Font ResizeBRATTLEBORO -- There wasn’t any Midsummer Classic to determine who would get home field advantage in the Little League district series.
A coin will be used to figure out where the deciding games will be played -- if needed.
The Brattleboro 10-year-old and 12-year-old All-Star baseball teams will host Bennington in a doubleheader today on the South Main Street field. Those games will begin at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. respectively.
Both of the Bennington teams are coming off of victories. Their 10’s routed Brattleboro 22-8 in Game 2 on Wednesday to even the best-of-five series at 1-1, while their 12’s earned a 6-5 decision on Thursday and now trail in the best-of-seven series 2-1.
Leading 2-0 in the series, the Brattleboro 12’s took a 5-0 lead into the sixth inning of Thursday’s third game. But four errors, a grand slam by Will Shea and a walk-off single from Jordan Sullivan gave Bennington the comeback win.
Ian Fulton-Black and Tyler Germain paced Brattleboro with two hits apiece in that contest, highlighted by Fulton-Black’s triple off the top of the fence. Danny Petrie also had a key hit, while Leif Bigelow and Tanner Bell each chipped in with an RBI groundout.
Bigelow took a one-hitter into the sixth, but was eventually relieved by Petrie.
The Brattleboro 12’s took Game 1, 18-12. They fell behind 10-4 in the opening frame, but battled back behind four hits each
They followed that up with a 12-0 mercy rule victory over Bennington in Game 2. Fulton-Black belted a grand slam, Connor Weeks added a three-run blast and Petrie connected for a solo shot to lead the attack. Fulton-Black also fired a one-hit shutout to pick up the win.
Catcher Tanner Bell, who had a couple of hits in Game 2, gunned down an attempted base thief to lead the Brattleboro defense, while middle infielders Germain and Bigelow turned a pitcher’s best friend.
In the 10-year-old series, the visiting team has won each game.
Brattleboro rallied back from a 7-6 deficit to beat host Bennington, 10-7, in the opener. Shane Cyr went 2-for-3 with a two-run double and Adam Newton added an RBI single for the winners. Chris Frost pitched a couple of scoreless innings of relief to allow for the comeback.
But Bennington made the journey east on Wednesday and evened the series with a 22-8 mercy rule victory. The visitors stole an 8-0 lead in the top of the first, thanks to Philip Burbier’s two-run single and a bases-clearing triple by Jackson Free.
Newton was just a single shy of the cycle in the loss, including his first big fly of the season. Tyler Millerick was the defensive standout for Brattleboro at second base, as he threw out a runner at home and later made an unassisted out at first.
Shane Covey can be reached at scovey@reformer.com or by calling 802-254-2311, ext. 163.
