HARDWICK – The Hazen Union baseball team opened its season with a comfortable win over Paine Mountain last week before struggling at the plate against Division II, Harwood.
photo by Vanessa Fournier
Senior Grayson McNaughten earned the win on the mound, fanning nine and helped his own cause with a pair of hits and an RBI, leading the Wildcats to an 8-3 home win over Paine Mountain last Tuesday. McNaughten scattered four hits over five-plus innings of work, and fellow seniors Justin Montgomery and Owen Skorstad combined to go 4-8 at the plate, scoring four runs. Hazen broke open a 2-2 ballgame in the third inning with three runs behind a pair of RBI from Jake Hayden, an RBI from Jon Sicard and a hit and three stolen bases from Kiah Cloutier. The Wildcats pushed across two more runs in the bottom of the fifth to put the game away. Chase Wilken and Isaac Sweet combined for four hits and a pair of RBI for Paine Mountain in the loss.
“Grayson looked confident and in control, and we look for him to carry that forward for us throughout the season. Jon came in to close the game out and settled down nicely with five K’s after walking the first two batters. Unfortunately, we lost Will Halperin for the season in this one. We were looking forward to his contributions at the plate and on the mound, and it’s a big blow to the team for sure. This creates an opportunity for other athletes on our team to step up,” said head coach Shaun Allen.
photo by Vanessa Fournier
Ryan Lacey belted a pair of doubles, driving in two, and Wyatt Babic added a three-run double to lead Harwood to a 12-5 road win over the Wildcats last Thursday. Babic stole four bases to add to his impressive stat sheet, and Nicholas Casey earned the win for the Highlanders. Casey, Seve Cohen and Lacey combined to strike out 16 Wildcat batters. Sicard and Cloutier combined to drive in 4, and McNaughten blasted a triple in the loss.
photo by Vanessa Fournier
“Our bats looked good against Paine Mountain but went cold against Harwood. I feel like that was a game we should’ve been more competitive in and had a chance to win. We went down 11 times at the plate looking, and as the saying goes, “You miss 100% of the shots you never take.” We put some runs up late in the game, and that was good to see, but we need to swing the bats if we want a chance to win. Our four seniors (McNaughten, Skorstad, Montgomery, Hayden) are great athletes and are emerging as leaders more and more every game,” said Allen.
Hazen is scheduled to welcome Montpelier to Hudson Fields on Thursday before making the short trip to square off against Lamoille on Saturday. All home games can be live-streamed on Hardwick Community Television (hctv.us).
