The Walpole Wild Blue and the Claremont Cardinals kept their hopes alive for for a first place regular season finish in the Connecticut River Valley Baseball League with victories in their most recent games. The team they are chasing, the undefeated Putney Fossils, return to CRVBL action this weekend.
The defending champion Claremont Cardinals beat a shorthanded Walpole Maples team, 13-1 at Barnes Park in Claremont. Veteran pitcher Mike Wells, kept the Maples off balance all day with an assortment of scuffed fastballs and doctored curves. Wells threw 6 strong innings, allowing one run on three hits, with 6 strikeouts. He also helped himself by starting a nifty double play to stop a possible rally in the 4th inning. The offense was paced by the four hit and five RBI performance of Mr. Nate Duford. Todd Bersaglieri raked three hits and Andrew Sullivan had two more.
In Walpole, the Wild Blue defeated the Brattleboro River Rats, 14 – 2 on the strength of a five RBI day from Jamie Spence and six solid innings on the mound from Chris Ballou. Veteran pitcher Frank Brown threw the final three innings and knocked in four runs. Shortstop Gary Dennis went three for four and scored three runs.
This weekend’s CRVBL schedules starts on Saturday evening at 7 as the Walpole Wild Blue hosts the Claremont Cardinals at Ball-Roentsch Field in Walpole. On Sunday at 11 a.m., the Brattleboro River Rats take on the Newport Polar bears at Dummerston Field, and the Walpole Maples host the Putney Fossils at 1 p.m. at Ball-Roentsch field. Admission to all CRVBL games is free, and to learn more about the area’s league of adult amateur baseball teams, please visit the league website at www.crvbl.org .
2014 STANDINGS
TEAM W L GB
Putney 9 0 –
Walpole WB 8 1 1
Claremont 7 3 2½
Newport 4 4 4½
Sunapee 4 5 5
Walpole M 3 7 6½
Brattleboro 1 9 8½
