LYNDON CENTER – A shorthanded Hazen Union baseball team rebounded from a lopsided loss to Division II Lyndon Institute with a hard-fought win over Lake Region last week, improving to 2-4.
Jackson Dwyer silenced Hazen’s bats with a one-hit gem last Thursday to power Lyndon to a dominating 15-0 home win. Dwyer recorded seven strikeouts over five innings of work to earn the win. Danville senior Sebastian Eldred led the Viking offense with a 2-3 effort at the plate, driving in a season-high five runs on the day. Karter Morey went 2-2 with an RBI, and Connor Wood (1-3) drove in a run in the win. Junior Chayse Newell recorded the Wildcats’ only hit. Lyndon improved to 6-1 and has now outscored its opponents 65-9 on the season.
Grayson McNaughten scattered four hits in a complete game effort to will Hazen to a 2-1 home win over Lake Region on Saturday. The big senior righty struck out a career-high 16 Rangers, while walking four to earn the win. The Wildcat pushed across the game-winning run in the bottom of the fourth to break a 1-1 tie. Fellow senior Justin Montgomery went 1-2 on the day for Hazen, drawing a pair of walks and stealing two bases. Sophomore Avery Loomis (1-3) drove in the only run for the Wildcats, and Kiah Cloutier (1-2) and freshman Wyatt Hunt (1-2) each scored in the win. Owen Skorstad and McNaughten both chipped in with a hit apiece. Jackson Hafotter led Lake Region with a pair of hits, and Ryan Pepih struck out six and walked four in taking the hard luck loss on the mound.
“This team is finding itself in some pretty tough circumstances so far this year. We are putting on our fiercest face and charging into the storm and hoping to come out the other side with hard-fought victories like the one today,” said head coach Shaun Allen.
Allen’s team was already recovering from losing promising sophomore Will Halperin to a season-ending injury last month. More adversity has hit the Wildcat dugout this past week, with senior Jake Hayden leaving the team and multiple players unable to suit up due to eligibility issues.
“This is the best Grayson has looked his whole career, and we’ll continue to lean on our senior leadership. We’ve been forced to call up a couple of 8th graders to join the team, just to give our starting nine subs. We’re also starting two freshmen in the outfield. The bottom of our lineup continues to be soft, but their fielding is starting to come around. Our young guys just haven’t been given the opportunity to grow enough to adapt to the speed at the varsity level. There isn’t much we can really do but keep working and learning on the fly throughout the season,” said Allen.
Hazen was at home on Monday for a match-up against Thetford Academy and traveled to Lamoille on Tuesday. They are scheduled to host Randolph on Thursday and wrap up a busy week with a trip to Spaulding on Saturday. All home games can be streamed live on Hardwick Community Television (hctv.us).
