a fielders choice before his catcher, Conor Fitzsimons, threw Hill out at second.
"It was a really fun experience to be a part of," Gesell said. "I had fun just getting to know the other players and enjoying the great environment."
The North loaded the bases in the seventh with two outs against Newport reliever Marc Huberman, but Sanford outfielder Drake Parker went down looking. Just two pitches before, he hit a deep flyball down the right field line that just went foul.
Ocean State’s Jordan was in line for the win after his 1-2-3 fifth inning. However, the Southern Division turned to Vincenzo Aiello, the closer from the league-leading Pilgrims, for the ninth.
Valley’s Angelo La Bruna reached on an error and prevented a double play by beating out a diving Hill at second after being off on the pitch. With one out, North Adams JC Cardneas came up clutch and laced a line shot down the first base line for a game-tying RBI double. The run was unearned, but Aiello ran into more trouble.
He walked Parker, and him and Cardenas pulled off a double steal with one out. Then, Keene’s Jared Mederos hit a walkoff single through the right side of the infield to carry the Northern Divison to the 4-3 win. It prompted the dugout to leap the barrier and mob him at first after Cardenas scored the game-winner. Mederos was named the MVP, the fourth time that a Swamp Bat has picked up the honor.
Aiello took the loss, while Keene’s Benjamin Criscuolo picked up the win after working around a two-out single in the ninth.
Earlier in the day, the NECBL hosted skills competitions in front of the scouts. No Mountaineers participated, however. Newport’s Blaise Salter hit seven home runs over the course of three rounds in the Home Run Derby to down New Bedford’s Lorenzo Papa in the final.
Plymouth’s Michael Martin won both the 60-yard dash and outfield throwing accuracy competition. He ran a 6.4 60, with Richardson placing second. He also downed Ocean State’s Evan Ocello and North Adam’s Vladimir Gomez in the outfield throwing contest, which tested the arms from distances of 215’ and 250’.
Vermont has an off day tomorrow and are back in action on Tuesday when they head down to Mystic to take on the fourth-place Schooners. The Mountaineers didn’t list a probable, but the Schooners will send Chris Kalica to the mound. The right-hander has a 3.26 ERA over five starts and started with 19.2 straight scoreless innings before running into trouble in his last two appearances.
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