August 2, 2005

2005 COLCHESTER HIGH SCHOOL VARSITY BASEBALL RECAP

Preface: I realize some people might read this recap who a) don't know all of the baseball terminology I'm going to use and freely admit it, or b) don't know the terminology and are sort of embarrassed by that fact. I'm only so versed in this because I've been doing stats for years and been enamored with baseball for as long as I can remember. Thus, the basic statistical formulas can be found here, along with other descriptions. For more information, feel free to drop me a line.

I also feel it appropriate to throw a disclaimer out there: I'm not here to embarrass any of the student-athletes on this team, and I certainly have no intention of making them feel bad about their abilities by pointing out certain damning stats. As always, my intention in compiling this recap is merely an exercise in finding some of the stranger stats during the season and these players' careers. More than anything, I'd like the guys (and parents and coaches) to be able to read something they didn't know before they sat down to read this, and to read something else that they had forgotten up to that point. What I have written is either based on fact or my own opinion, which tends to be positive in the cases of these ballplayers. After all, this is high school baseball.

It's difficult to begin describing exactly what the 2005 season was about for the Colchester High School varsity baseball team. I wasn't there at the beginning, and I was only lucky enough to make most of the second half of the season. For many, 6-11 would be a rather pedestrian record, but it was light years away from 2004, when we tied the school record for losses by going 4-14, including 3-12 in the Metro League, where we finished last among 16 teams. We were then seeded 19th out of 20 Division I teams come playoff time. But consider these numbers for the 2005 team:

Much like in 2004, when Brad Frieberg finished the season as our regular cleanup hitter, we had some surprises in 2005. One of the most rewarding was seeing Joey Doud and Curtis White develop into consistent hitters on the varsity level. After going 5-for-39 (.128) as a sophomore and junior, Joey broke out by batting .313 while switching between the seventh and eighth spots in the order. In fact, among players with at least 10 at bats in any one spot in the order, his .417 average as the seven-hitter was the highest on the team. Curtis hit .289 and batted fifth most of the year, where he hit .306 in 13 games. The pitching staff was almost completely revamped after losing Kyle Burkhard, Travis Frenette and Matt La Roe, who combined for 73-2/3 innings pitched, 12 starts, four complete games, a 4.37 ERA and 2-10 mark in 2004. Shelby Nolin returned for his third season as the anchor of the staff and went 1-3 with a 4.24 ERA in 38 innings, but it was Jeremy Bigelow (3-2, 3.38) and Lance Nichols (2-4, 2.14, 1 save) who posted the best numbers. Mickey Merola did an incredible job while splitting his time between third in the order and cleanup, making a run at becoming the first Colchester sophomore to hit .400. He finished with a .340 average, just the seventh sophomore with that high an average, and finished second in program history for sophomores in on-base percentage and RBIs. With Mickey at third, D.J. Edwards at shortstop and Sean Burns at second, we also had a strong defensive infield. The trio combined for an .854 fielding percentage, including an .889 mark during the team's final 10 games, when the Lakers were 4-6. I'll get more into everyone's roles and successes later on.

There were two bad innings in particular this season that were troublesome for our pitching staff. We were outscored big time in the fourth (21-3) and sixth (26-12) innings this season, during which time we allowed 45.5 percent (45) of the 99 runs our staff surrendered. In fact, if you discount the runs scored by opponents in those two innings alone, we pick up four more wins, and an additional three games end up being tied. Alas, we can't. Here are the breakdowns of the fourth and sixth innings combined, and the other seven innings during which our pitchers went moundward this season:

Innings IP H R ER BB K HB/I WP/I ERA OAVG
1-3, 5, 7-9 81 79 52 32 31 59 0.07 0.07 2.77 .245
4, 6 33 48 47 29 18 24 0.21 0.27 6.15 .310

As I noted closer to the top of the recap, the Lakers recovered from an 0-4 start with a 6-7 finish, and improved hitting and pitching can be credited for that turnaround. Defense, oddly enough, cannot. Check it out:

  Offense Defense Pitching
Record AVG SLG OBP R/G H/G BB/G SO/G SB/G F% E/G BB/G K/G OAVG ERA
0-4 .204 .280 .242 2.0 4.8 1.0 6.0 1.5 .915 2.5 3.3 3.8 .295 4.96
6-7 .250 .287 .359 4.5 6.7 4.2 5.4 2.5 .902 3.2 2.8 5.2 .257 3.50

Over the first eight games, the fourth inning became eerily reminiscent of last year's team's second inning futility, when the Lakers were held scoreless all season. In the first eight fourth innings of 2005, the Lakers went a collective 3-for-27 at the plate with no runs, a walk and five strikeouts (.111 avg, .148 slg, .143 obp). Then, finally, Colchester broke through for a pair of runs in the fourth inning on May 12 vs. North Country. That's noteworthy enough, but I'd like to take it a step further, if I may. Seeing as how both of those runs were unearned, the Lakers didn't actually score their first earned run in the fourth inning until May 19 against MMU at Centennial Field, when Joey Goldsbury scored on Mickey Merola's double. However, that was it for earned runs in the fourth inning for the entire season! Until that fateful inning, the Lakers were 7-for-40 (.175 avg) in the fourth through 11 games before going 5-for-6 as a team against MMU. Of course, this means Colchester was held without an earned run in the 16 fourth innings it played at high schools this season. CHS's totals in the fourth inning at high schools: 10-for-57, four walks and nine strikeouts (.175 avg, .211 slg, .230 obp). Opposing pitchers' total ERA? 0.00. Abstract enough fact for you? The fourth inning ended up being an abysmal one for offense, as the Lakers hit a paltry .194 and finished with inning lows for runs (3), walks (4) and on-base percentage (.242).

