RUTLAND – The Hazen Union baseball team’s maiden run through the Division IV state tournament came to an end last week against eventual champion Mount St. Joseph Academy (MSJ).
MSJ capitalized on several miscues by the Wildcats to build an early lead last Tuesday and hung on to advance to the state title game with an 8-2 win at St. Peter’s Field. The Green Wave used a single hit, a pair of walks and four Hazen errors to build a 6-0 lead after two innings, and Hazen never recovered. The Wildcats couldn’t equal the sharpness they brought into their quarterfinal win over second-seeded Leland & Gray three days earlier.
“Leland & Gray was our best game of the year, MSJ was not,” said head coach Shaun Allen. “They ended up being the champs, and as a team, we know we could have beaten them. It’s one thing to get beaten by the better team, and it’s another to beat yourself. That’s the hard part to swallow. Playing in the Capital against bigger schools prepared us for the tournament. The boys learned how to rebound from losses, hold their heads up high, keep digging and keep fighting. I’m proud of them for doing that all season. I want to thank the entire surrounding community and the entire staff at Hazen for all the support and work they put into these kids and our field this season. We look forward to continuing to work on building the baseball program here at Hazen, ”
Justin Montgomery relieved Jon Sicard after an inning of work and nearly got out of the second inning with minimal damage, inducing a fly ball off the bat of Carter Robilotto. Another Hazen error cleared the bases, however, and the rout was on. Robilotto and Gavin Treanor strung together a pair of hits in the fourth inning to add insurance runs. A Montgomery hit led to a pair of runs scored by Avery Loomis and Owen Skorstad in the top of the seventh to break up the shut-out. Skorstad led the Wildcats with four hits, including a double, and Montgomery was solid in relief, striking out seven over 5.0 innings of work. Robilotto and Milce Laskvich led the Green Wave with two hits apiece at the plate and also combined to for 12 k’s on the mound. MSJ went on to upset three-time defending state champion Blue Mountain over the weekend, 3-0. It was the Green Wave’s first Division IV title in 77 years.
For Allen’s Wildcats, it was an up-and-down year battling injuries and a constant influx to the roster that resulted in another three-win regular season. The difference this spring was the senior leadership of Montgomery, Skorstad, and Grayson McNaugten, propelling Hazen to play its best baseball at the end of the year. Their contributions to the program and the nurturing of the athletic collective between Hazen and Craftsbury Academy (CA) over the last three years aren’t lost on Allen.
“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed we didn’t win states. I wanted that so bad for our seniors. I’ve coached Owen and Grayson since middle school at Craftsbury and have watched Justin grow with the program since he was a sophomore. I’ve also had the pleasure of working with them outside of school through School Based Learning and the Lamoille Tech Center. They got up early, braved the elements to be at practices or games every day, and these three seniors are just hard-working young men. They were like having three more coaches on the field, and they were great at sharing that experience with our younger players. The leadership skills these fellows have developed will carry them far in life. There is no doubt in my mind that our three graduates have bright futures ahead of them,” said Allen.
