Font ResizeBRATTLEBORO -- On a night that was supposed to be all about Major League bombs, Jamie Martell put on a show with his gun.
Looking like a mixture of Ivan Rodriguez and Roy Campanella, the Brattleboro catcher gunned down three runners at second base during Post 5’s 6-2 triumph over Lakes Region in Monday’s Legion game on Tenney Field.
"He’s our leader. He takes charge out there," said Post 5 manager Claude Gouin, who added that Martell’s been playing with an injured wrist.
Sawyer Olson, who fanned 10 in the complete-game victory, got plenty of help from his defense. Center fielder Brandon Reilly threw a runner out at third in the early stages, while "J-Mart" gunned down a Lakes Region player at second base in the first, second and fifth frames.
"Sawyer struggled, but he did fine. He kept us in the game and that was all that we needed," noted Gouin, whose team improved to 9-4 overall. "We needed to beat these guys. By beating them twice, we have the advantage over them if we end up tied."
Trailing 2-1, the hosts rallied for three runs in the bottom of the third to take the lead for good. Reilly led off with a single up the gut, Martell reached on an error and they both went home on clean-up hitter Chris McAuliffe’s laser to right. McAuliffe, who advanced to third when the right fielder misplayed it, scored on a Tommy Heydinger groundout.
Gouin’s gang added one more in the fourth
Much like former Post 5 leader Devon Rhodes before him, Martell encouraged his teammates with chatter from the dugout in the fifth.
"Not yours, kid. Not yours," said the Brattleboro catcher after Gerard Roberge took a pitch.
Roberge would move Heydinger over with a sacrifice bunt. Heydinger, who started the inning off with a bunt single, eventually scored on a wild pitch to put the home team ahead 6-2.
Olson got better as the game went on. He shut the team from Fair Haven out from innings four through seven, with eight K’s in that span. He also pitched a one-two-three sixth, as he got Lakes Region’s No. 2 hitter to fly out before sitting down the next two.
He gave up a two-out double to Tyler Wood in the seventh, but left him stranded by striking out Ryan Darling.
Olson finished up with 10 K’s, two walks and a six-hitter. Parro and Heydinger paced Post 5 with two hits each.
Lakes Region starter Ben Brown fell behind 1-0 in the first frame. Martell reached on a one-out miscue, Parro belted a double to deep center and Martell would go home on Heydinger’s infield single.
The visitors pulled even in the second, thanks to an RBI single from Eric Jakubowski. And then Brandon Davenport scored on a double steal in the third to give Lakes Region a 2-1 advantage.
Brattleboro (9-4) will play at rival Bennington today at 5:30 p.m.
Shane Covey can be reached at scovey@reformer.com or by calling 802-254-2311, ext. 163.