I hate to continue with the negativity here, but I promise there's something positive on the other side. The sixth inning ended up being a house of horrors for Colchester's pitching staff this season (as chronicled above while grouped with the fourth), as the Lakers allowed inning highs for ERA (7.00), hits (25), runs (26), earned runs (16), walks (14) and batters faced (98). They allowed opponents to hit .309 and made seven wild pitches in the sixth while collecting only eight other wild pitches in the remaining eight innings. Opponents plated at least three runs in the sixth four times in 16 games (the first MMU game only went five innings). Statistically speaking, the sixth inning was a debacle more often than not. Colchester allowed 25 of 127 hits (19.7%) during the sixth, and 26 of 99 runs (26.3%). Wow.

And now, on to much more positive things. This one has to do with pitching. The third inning was the best for CHS pitchers - 0.82 ERA, .188 opponent batting average - as the Lakers went 13 games during the middle of the season without allowing an earned run in the third frame. However, the fifth inning also had its noteworthy feats. Opponents were blanked during the fifth in the first 11 games of the season, during which time the Colchester staff held them to 8-for-42 with two walks and six strikeouts (.190 avg, .262 slg, .244 obp). MMU ended that by going 4-for-7 at Centennial Field with four runs, all earned. In one of the previous paragraphs, I included only games played at high schools because the Centennial Field game was a special case. Not only was it played around 7:30 p.m. on a weeknight - a school night, no less - but it took place under the lights. How many of you guys had ever taken fly balls or tried to hit with light coming at you from numerous different directions and only a dark backdrop behind the light? Not to mention the difficulty I've heard from some pitchers about trying to pick up the catcher's signs in the dark. The game ended close to 10:30, as well. Who the heck knows what was going through the players' minds that was unrelated to baseball, and the unfamiliar playing conditions certainly couldn't have contributed to success. Thus, while the Lakers held 14 of their first 15 opponents scoreless during the fifth inning, there's another streak in there. The Lakers held its first 14 opponents scoreless in the fifth inning of games played at high schools. The Lakers finished the season with a 0.88 ERA and .164 opponent batting average during the fifth inning of games played at high schools. I told you I would make up for the bad news with the good.

As I had promised a long time ago, I will do the game recaps presently. So, long overdue, here they are, with random notes aplenty.

GAME RECAPS

April 26 at Milton - L, 6-4
Well, the season seemed to start well enough. The Lakers led 4-0 midway through the fourth before the Yellowjackets began rallying in junior Jeremy Bigelow's varsity debut, which came on the mound. However, consecutive Colchester errors and a two-out, two-run double made it a 4-2 game in the fourth and broke Jeremy's no-hit bid. In the bottom of the sixth, things got a little sticky with the scorebook, and with Jeremy's permission we fudged some of the scoring a little. So, from what I gathered, a leadoff double was followed by a run-scoring single that made it 4-3. After a strikeout, a batter was hit by a pitch, and the runners move to second and third on a wild pitch. A routine grounder brought the tying run home, but an error allowed the eventual winning run to score, and another run scored later in the inning on a wild pitch. Jeremy's line was six runs - only two earned - on four hits in six innings of work. D.J. Edwards led off the season by getting hit by a pitch and after Sean Burns reached on an error, the two moved up on steals. According to the book, Mickey Merola brought home a run with a suicide squeeze in his first varsity plate appearance. Curtis White doubled leading off the second in his first varsity at bat, a shot which I'm told one-hopped the fence. After a pickoff, Brad Frieberg singled and Joey Doud walked. With two down, D.J. singled to load the bases before Sean delivered a two-run single, and Joey Goldsbury completed the scoring with an RBI single. Let's break down that second inning for a second: three runs on five hits, and the Lakers batters went 5-for-7 during the frame. And that made up for some ineptitude in 2004, when Colchester scored zero runs in 18 second innings and went only 5-for-58 at the plate! I couldn't make up a gem that priceless if I tried. After eight of Colchester's first 12 batters reached in the first two innings, only two of the final 17 reached base, and just one on a hit. Mark this up as the Lakers' ninth consecutive loss when opening the season on the road, a drop to 1-11 in such games. By the way, Mickey picked up his first varsity hit in the fifth inning and D.J. became the 16th player out of 260 to be in three opening day lineups.
Random Notes: In the 19 game immediately previous to this one, the Lakers had been held scoreless in the second inning each time and were 5-for-61 at the dish since plating two runs in the second inning during a play-in against MSJ on June 5, 2003, when they went 3-for-6 ... The MSJ game was also Colchester's previous multi-hit second inning ... During the 19-game scoreless-second-inning streak, the game against BFA-St. Albans on May 7, 2004, was the only time more than four Lakers batted in a second inning.

April 27 at MMU - L, 5-1 (5 innings)
In a rain-shortened game, the Lakers had at least one runner on base in four of five innings, but Shelby Nolin's solo home run in the fifth stood up as Colchester's lone run. Shelby picked up the loss, as well, after allowing five earned runs on seven hits. It could have been worse if not for Shelby's batterymate, Curtis White, who controlled the base paths against a team well-known for its small ball strategy. Curtis nailed 4-of-7 runners trying to steal, with all four caught stealings coming on Cougars trying to swipe second.
Random Notes: The last time a Colchester game ended before seven innings for a reason other than the 10-run rule and was never completed had been May 20, 1993, when the Lakers knocked off South Burlington, 10-2, in Colchester. In fact, only six other times in program history had a game been cut short by anything but the 10-run rule ... Colchester fell to 11-33 all time against MMU, including 3-18 in Jericho ... Oddly enough, Colchester's only two home runs in the 2004 and 2005 seasons came at MMU. Matt La Roe hit one in 2004. Shelby's ended up being Colchester's only dinger of the 2005 season ... Shelby's home run is the only one of his career ... Five Colchester catchers during the previous two seasons combined to catch only five of 104 would-be base stealers ... Through the MMU game, Curtis had already caught four on eight attempts ... This was the Lakers' first Wednesday game since 2001.

