Game 11 Recap: Waves 5, Mountaineers 4

Troy Scocca had a productive day at the plate for the Mountaineers. /Stefan Hard Photo

The Mountaineers put together a late rally, but misplays in the infield and struggles with runners in scoring position resulted in a 5-4 loss at the hands of the Ocean State Waves late Wednesday.

Struggles out of the gate have continued for Vermont, falling to 2-9 to start the team’s championship defense. Ocean State, meanwhile, has cruised to a NECBL-best 10-2 record, winning its fifth straight.

“We have to play way better,” Vermont manager Joe Brown said. “We need to be more accountable because we’re way underperforming. You don’t sugarcoat it for the guys, you have to bet better. You’re here to be better”

Defensive miscues were again the culprit. The Mountaineers committed three errors, running their total to 25 in just 11 games, a mark that leads the league. Vermont jumped out to an early 2-0 lead and was playing well behind a strong start from Joe Rocchietti on the mound. Rocchietti entered the fifth inning with a two-run lead and held the solid Waves offense in check — he had four strikeouts and conceded just two singles. A quality start from the right-hander was quickly knocked off course, however, due to a pair of costly errors. Shortstop Jeremy Giles couldn’t handle a pair of successive grounders hit to him, putting two runners on. Ocean State’s Alex Holderbach followed with a RBI single, and Nick Angelini capped the scoring and chased Rocchietti with a two-run double into the gap.

It was a tough loss for Rocchietti, who turned in a solid start. Brown pointed to his team’s strength on the mound after.

“I think we have better arms in a sense then last year,” he said. “We’re getting great starts, and all three guys pitched well tonight. We gave up five unearned runs. It’s way below the level of these kids.”

Two more runs came across in the seventh, this time on an error from second baseman Jeremy McCuin. Vermont reliever Culver Lamb left with two outs in the seventh, and Sam Bordner inherited a pair of runners in scoring position. Border induced a groundout to second base from Dean Lockery, but McCuin bobbled it. Ocean State shortstop Grant Williams, who started the play at second, didn’t hesitate rounding third base and scored without a throw for two insurance runs.

Waves starter Taylor Luciani served up two doubles in a shaky first inning, needing 43 pitches while seeing his scoreless innings streak stopped at eight. Luciani fought control problems, walking three and conceding a pair of runs. Vermont’s Troy Scocca came up with the big hit, driving in the pair via a double that kicked off the base of the wall in right field. However, Luciani escaped with the bases loaded, symbolic of problems the Mountaineers would face throughout the night.

Vermont finished 2-for-16 with runners in scoring position. The Mountaineers lowered their team average to just .212 with runners in scoring position, a dismal mark that has resulted in them ranking near the bottom of the league in runs scored this season. They’ve scored more than four runs just once.

 “That’s bad,” Brown said when he heard that number. “When it rains, it pours, but the bottom line is you need a way better approach.”

The Mountaineers left the bases loaded in the third against Waves reliever Nicholas DiEva. After falling behind in the fifth, the Mountaineers put runners on the corners against reliever Max Ford, but couldn’t get anything. A frame later, David Lett advanced to second on a two-base throwing error from the third baseman, but Waves reliever Logan Lessard set down the side in order afterwards. Vermont rallied in the seventh for a pair of runs as Scocca tripled in the gap to drive in a pair against Waves reliever Nick Johnson. However, with Scocca leading off third, Vermont resorted to its free-swinging ways. Slade Heggen lined out to second, pinch hitter Mike Osinski grounded out to second, and Lett couldn’t beat out a grounder to the hole at short.

For the second straight night, the Mountaineers offense got going too late. They scored three runs in the ninth against Newport on Monday, and the two runs they pushed across in the seventh against Ocean State wasn’t enough either. A strong Waves bullpen helped keep the Mountaineers subdued. DiEva and Ford came in sooner than expected after Luciani’s shaky start, and each threw a pair of shutout innings. Lessard and Johnson were each charged with a run, the latter inheriting a baserunner with one out.

Johnson ran into more trouble in the eighth as two runners reached on back-to-back singles with two outs. However, he induced an inning-ending groundout from Giles. Robert Hitt worked a 1-2-3 ninth for the Waves.

Vermont attempt to shake off the 0-2 homestead with a divisional road trip against rival Keene before taking on North Adams. The Swamp Bats are off to an impressive start to the summer, a division-best 7-4, but all signs point to that being unsustainable. Keene ranks near the bottom of the league in most pitching metrics and has surprising run differential of -4. First pitch is at 6:30 p.m. tonight at Alumni Field.

“We got a couple good starters going,” Brown said. “We’re going with Michael Fairchild (today), who just joined us. Pitching’s not the issue right now, it’s going to keep us in every game.

“Our issue is if we’re going to score runs and play defense — I can’t get more basic then that. Run, hit, throw, catch. Let’s not overanalyze this too much.”