Kenosh backbones opening win

The rangy right hander struck out 11 and allowed one bang-bang hit in five innings of Rutland High School’s 13-1 victory over Springfield in the Raiders’ season opener at Giorgetti Park.

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Photo by Albert J. Marro Rutland High’s Matt Hadeka (5) steals second base during Tuesday’s home opener against Springfield at Giorgetti Field. Kyle Weeks (8) flags down the throw for the Cosmos. Published April 13, 2016 in the Rutland Herald Kenosh backbones opening win By BOB FREDETTE Andy Kenosh’s college plans are very much up in the air. Tuesday’s type of game might just be the bait that gets a coach to bite hard. The rangy right hander struck out 11 and allowed one bang-bang hit in five innings of Rutland High School’s 13-1 victory over Springfield in the Raiders’ season opener at Giorgetti Park. Kenosh struck out the first five men he faced, did not allow a ball to be hit out of the infield and gave up only two baserunners, and the Raiders smacked 11 base hits in Matt Bloomer’s debut as head coach. “I think for the first game out this was great,” said Bloomer, who graduated from Rutland and its baseball program 20 years ago. He cracked a little smile. “I told them nothing came to mind that we did wrong but I’d come up with something for practice by tomorrow. “This is fun. It’s kind of fun to be back and living kind of vicariously through these guys.” This will be his only season with Kenosh, who was on the shelf last year during high school and American Legion season with an injury, unable to pursue his pitching passion. But perhaps his performances this season will fan the flames of collegiate interest. “Maybe,” said Kenosh, the starting quarterback of last autumn’s state championship football team. ”All I can do is pitch and take it one day at a time. If colleges look and they are interested, that’s a bonus.” “Those numbers will look nice to the college coaches that he’s in contact with,” Bloomer said. The opener was also about solid defense and timely hitting, including four hits for catcher Jaxon Smith. Smith drove in a run and his perpetual pinch runner, Alder Billings, scored every time Smith got aboard. Given the chance in an all-pinch hitter sixth inning, Billings singled to drive in a run. “This is my first four-hit game,” said Smith, who played behind Skylar LaFerriere last season. “Usually my first game is 0 for 2 or 1 for 3 so I just went in and tried to put my bat on the ball. It feels good starting out like that.” “It’s a lot more mellow in the dugout when we’re doing well,” said Billings. “I’m not so stressed out on the bases because I can rely on Andy to help out with the defense.” The Raiders put the pressure on the 1-1 Cosmos early with back-to-back two-run rallies against John Hildreth. Kyle Cassarino had a two-run single in the first and Jacob Godfrey another in the second, Godfrey’s coming with two out. The 4-0 lead was in little jeopardy with Kenosh firing fastball after fastball past Cosmos bats. He struck out two or more in every inning. Springfield got its first base runner in the fourth as Kyle Weeks beat out an infield single and eventually scored on a wild pitch, then Rutland retaliated with three runs in the bottom half against reliever J.J. Lecouffe. Three walks set up the rally and Godfrey drove in his third run with a grounder. John Stafford gave the Cosmos their only no-doubt hit in the seventh with a stinging single to center. Rutland added two runs in the fifth and four in the sixth, when Smith doubled for a run, Adler singled for another and Patel Parth came off the bench with another RBI single. http://www.vermonttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/RH/20160413/SPORTS02/160419794 http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20160413/SPORTS02/160419794