April 28 vs. South Burlington - L, 10-0
A pair of sophomores struggled in their varsity pitching debuts, and poor defense and a shallow fence didn't help during CHS's home opener. To be fair to South Burlington, the Rebels did end up winning the state championship and had been a great hitting the previous season, so they at least put the ball in play and probably hit it hard (I wasn't there). Lance Nichols actually only allowed three hits over his first three innings on the hill, but the third inning was when things fell apart. An error was followed by a single sandwiched between two outs, which plated an unearned run. A two-out double drove home another unearned run, and CHS trailed, 2-0. Now, I'm only going with what everyone told me on the whole "fences" issue, but apparently when they were first erected by the grounds crew this spring, they were something like 30 feet too shallow. With one out in the fourth, Lance allowed a home run which some guys said was a routine pop that just cleared the fence. If that's the second out, then the next batter still singles but the next guy ends the inning, if not for an error that ended up being committed. As it stands, one of the Rebels hit a grand slam to cap the six-run inning, a ball that apparently also nearly did not clear the fence. So those are eight runs charged against Lance - five earned - that, in a perfect world, would not have scored if there had been tight defense and fences at the normal depth. Bryan Johnson came on to work the next two innings and allowed three hits, four walks and two runs in his debut. However, the most memorable moment for the CHS offense was the bottom of the seventh. With two down, Jeremy Ringuette singled for Colchester's first and only hit of the game. Steve Maglaris was that close to no-hitting the Lakers. For a team that doesn't have the most successful history, Colchester has actually only been no-hit only once: on May 21, 1996, by John Wells of South Burlington. And here's your parallel: Wells and Maglaris each struck out six in their wins. Obviously, breaking up the no-hitter was pretty big, and it might seem lost on some people right now how big. But think about it - if, in 20 years, that 1996 no-hitter is still the only time the Lakers have failed to record a hit, we will have Jeremy Ringuette to thank.
Random Notes: This marked the 11th time in program history that CHS played games on three consecutive days, and just the third time CHS lost games on three consecutive days. The first time was May 22-24, 1986, when the Lakers lost to Milton (6-3), Rice (4-2) and North Country (12-8) by a combined scored of 22-13. The next time was more lopsided, as Colchester lost on May 20-22, 2004, by a combined 30-5 score to Missisquoi (7-2), South Burlington (13-3) and North Country (10-0). Here's the complete list of Colchester playing games on three straight days:

  • May 20-22, 1976: 2-2; included doubleheader sweep of Harwood
  • April 28-30, 1982: 2-1
  • May 9-11, 1983: 2-1; all three games at CHS, including one "road" game
  • May 17-19, 1984: 3-0
  • May 2-4, 1985: 1-2
  • May 22-24, 1986: 0-3
  • May 31-June 2, 1994: 1-2
  • May 22-24, 1997: 1-2
  • May 11-13, 2002: 4-0; all four games at CHS, including one "road" game and a sweep of a two-team doubleheader
  • May 20-22, 2004: 0-3

April 30 at St. Johnsbury - L, 4-3
For the first time since 2001, the Lakers went through four different starting pitchers in the first four games of the season as Bryan Johnson made his first varsity start. St. Jay scored with one out in the first to take the lead, but with two on Bryan recovered to strike out a batter and induce a 3-1 groundout. CHS tied it when Curtis White doubled with one down in the second, moved to third on a groundout and came home on an error. In the bottom of the inning, St. Jay's leadoff hitter doubled before being thrown out on an 8-6-5 relay, which was initiated by center fielder Joey Goldsbury. However, Bryan allowed three straight doubles with two down as the Hilltoppers went up, 3-1. St. Jay plated an unearned run off reliever Jeremy Bigelow in the fourth to take a 4-1 lead, but the Lakers returned the favor with a pair of unearned runs in the sixth. D.J. Edwards singled, stole second, moved to third on a passed ball and scored on Sean Burns' sac fly. Goldy and Mickey Merola followed with singles before Lance Nichols reached on a two-out error that allowed Goldy to score. Goldy finished the day 2-for-3 with a run, and Lance singled in the fifth for his first varsity hit.
Random Notes: For the fourth time in five seasons, CHS began the season 0-4 ... During Coach Phillips' five years at the helm of the program, the Lakers are 3-20 in April and 29-36 otherwise (through the 2005 season). In April 2000 alone, CHS was 5-1 ... Colchester also started 0-4 in 1978, 1986, 1987, 2001, 2002 and 2004.

May 3 vs. Burlington - W, 6-3
And then there was a win. Shelby Nolin K'd six while walking one and allowing only four hits and one earned run in seven innings, and Mickey Merola broke out with a 3-for-4 day. Burlington scored a pair of unearned runs in the first inning, and the Lakers rebounded after having four runners reach in the second without anyone scoring. Joey Goldsbury drove home Sean Burns in the third to cut the deficit to 2-1 while Nolie was in the middle of keeping the Seahorses in check. After the first inning, Shelby allowed only three hits and one walk to the final 23 batters, retiring six via the strikeout. The only run he allowed was a solo home run in the sixth, but by then the Lakers had completed a five-run, fifth-inning outburst. CHS used four hits, four stolen bases, three errors and two passed balls to bring the runs home, which started when D.J. Edwards led off by reaching on a miscue and stealing second. Goldy drove him home with one down to tie the game before stealing second and scoring the go-ahead run on Mickey's single up the middle. After another run scored on an error, Shelby helped his cause with a two-run single to put Colchester up, 6-2. Kyle Warner picked up his first varsity hit during the fifth inning, becoming the third Laker to pick up his first varsity hit to that point during 2005, all of which occurred in the fifth.
Random Notes: CHS stole six bases as a team in the game, including two by Lance (yes, that Lance) ... In this game, Shelby tied Colchester's career pitching appearances record of 22, held by John Yandow '81 and Travis Clairmont '02.

