Game 43/44 Recap: Mountaineers split double-header, results in four-way tie

Vermont center fielder Joe Tietjen avoids a tag at the plate during the Mountaineers 11-4 Game 1 win.

On a night where the teams lingered at the ballpark for half an hour after the final pitch to hear their fate, the prevailing story was one of weariness and frustration.

Directed at the league’s tiebreaker, four tired teams will rise bright and early Wednesday morning to play games at noon in the start of a four-team, three-game, two-location playdown — just for the right to travel to take on top-seeded Sanford as the fourth and final playoff team in the North.

For Vermont, Upper Valley, Keene, and Winnipesaukee, it’s a frustrating end to a long and winding regular season. In a league plagued by turnover, having to continue a brutal stretch of games entering the postseason is a steep task. They’ll be immediately at a disadvantage in the first round of the playoffs, as well, with the potential of having played five games in three days.

Mountaineers manager Joe Brown, who’s voiced his opinion during an interview earlier this season, didn’t hold back in a postgame talk — as he rightfully shouldn’t.

“It’s absurd and it needs to change,” Brown said of the NECBL’s tiebreaker. “You’re not doing these young men any favors and the quality of play is diminished. It’s not complaining, it’s about getting it right. Get it right. How many times do you have to do the same thing over and over and realize it’s totally silly?”

“That’s why people aren’t coming to our league right now,” Brown added. “It’s why we’re having issues with getting players.”

Brown’s Mountaineers split a doubleheader with Upper Valley. CVU high school graduate Rayne Supple took a no-hitter into the sixth in the opener, backed by an offensive outburst as Vermont rolled to an 11-4 win. In the nightcap, runs were few and far between, and a wild pitch was the deciding factor as the Nighthawks took a 2-1 win.

The split, paired with Winnipesaukee’s 13-inning loss at the hands of No. 1 overall seed Mystic, results in four teams tied with identical 19-25 records. However, instead of looking at the head-to-head record, which Vermont has an unmatched 9-6 mark, the league dictates a four-team playdown.

Vermont will host Keene at 12 p.m., while Upper Valley takes on the Muskrats. The winners will travel to the top seed at 6:30 p.m. for the decisive playdown. Vermont and Upper Valley are the top two seeds, followed by Winnipesaukee and Keene.

“We basically have beat head-to-head every single team we have to play again which is absurd,” Brown continued. “It’s something I’ve never heard of in my life. Whether it be for Upper Valley or Winnipesaukee, somehow we could have tiebreakers for teams 1-2-3, but teams 4-5-6 have to keep playing.”

“Might as well have teams one and two just go on and play the championship,” he finished.

How the pitching lines up will be the big storyline tomorrow, as both Winnipesaukee and Vermont are coming off double-digit innings. Brown addressed the situation further, simply stating he had no idea who would start tomorrow.

Supple lifted the Mountaineers in Game 1, baffling the Nighthawks. He worked around two errors and pair of hit batsmen to hold Upper Valley hitless until Joey Denison's leadoff double in the sixth inning. Supple gave up a one-out single but induced an inning-ending double play to polish off six scoreless innings.

He was backed by more than enough run support, as Vermont chased Nighthawks starter Joseph Levasseur after recording just four outs. The Mountaineers scored three in the first, five in the second, and added one in the third and two more in the fourth for the resounding 11-4 win.

Trevor Ezell, Joe Tietjen, and Will Morgan all turned in multi-hit games. Morgan went 2-for-3, driving in three runs with a double, a single, and a stolen base. Tietjen had a two-run double in the second as well.

Levasseur took the loss, allowing five runs, three earned, on four hits. Reliever Mike Coss coughed up four runs and recorded just two outs, and Billy Layne gave up two in 1 1/3. Cordes Baker, however, was unhittable out of the Nighthawks pen. He threw 3 2/3, striking out three and not allowing a hit.

Supple dominanted in Game 1.

Upper Valley scored all four runs against Mountaineers first basemen Mikael Mogues, who had a go of it on the mound. He recorded one out, giving up RBI singles to Walker Grisanti, Eric Leitch, and Austin Embler, as well as a sacrifice fly to Joey Denison. Sean Callahan recorded two quick outs in relief of the big left-hander.

Vermont’s offense slowed in Game 2 against Nighthawks southpaw Wes Engle, who spun a gem. He walked Ezell to open the game, and the Mountaineers speedy third basemen stole two bats and scored on a dropped third strike. After that, however, Engle was dominant. He struck out a season-high 10 in 5 1/3, working around four hits to allow the lone run.

Mountaineers starter Fitz Stadler retired eight of the first nine batters he faced but ran into trouble in the fourth. He walked Embler, gave up a double to Al Molina, and Charlie Colcannon came up with a one-out bloop single. It just kicked off the outstretched glove of Vermont second basemen Jeremy Giles, who was sprinting back into the outfield and couldn’t come up with it.

Stadler limited the damage, however, stranding the bases loaded. Upper Valley would ultimately break the 1-1 tie in the sixth against Vermont reliever Chandler Sedat. Sedat, the team’s top arm, hit Denison with one out. A single from Concannon moved Denison to third, and he came home on a wild pitch for the decisive run.

Upper Valley reliever Nick Jones polished off the win, retiring four of the final five batters he faced.

“We swung the bats well, but it’s a completely different game and you have to try to turn the page quickly,” Brown said of the difference. “They had a lefty who threw great, and then they had Jones and we knew that. We competed and had chances. I’m proud of the guys. They came down here after a day off and split.”