Font ResizeDUMMERSTON -- On a day when the home team mistakenly walked off the field with just two outs in the top of the fourth and a certain pitcher made two separate relief appearances, just about anything seemed possible.
Even a late rally by the underdogs.
The previously undefeated Eagles gave up six runs in the sixth inning and eventually lost to Pepsi, 8-5, in a Brattleboro Babe Ruth baseball game on Monday evening.
"We had won four in a row, but we knew we weren’t going to win them all," said Eagles coach Wayne Wright, whose team dropped to 4-1 overall. "It was a good game. Pepsi’s getting stronger every game. We had that one tough inning."
Trailing 4-2, Pepsi sent a dozen batters to the plate in the top of the sixth and rallied for six runs. The highlights were back-to-back RBI doubles by Chris Lasch and Dylan Green. Nate Greene drew an RBI walk, another player scored on catcher interference, an error resulted in the inning’s fifth run, and Ronan Kasla contributed with an RBI groundout.
" Chris (Lasch) was really concentrating," said Pepsi coach Jeff Kerylow, whose team improved to 2-3. "Dylan’s just been hot up there. He’s been red hot."
The Eagles would score once in the seventh: Kassidi Ramirez singled, stole his way to third and went home on a miscue. Pepsi’s 8-5 victory was a little payback after a 13-2 loss to the Eagles earlier in the season.
"The last two games,
The Eagles grabbed a 3-0 lead in the first three frames. Rob Heileman had a pair of hits in that span, while Quinn Oliver chipped in with an RBI single that dropped into shallow left-center.
After Pepsi put up a pair of runs in the top of the fourth -- Lasch drove an RBI double to left and later scored on a wild pitch -- things out of the ordinary started to happen. Green flew out to right for the first out of the inning and then Braden Meyer popped up to the pitcher, before the fielders headed for the dugout.
Surprised, the visitors’ scorekeeper asked, "there are only two outs, right?"
Cam Wright’s RBI single in the fifth put the Eagles ahead 4-2, before the abnormality continued in the next inning.
Wright, who had pitched a one-two-three fifth in relief of starter Dakota Peterson, was handed the ball again in the sixth in relief of Ramirez.
The fans at the Dummerston field had to be wondering if that move was legal, since you never see it in the big leagues.
And then they saw something for the first time -- the Eagles getting beat.
Greene went the distance for the victory. He fanned six, walked just one and gave up five hits.
Lasch had a couple of RBI doubles to lead Pepsi offensively and the catcher also made a fine catch at the backstop in the fourth. Hunter Smith and Green each hit safely.
Heileman went 2-for-4 to pace the Eagles. Ramirez, Wright and Oliver all finished with one hit.
Shane Covey can be reached at scovey@reformer.com or by calling 802-254-2311, ext. 163.