May 5 at Spaulding - W, 10-2
And this is what's known as a "winning streak." This win marked the first time since May 27 and 29, 2003, that the Lakers won two in a row, and just the second time since late 2002. Jeremy Bigelow pitched really well again, but this time he was overshadowed by an offensive explosion. Colchester's four straight one-out hits in the first made for a three-run inning, including Mickey Merola's two-run double and Curtis White's subsequent RBI double. After a single run in the third and two in the sixth, the Lakers put away a 6-2 game with four runs in the seventh, keyed by Mickey's two-run single. Joey Doud provided an RBI single while Sean Burn walked with the bases loaded. In all, seven different Lakers had at least one hit while eight different players scored a run. Mickey finished 2-for-3 with two runs and four RBIs while Sean was 2-for-3 with three stolen bases. Bigelow went the route, allowing eight hits and one earned run while walking two and striking out eight.
Random Notes: I don't ever mean to put anyone under the microscope. After all, this is high school ball. But in looking at Sean's stats coming into this game, he broke out against Spaulding. Entering the game, Sean had gone 6-for-45 with six steals in 15 career games. In this one game, he picked up his first multiple-hit game and was hit by a pitch for the first time. He also walked and reached base four times ... Mickey reached five times on two hits, two walks - including an intentional pass - and an error.

May 7 at CVU - L, 11-6:
Four errors led to five unearned runs, and CVU nullified Colchester's rally from an early deficit with a seven-run sixth inning. During the first four innings, the Lakers mustered a single run and hits from Sean Burns, Jeremy Ringuette and Shelby Nolin while CVU used four hits - three of them doubles - in tacking four runs on the board, only one of which was earned. Down 4-1 in the fifth, Colchester came back to take a 5-4 lead behind five hits in a four-run fifth inning. Joey Doud, who keyed the Lakers' upset victory over CVU in 2004 by singling in each the fifth and sixth innings, started the inning with a single before Ringy followed suit. D.J. Edwards beat out an infield single to load the bases, and Sean walked to bring home a run. With one down and the bases loaded, Mickey Merola tied the game with a two-run double, and Curtis White put Colchester on top with an RBI single. However, CVU buckled down and recorded the final two outs with Lakers on second and third. Eerily similar to the previous year's victory, Joey Doud singled leading off the sixth, as well. Two sacrifice bunts later, CHS led, 6-4, before a furious CVU rally in the bottom of the sixth saw 11 Crusaders (now Redhawks) come to the plate and seven score on only three hits. Unfortunately, Bryan Johnson took the brunt of this one, as well. Shelby had pitched the first five innings, but errors were committed on three routine plays, which means that's a full extra inning Shelby could have completed without incident. Thus, after Shelby opened the sixth by allowing a single, wild pitch and walk, Bryan came into a tense situation. It was still 6-4 Colchester with runners on first and second and no one out. Each of the next three batters hit grounders at someone, and two were retired while two runs scored to tie the game. With two down, a go-ahead, three-run homer followed a walk, and an error set up two unearned runs. All in all, not a very good inning. The top seven spots in the order combined to go 5-for-22 while Joey Doud (2-for-3, 2 runs) and Ringy (2-for-2, run), the eight and nine batters, respectively, went 4-for-5. Sean finished 1-for-1 with a run, two RBIs, two walks, a sacrifice and a stolen base.
Random Notes: This game marked Shelby's 23rd career pitching appearance, a program record. In the fifth inning, Shelby also tied and then broke the CHS record for most batters faced by a pitcher in a career ... The seven runs allowed by CHS in the sixth tied the program record for the most runs allowed in that inning. It had previously occurred on April 20, 1989, at Rice; May 27, 1989, vs. Burlington; and May 3, 2003, vs. Essex.

May 10 vs. Middlebury - W, 3-0
This was the Metro League's introduction to Lance Nichols as a solid sophomore southpaw, and it continued CHS's recent string of success and began a dominant two-game stretch of pitching for the Lakers. Lance pitched a two-hit shutout, allowing a leadoff double before the Tigers went 1-for-25 the rest of the day. Lance struck out five, walked two and yielded a leadoff single in the fourth for Middlebury's only other hit. The biggest jam he faced was actually in the first, when Middlebury put runners on second and third with no one out. However, Lance induced a tapper back to the mound and struck out the final two batters to escape the jam. In the bottom of the inning, the Lakers racked up all the offense they would need - and get - in the game. D.J. Edwards walked and stole second, Sean Burns walked, and Joey Goldsbury drove D.J. home with a single. With runners on second and third, Mickey Merola grounded out to bring home Sean, and Goldy came home as Middlebury tried to catch Shelby Nolin stealing. Lance also doubled leading off the second before the final 16 Lakers went down without a hit in the game. But the damage was done, and Lance completed just the 22nd shutout in program history. It was also just the 21st complete game shutout, as Jess Mattison '02 and Jared Lowe '03 shared one on May 11, 2002.
Random Notes: CHS had allowed one run in a game just twice in the 45 games since its last shutout ... CHS has now faced Middlebury 36 times, and this was the Lakers' first shutout of the Tigers. In fact, Middlebury averaged 6.2 run per games in the first 35 meetings ... A lot of random facts come to mind after Lance's gem. CHS's last shutout was on May 20, 2002, against Milton in Cooperstown, N.Y.; last shutout in the State of Vermont was on May 11, 2002, against North Country at Centennial Field; last shutout at a high school was on April 29, 2000, against North Country at Essex High School in the second game of a doubleheader; last shutout at CHS was on April 29, 2000 in the first game of a doubleheader, which was the last shutout pitched by a CHS southpaw (Travis Miles '00) ... 14 of the 22 shutouts CHS has pitched have now come at home ... The following information was already presented a couple months ago, but I'll go ahead and reproduce it:

