BBA 'eats' up Cosmos

It was the breakfast of champions http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20120429/SPORTS02/704299967

Published April 29, 2012 in the Rutland Herald BBA ‘eats’ up Cosmos By POODY WALSH Herald Correspondent SPRINGFIELD — It was the breakfast of champions. From now on each game day, the Burr and Burton baseball squad is going to have a team breakfast. Saturday the Bulldogs had pancakes and bacon at the Firehouse Restaurant in Manchester before heading to Springfield, where they put a 21-8 hurting on the Cosmos. Senior Ryley Kevil liked his morning meal so much he homered and had six runsbatted in as the Bulldogs won for the fourth straight time and moved to 7-3 on the season. Kevil, who plays for Rutland Legion in the summer, was only a double short of the cycle as he also tripled and singled. In all the Bulldogs had 15 hits and scored in every inning. As potent as the Burr and Burton offense was, the Bulldogs really needed some relief pitching as Springfield showed some spunk coming back from a 10-1 deficit to cut the lead to 10-8. That relief was provided by junior Jake Stalcup, who pitched 4 1/3 innings of one-hit relief of starter sophomore Noah Rizio, who was making his first varsity start. Stalcup retired 13 of the 14 batters he faced and in one stretch set down 10 in a row. “He settled things down,” Burr and Burton coach Adam Provostsaid. The key for the Burr and Burton offense was putting the ball in play. Not one Bulldog struck out and the Cosmos were forced to make some plays, but it was not their day defensively as they made eight errors. Miscues have been a big problem for the 2-4 Cosmos this year as they made seven errors last Saturday in a loss to Otter Valley. Not only did the Bulldogs put the ball in play, but put it all over the place and with authority. “We hit the ball very hard,” Provostsaid. “And we put the pressure on their defense.” Kevil’s homer came in the first inning with Zach Stewart and Mitch Magarian on board. His drive was to deep center and really tagged, but it also got a boost from a strong tail wind, the ball rolled forever and Kevil was able to score standing up. After singling to left in the second, Springfield put a shift on the right-handed hitter when he came up in the third. He took the second pitch he saw and tripled down the right field line. Jake Oliver also had a three-hit game for the Bulldogs while Stalcup, Taylor Fuller and Dalton Blackwell each had two. After the Bulldogs went up 10-1, Springfield came back with seven runs in the third on just three hits as there were three bases on balls and a hit batsman. Jeff Fuller had a two-run double and Kirk Perham a two-run single in the uprising. “We battled back,” Springfield coach Larry Partridgesaid. “Burr and Burton is a good team. They’ll be in the championship game.” The Cosmos used three pitchers. Brandon Langan started and was followed by Perham and Taylor Fontaine.. Burr and Burton heads across the Connecticut River on Tuesday to take on Fall Mountain. Springfield heads 8 miles down to road to Green Mountain on Thursday.