Illingworth leads BF past Cosmos

Brady Illingworth had one of those games that will hang in the memory bank awhile as he pitched a one-hitter with 16 strikeouts and had a two-run single in the fifth inning that broke a scoreless tie, paving the way for a 4-0 win over Springfield in a Marble Valley League game Tuesday at Hadley Field.

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Published May 4, 2016 in the Rutland Herald Illingworth leads BF past Cosmos By POODY WALSH WESTMINSTER — Brady Illingworth had one of those games that will hang in the memory bank awhile as he pitched a one-hitter with 16 strikeouts and had a two-run single in the fifth inning that broke a scoreless tie, paving the way for a 4-0 win over Springfield in a Marble Valley League game Tuesday at Hadley Field. And it was a boost the Terriers needed as they had lost four of their last five after opening the season with three straight wins. As sharp as Illingworth was on the mound, it was his at-bat in the fifth that was equally impressive. Springfield, which made just two errors in the game, made them both with one out in the fifth. Jacob Streeter reached on the first error and went to third on an error off the bat of Alex Groenwold, who later stole second during the Illingworth at-bat. With Jon Hildreth on the hill for Springfield, he and Illingworth got into a 12-pitch battle that saw Illingworth foul off seven pitches before singling to center to score two runs. “Kudos to my pitcher and kudos to the kid who hit the ball,” said Springfield coach Rich Saypack. “That was some battle.” Brady, a husky southpaw, threw mostly fastballs early as eight of the first nine outs he recorded came by way of the strikeout. As the game moved along and his fastball lost a little zip, he started going to his change and curve more. “I was trying to stay ahead of the hitters and keep them off-balance,” he said. Illingworth ended up throwing 107 pitches, which included six walks. The only hit he gave up was a third-inning single up the middle by Kyle Weeks. Springfield was not without its scoring chances, although they were few and far between. In the third inning when the game was still scoreless the Weeks hit came with two outs. Illingworth was not paying much attention to Weeks and he stole second and third. The two steals were followed by a walk to Nick Bedi. But the threat ended there when Bedi was thrown out stealing by Bellows Falls catcher Liam Hackett, In the fifth inning, the Cosmos got the lead runner to second on a walk and passed ball, but Illingworth struck out the next three batters. In the Springfield sixth, an error, sacrifice and a passed ball put Weeks on third. However, once again Illingworth got the strikeout pitch going and fanned the next two batters. Bellows Falls added two pad runs in the sixth on singles by Brian Green and Reid Coursen, a stolen base, passed ball and a squeeze bunt by Hackett. Bellows Falls left five runners in scoring position over the first four innings, including second and third with one out. Hildreth, who pitched a fine game only to be one the mound on the wrong day, struck out the next two BF batters. Bellows Falls had runners on second and third in the third stanza with two down and got nothing from Hildreth, who gave up just three hits with six strikeouts. Both runs off him were unearned. Both teams play Fair Haven next. The Slaters come to 2-3 Springfield on Thursday, while 4-4 Bellows Falls is at Fair Haven on Friday. http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20160504/SPORTS02/160509780