  • Just the fourth complete game shutout pitched by a CHS sophomore
  • Just the second complete game shutout pitched by a CHS sophomore southpaw
  • The first low-hit (three hits or less) complete game by any Laker since Travis Clairmont '02 on April 27, 2002
  • Just the 45th low-hit game in program history
  • 25th complete game where the pitcher allowed two hits or fewer
  • Only Shea Lamphere '88 (2-hitter), Justin Bissonnette '00 (1-hitter and 2-hitter) and Travis Clairmont '02 (1-hitter) threw low-hit games as sophomores
  • Lamphere (5/9/86), Bissonnette (4/21/98) and Clairmont (4/29/00) also happened to toss low-hit shutouts their sophomore seasons

May 12 vs. North Country - W, 4-1
For the second game in a row, Colchester pitching limited the opponent to two hits, with Jeremy Bigelow putting together the strong outing this time. After allowing two hits to the first three hitters of the game, which helped North Country build a 1-0 lead, the remaining Falcons went 0-for-19 as Jeremy finished off a two-hitter with one walk, three hit batsmen and seven strikeouts. Colchester got the run right back in the bottom of the first, as D.J. Edwards walked, stole second and scored on an error. In a tie ballgame, Kyle Warner delivered the big blow of the game with a two-out, two-run double in the fourth that brought Jeremy Ringuette and Shelby Nolin around. The next inning, Joey Goldsbury walked with two down, moved to second on a passed ball and scored on Mickey Merola's RBI single. For the first time this season, the Colchester defense was perfect, converting all 27 fielding chances into outs. The win was Colchester's fourth in five games, the Lakers' best run of success since winning four straight from May 11-21, 2002. It also marked Colchester's third consecutive home victory after winning only three of its previous 11 home games.
Random Notes: In the Middlebury and North Country games combined, CHS's opponents were a combined 3-for-10 (.300) with one run in the first inning and 1-for-38 (.026) with no runs in the final six innings ... Colchester hadn't held consecutive teams to a total of one run or less since April 29, 2000, when the Lakers swept a doubleheader courtesy of two shutouts ... Colchester has held consecutive opponents to a total of one run or fewer only five other times:

  • May 11 & 13, 1993
  • June 1 & 3, 1993 (both shutouts)
  • May 23 & 25, 1995
  • April 21 & 23, 1998
  • May 23 & 26, 1998

With eight total runs being scored between Colchester and its opponents in the victories against Middlebury and North Country, it made me wonder how many other times CHS had won consecutive games when the teams combined for fewer than 10 runs. The answer: only one other time, on June 3 & 5, 1993. The Lakers defeated North Country, 1-0, before knocking off Middlebury, 6-2. I mean, what are the odds the same teams would be involved this time, too? Here is the complete list of consecutive games in which CHS and its opponents combined for less than 10 runs:

  • April 29 & May 2, 1980; 0-2 record and six total runs (2-4)
  • May 28 & June 1, 1981; 1-1 record and nine total runs (5-4)
  • June 9, 1982 & April 27, 1983; 1-1 record and nine total runs (5-4)
  • May 1 & 3, 1984; 0-2 record and nine total runs (2-7)
  • April 19-20, 1991; 0-2 record and six total runs (0-6)
  • June 3 & 5, 1993; 2-0 record and nine total runs (7-2)
  • June 10 & 12, 1993; 1-1 record and seven total runs (4-3)
  • May 19 & 21, 1994; 1-1 record and six total runs (3-3)
  • April 22 & 24, 1997; 1-1 record and nine total runs (5-4)
  • May 16 & 20, 1997; 1-1 record and eight total runs (4-4)
  • April 27 & 30, 2002; 1-1 record and seven total runs (3-4)
  • May 10 & 12, 2005; 2-0 record and eight total runs (7-1)

May 14 at Harwood - L, 4-1
This was my first look at the Lakers this season, and Shelby Nolin pitched really well until the sixth inning while his offense squandered opportunities in each of the first four innings. Seven runners reached during the first four innings, but only one run scored. Shelby walked with one down in the second, and we got our first look at Scott St. Onge as a courtesy runner. Scott moved to second on a passed ball before coming home on Joey Doud's two-out single. Harwood got the run back in the third after a single, two sacrifices and an error. After mowing down the next seven batters, Shelby ran into problems in the sixth. An RBI double made it 2-1, and a two-run, pinch-hit single with one down made it 4-1. As I recall, right fielder Jeremy Ringuette made a nice running catch toward the right field gap to end the inning. During the game, Mickey Merola also hit a couple balls that easily traveled between 350 and 400 feet but were foul by about 10 feet. Shelby led off the seventh with a drive to straightaway center that would have been out of the park at most fields, but this one was hauled in right at the fence.
Random Notes: Shelby tied CHS's career innings pitched record when he completed the third inning and broke it when he retired the first batter of the fourth ... And then there are the fun facts about the Harwood series. Colchester is 0-7 all time in South Duxbury but did knock off Harwood once while posing at the visiting team during a home-and-home doubleheader at CHS in 1976. The Lakers also didn't play the Highlanders between 1984 and 2000, so take the following with a grain of salt: Colchester has not knocked off Harwood since May 15, 1982, which was 8,462 days ago (as I write this on July 15, 2005). Colchester's last win as a road team against Harwood was on May 22, 1976, a good 10,646 days ago. And www.timeanddate.com is quick to remind that that can also be quantified as roughly 919,900,800 seconds.

