Game 16: Mountaineers 15, Bay Sox 1

It was smiles all around after Mikael Mogues launched one of three Vermont home runs. /VTM Photo

Troy Scocca hit the first cycle in Mountaineers history Monday night to help Vermont roll to a 15-1 victory over the New Bedford Bay Sox. Scocca reached base five times for Vermont, which connected for 15 hits as a team. The Mountaineers bats came alive early and often after entering the night with only four home runs in 15 games. Trevor Ezell, Mikael Mogues and Scocca all hit home runs as the Mountaineers easily set a season high for runs scored.

"They're capable of it," Vermont manager Joe Brown said. "A lot of those guys have been swinging a good bat, it's just with nobody on and two outs. Tonight, they were with guys on base. We got good swings in."

Scocca drew a walk in his first at-bat. He followed with a two-run homer in the third, a double in the fifth and a triple in the sixth. In his fifth at-bat of the night, he completed the cycle by beating out a single to the shortstop to lead off the eighth inning. He finished 4-for-4 with three RBIs, marking one of several impressive efforts by Vermont hitters.

"I knew," Scocca said going into his last at bat. "I was just trying to get a good pitch. It wasn't hit hard, but it was placed well and I was able to beat it out. It was just great to be a part of this and have the city of Montpelier behind me."

Center fielder Joe Tietjen, hitting out of the No. 2 spot in the Mountaineers lineup, extended his hitting streak to nine games. Since making his season debut on June 17, Tietjen has yet to go hitless in a game and turned in yet another strong performance. He tripled off the wall in left-center with one out in the third and scored. He drove in another run with a triple to the opposite alley in right-center.

Mogues has still been Vermont’s hottest hitter and responded after going 0-for-4 in Sunday’s loss to North Adams. He singled on the first pitch he saw against New Bedford and drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in his second at-bat. He also launched a two-run home run and capped his night with a one-run single. The Times Argus Player of the Week finished 3-for-4 with a game-high four RBIs.

"Coach Brown's really helped me out a lot to make just a couple tweaks in my swing and it's helped me see the ball a lot better," Mogues said. "It was a changeup up (on his home run). The pitcher made a mistake and I capitalized -- I love hitting on this ballpark."

It was a shaky night for Bay Sox pitching.

Phil Reese, making his first start of the summer, was tagged with four earned runs on five hits over four innings. Vermont jumped ahead in the third behind a one-run single from Ryan Fineman, who found the hole through the left side of the infield. The Mountaineers tacked on three more in the third, thanks to a sacrifice fly from Mogues and a two-run home run from Scocca.

Reliever Derrick Pickvet didn’t fare much better when he entered in the fifth. Ezell led off with a single and was off to the races on Tietjen’s second triple. Mogues followed with a two-run home run, and Scocca doubled and eventually scored on a fielding error from Bay Sox shortstop Connor Hooker.

Scocca added to a stellar night against Bay Sox reliever Nick Miceli in the sixth. After Tietjen reached on a fielding error at the shortstop position, Scocca connected for a line drive into deep right-center and cruised into third. The stand-up triple pushed Vermont’s lead to double-digits.

New Bedford turned to outfielder Alex Mata to pitch the seventh, and Ezell came up with a sacrifice fly and Mogues added a one-run single that one-hopped the third basemen. A two-base throwing error in the ninth resulted in two more runs for the Mountaineers.

The offensive support was not completely necessary while Sam Bordner was on the mound. The Louisville product, making his first start of the summer, allowed a lone run over five innings. He allowed two hits, issued three walks and struck out one.

Bordner earned the win - his first of the season - while lowering his earned run average to 2.89.

"You have to give him a lot of credit for that," Brown said. "That was his first start of the summer. His coach at Louisville wanted to build him up, so we threw him a couple times out of the bullpen to get him ready."

Jon Stiever, who entered having made three starts for Vermont this summer, threw two scoreless innings. Native Vermonter Sean Callahan finished off the blowout with a pair of shutout innings.

"We backed off one of our starters in Jon Stiever," Brown continued. "He's been throwing a lot, so we brought him out of the bullpen. This is how you manage your pitchers to make a run at the end. You don't need to bring everyone out on four days rest. We're going to take a deep breath and say, hey, take a day off."

The pitchers were backed by errorless baseball in an impressive all-around performance.

"That's going to happen," Brown said of the excellent all-around game. "These are good baseball players and we're settling in on our defensive core. As we do that, I think you'll see really good defense."

The outcome gives the Mountaineers the start they were aiming for to open a three-game home stand. Vermont will host another Southern Division foe in Plymouth tonight before hosting divisional rival Keene on Wednesday. First pitch for both games is 6:30 p.m.