MIDDLEBURY – Vermont’s top high school seniors took to the diamond once more over the weekend, sweeping a doubleheader from New Hampshire in the 2025 Twin State Baseball Classic at Forbes Field in Middlebury.
Vermont took advantage of their pitching depth from all divisions to sweep the twin bill on Saturday 11-0 and 10-8. St. Johnsbury Academy’s (SJA) Cage Thompson did it all for Team Vermont, including the game-winning single in the top of the tenth to seal the nightcap, earning him Most Valuable Player honors.
SJA teammate Will Eaton set the table for the game-winner with a single and a stolen base.
Thompson took to the mound in the bottom half of the tenth to strike out the side, earning the save with three scoreless innings.
Thompson, Eaton, along with Blue Mountain’s Kason Blood combined for seven hits in the nightcap.
In the opener, SJA’s Rex Hauser struck out four in two innings of work and went 2-2 at the plate with a pair of RBI to power Vermont to the shutout win. Hauser finished his incredible career as the first high school athlete in state history to earn Gatorade Player of the Year honors in both basketball and baseball.
The three seniors ended their high school baseball careers on a high note, leading the Hilltoppers to the Division I state championship over top-seeded Mount Anthony, 9-7.
BFA-Fairfax’s Ryan Sheehan pitched two scoreless innings in the night-cap to combine on a two-hit shutout along with Hauser, Tanner Swisher (Green Mountain), and Lyndon Institute’s Wyatt Mason. Sheehan nearly led the Bullets to a Division III state title defense under head coach and Hazen Union alum Mike Brown this past spring. Fairfax took top seeded White River Valley to extra innings in the Final Four before falling 3-2 in eight innings. Sheehan will follow Brown’s footsteps and attend and play for VTSU-Lyndon this coming fall. Brown played for the Hornet baseball team for four seasons and is a Lyndon State Hall of Fame inductee.