May 17 vs. Missisquoi - L, 6-3
Lance Nichols allowed only one earned over 5-2/3 innings, but five unearned runs proved to be his undoing in the 500th game in program history. Joey Doud came up with yet another clutch hit, driving a two-out single into right to plate Shelby Nolin in the second for a 1-0 lead. The next inning, Robbie Yarnell shot his first varsity hit up the middle and scored on Mickey Merola's two-out double to make it 2-0 before the Thunderbirds rallied. A one-out single brought home the first run in the fifth before a two-out error allowed the second run to score and tie the contest. However, Lucas Mullally led off the fifth with a single and scored two batters later on Joey Goldsbury's RBI single to counter the Missisquoi rally. The Thunderbirds erased the 3-2 Colchester lead thanks to four runs in the sixth inning on three hits and two errors. With the bases loaded and one out, Lance fielded a grounder back to the mound but overthrew catcher Curtis White on a potential inning-ending double play, allowing the tying and go-ahead runs to score. Following a two-out error, a Missisquoi player delivered a two-run single to cap the inning. Joey Doud finished the day 2-for-3 while Robbie, Lucas and Sean each went 1-for-1 out of the nine hole. Lance K'd five during the game, including the side in the first.
Random Notes: Mickey started double plays in the fifth and seventh innings from his position at third base ... The game marked Colchester's third loss this season in which it outhit the opponent ... Through 500 games, CHS's overall record stood as 208-292 while the Lakers had scored 2,770 runs to their opponents' 3,241.

May 19 vs. MMU at Centennial Field - W, 8-7 (8 innings)
(A lot of the following text is repeated from my earlier ranting the night after driving from Hanover down to Burlington to see this game and drive right back that night for work the next day. And then I was up until 2 a.m. researching some fun tidbits from the game.) What a heck of a game. Knocking off an 8-3 team is always a big win, and I'm glad that you guys could experience not only playing at Centennial Field, but winning at Centennial Field. For those who don't know, the final was 8-7, but there was plenty of drama throughout. We led, 7-0, by the third inning only to see MMU rally for four runs in the fifth and the remaining three in the seventh. We had the winning run at second and none out in the bottom of the inning but didn't score. Then, in the eighth, we had no one on and two down and found a way to mount a quick rally and win. Mickey Merola walked with two down, Lance Nichols singled through the right side, and Curtis White singled into right to bring Mickey home ahead of the throw with the winning run. It was an exciting game, for sure, and the offenses (23 hits in all) and defenses (10 errors) kept everyone on their toes until late. MMU put two runners on in the first, but Curtis nailed each of them attempting to steal second at different times. Remember the first game against MMU, when he threw out 4-of-7 would-be stealers? Apparently MMU didn't. Curtis led off the second with a walk and was courtesy run for by Lance, who began the game on the bench. Kyle Warner bunted for a hit before the runners advanced a base each on a balk. Joey Doud laid down a suicide to bring in Lance before Sean Burns singled home Kyle for a 2-0 lead. Colchester used three hits, three walks and two errors to put four more runs on the board in the fourth and forge a 6-0 lead. Curtis and Jeremy Ringuette each drove in runs during the frame, and Lucas Mullally swiped home on a double steal. Mickey doubled in a run in the fourth to make it 7-0, and that was when MMU woke up. The Cougars' 3-4-5 batters all drove in runs during their four-run fifth, but the Lakers still led going into the seventh, 7-4. After pitching a scoreless sixth, Jeremy Bigelow allowed MMU to continue rallying in the seventh, as the Cougars began the inning with three straight hits and cutting the score to 7-6. Lance came on with a runner on second and still no one out, and the first batter laid down a bunt that was promptly thrown away by CHS as the tying run scampered home. From there, however, Lance induced a liner to shortstop D.J. Edwards and two ground balls that resulted in outs. In the bottom of the inning, Lance - now hitting for himself - doubled leading off. After Curtis reached on a dropped pop up, Colchester couldn't push a run across. After allowing a one-out single in the eighth, Lance buckled down by striking out the next batter and inducing a pop to Mickey at third. And then the two-out magic in the bottom of the inning produced an exciting conclusion. Mickey finished 3-for-4 with two runs, an RBI and a walk in the game while Curtis went 2-for-4 with two RBIs, and Joey Goldsbury scored twice. However, Lance gets the top honors for the best stat lines. Not only did he courtesy run and come around to score in both the second and third innings - picking up a stolen base along the way, no less - but he started a rally with a double in the seventh before knocking a two-out single in the eighth to keep a rally alive. Oh yeah, and he also picked up the win after allowing one hit and one walk while striking out one in two innings of relief. So that's 2-for-2 with two runs and a steal, as well as 2 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 K. And a 3-for-3 day on JV, too.
Random Notes: In our 30-year history, we have now faced MMU 44 times - by far the most of any opponent. Our record: 12-32. Funny thing is, three of those wins have now come at Centennial Field ... Last time we played at Centennial was in the 2000 state championship game against MMU. We led, 5-0, in the fourth inning, and they came back to lead, 6-5, by the bottom of the fifth, then we scored once in the seventh to tie it at 6. After we scored once in the eighth, they countered with two in the bottom of the inning for a walk-off victory. Final: 8-7. In eight innings. Sound familiar? Oddly enough, in our matchup with MMU at Centennial in 1999, we trailed, 6-0, going into the top of the seventh before we scored eight runs and won, 8-6. The paper reported it as 8-7. It's crazy stuff like that that made me quite wary of leading 7-0 in the third inning ... This was our third consecutive one-run game at Centennial ... The last time we played a night game was on May 17, 2001, when we trailed Rice just 4-3 at Centennial Field going into the seventh before they scored 10 times. Then we scored three times in the bottom of the inning and lost, 14-6 ... The last time we won in a night game was on May 23, 1998, in a 2-1 contest against CVU at Centennial. The winning pitcher was Justin Bissonnette '00, a sophomore southpaw. Who won tonight, also in a one-run decision? Lance, a sophomore lefty ... Last time we won on a walk-off hit was May 29, 2003, when we scored three in the bottom of the seventh to beat Rice, 6-5. But in the 19 games we've played at Centennial since 1990, we'd never won on a walk-off hit. Until now. That and the fact that this was just the 16th walk-off victory in the program's 501-game history! The complete list, with available information:
  • #1: April 24, 1976, vs. BFA-Fairfax, 4-3 (9 innings)
  • #2: May 22, 1976, vs. Harwood, 8-7 (Game one of a doubleheader)
  • #3: May 4, 1979, vs. Middlebury, 5-4. Jamie Vetters '79 scored the game-winning run on a wild pitch.
  • #4: April 24, 1980, vs. Mount Abraham, 9-8. Mick McKenzie '80 hit a two-run double to plate the Lakers' eighth and ninth runs.
  • #5: May 13, 1981, vs. Milton, 1-0. Mike Brochu '82 scored on Brian Bittner's '82 single with two down in the bottom of the seventh.
  • #6: June 5, 1982, vs. Spaulding, 6-5 (8 innings). Tom Bergeron '82 drove home Scott Weinheimer '82 with an eighth-inning, pinch-hit single in a Division I Quarterfinal game.
  • #7: June 1, 1983, vs. Lyndon, 2-1. Bryan Parizo '84 scored the game-winning run on an error in a Division I Playdown.
  • #8: April 20, 1984, vs. BFA-Fairfax, 5-4. John Carp's '84 sacrifice fly scored Scott Hamlett '84.
  • #9: May 20, 1985, vs. North Country, 8-7 (8 innings). Todd Collins '86 singled to score Dan Brunelle '85 with the game winner.
  • #10: May 6, 1989, vs. Milton, 8-7. Jim Covey '89 drove home the winning run with a two-out single.
  • #11: May 18, 1989, vs. North Country, 4-3. Joe Goodreau '89 scored on an error to win the game.
  • #12: May 26, 1992, vs. Rice, 4-3 (11 innings). Sean Gilbert's '94 single scored Jeff Simays '94, who caught all 11 innings, to end the longest game in program history.
  • #13: June 1, 1994, vs. Middlebury, 2-1 (8 innings). John Hill '94 scored on Tom Belisle's '95 one-out, fielder's choice grounder.
  • #14: April, 20, 2000, vs. St. Johnsbury, 13-12. Travis Miles '00 laid down a suicide squeeze to plate Jason Carey '01 with one down.
  • #15: May 29, 2003, vs. Rice, 6-5. D.J. Edwards '05 dropped down a suicide-turned-infield-single to score Aaron Mason '03 and cap a three-run rally in the bottom of the seventh with no one out.
  • #16: May 19, 2005, vs. Mount Mansfield at Centennial Field, 8-7. Curtis White '06 singled into right to drive home Mickey Merola '07 with two down.

After poring over all the line scores from the newspapers and the scorebooks from the past few years, I realize we saw something tonight that had never occurred in CHS varsity baseball history: a pair of sophomores each smacking extra-base hits. Mickey and Lance each doubled. That had never happened before, to my knowledge ... As far as I know, the Lakers had completely blown a seven-run lead and eventually won just once before this game: May 8, 1982. CHS led, 8-0, at Middlebury after two turns at bat before the Tigers put together 10 runs between the third and fifth innings to take a 10-8 lead. However, the Lakers scored twice in the sixth and twice more in the eighth to win, 12-10. We have, however, blown seven-run leads on at least two occasions and ended up losing. Again, this is based upon the information I have, which is probably 95 percent complete. On May 12, 1988, the Lakers led Essex, 7-0, after two innings before walking nine Hornets in the third and falling behind, 8-7. After regaining the lead and holding an 11-8 edge with two outs and no one on in the top of the seventh, the Lakers pitching surrendered consecutive bases on balls and a game-tying, three-run homer. Essex then scored twice in the eighth while CHS scored once and fell short, 13-12. The other time it happened was April 27, 1995. CHS scored four times in the first and three times in the third to go up, 7-0, heading into the top of the fourth. That's when St. Johnsbury scored three times before exploding for six in the fifth thanks to seven walks and a hit batter. St. Jay let the 9-7 lead slip away by allowing the Lakers single runs in the fifth and sixth, creating a 9-all ballgame, but the Hilltoppers scored twice in the seventh and allowed only one more run to notch the win, 11-10.

May 21 at Mount Abraham - W, 6-3
The Lakers won for the ninth time in their last 10 trips to Bristol after losing their first four road matchups with Mount Abraham during the 1970s. Colchester went on top first with a run in the second inning, as Joey Doud singled home Lance Nichols, who had doubled. A pair of solo home runs later, the Eagles held a 2-1 lead before the Lakers tallied three runs in the fifth and two in the sixth. With one out in the fifth, D.J. Edwards singled before Joey Goldsbury and Mickey Merola walked. Shelby Nolin singled home D.J., and Curtis White drove Goldy home on a fielder's choice before an error allowed Mickey to make it 4-2. The next inning, Colchester got everything started with two down and no one on base. Sean Burns walked and scored on D.J.'s triple, and Goldy drove D.J. home with a long double to make the score 6-2. Mickey singled into right, and following a misplay by the right fielder, moved all the way to third with Goldy scoring on the play. However, on Mount Abe's appeal, the umpires ruled that Mickey missed second and Goldy's run should be disallowed (that's the correct ruling, according to the rule book). Thus, it was still 6-2, not 7-2. Jeremy Bigelow faced his toughest test during the sixth inning, and he came up huge. He K'd the first batter, allowed a single and then struck out the next batter. A single and double later, it was 6-3 with runners on second and third, but he struck out the final batter looking to end the threat. Lance came on in the seventh and struck out two for the save. Jeremy went six innings, allowing three earned runs on seven hits while striking out eight and walking no one. D.J. finished 2-for-4 with two runs, Shelby was 2-for-4 and Lance was 3-for-4.
Random Notes: In all, Lance and Jeremy Bigelow combined to strike out 10 batters without yielding a base on balls ... The Lakers defense was perfect for the second - and ultimately last - time during the 2005 season ... When Lance singled in the fifth inning, it marked his eighth hit in as many at bats during his previous three games over the past three days, including two varsity contests. His perfect stretch ended when he lined into a double play to end the seventh inning ... D.J. continued his mastery of Mount Abe pitching with his 2-for-4 effort. In three career games with the Eagles, he went 6-for-10 with six runs, five RBIs, a double, a triple, a walk, no strikeouts, two steals, a .600 average, .900 slugging percentage and .636 on-base percentage. In his other 50 career games, he had four RBIs, one extra-base hit, a .168 AVG, .176 SLG and .325 OBP. He also played three positions during those games - left field, third base, shortstop - and, oddly enough, had only one assist in 21 innings against the Eagles while averaging one assist every 3.7 innings in his other 50 games ... This Mount Abe game also marked the continuation of one of Mickey's best offensive runs of the season. In a span of 12 plate appearances that ended with this game, he was 6-for-9 with three walks, three runs, two RBIs and two doubles, as well as a .667 average, .889 slugging percentage and .750 on-base percentage ... This was Colchester's ninth road win against Mount Abe, tying the program record for road victories, which was also set against Vergennes. The win continued an odd trend against the Eagles: The home team has lost the last seven matchups. Colchester is 3-0 in Bristol since 1999 but 0-3 at Saddlemire Field and 0-1 at Centennial Field, where the Lakers played the home team in 2002 ... Since losing during each of their first four trips to Bristol, the Lakers are 9-1 at Mount Abe since their first win there on May 14, 1980.

May 24 vs. BFA-St. Albans - L, 3-2 (9 innings)
The only home run Lance Nichols allowed in the final 28-2/3 innings of his sophomore season proved to be the difference as BFA took an extra-inning game from the Lakers. Lance had a great game on the mound, striking out eight while not walking anyone and allowing only two earned over nine innings. We trailed midway through three, 1-0, before Mickey Merola drove Jeremy Ringuette home with a sac fly to center. BFA re-took the lead in the sixth, 2-1, before Shelby Nolin led off the bottom of the inning with a walk and stole second. After Curtis White singled into left and moved Shelby to third, Joey Doud laid down a suicide squeeze to knot the score. Despite it being late in the game, Lance struck out five during an eight-batter stretch from the sixth to eighth innings. However, BFA's Kevin Hurlbut led off the ninth with a solo home run. Curtis finished 2-for-4 while Shelby and Ringy each walked twice.
Random Notes: This was just Colchester's second loss in nine games against BFA since 1998, and - with a home loss to BFA in 2003 - it marked the first time since 1991 and 1993 that CHS lost consecutive home games to the Bobwhites ... It was just the third time the Lakers allowed a ninth-inning run in 10 games going at least that long during program history. CHS is 7-3 in games of nine innings or more ... This was the second-lowest scoring game in program history to go at least nine innings. Colchester beat Missisquoi, 2-1, in nine innings on April 30, 2002 ... The only other times Colchester played games of at least nine innings at Colchester High School were on April 24, 1976, a 4-3 win over BFA-Fairfax in nine innings, and an 11-inning affair on May 26, 1992, a 4-3 defeat of Rice ... Lance fell one inning shy of Jeff Pecor's '92 single-game program record of 10 innings pitched, which came in the team's longest game ever in that 11-inning affair in 1992. Pecor actually received a no-decision, as the Lakers finally won in 11 ... Only Dave Prescott '77 (9 IP on 4/24/76), Pecor, Jess Mattison '02 (9 IP on 4/30/02), Shelby (9 IP on 6/4/04) and Lance have pitched at least nine innings in a game for the Lakers ... Regrettably, Joey Goldsbury tied Dave Santerre's '78 (4/26/77) and Scott Hamlett's '84 (6/7/83) single-game program record for strikeouts with four. When Hamlett last did it, Goldy wasn't even born.

May 26 vs. Rice - L, 10-8
This turned out to be a back-and-forth game for both teams, but we almost completed a rally from a five-run deficit in the sixth before eventually falling. Rice went on the board with one down in the first, but Kyle Warner came through with a big two-out, two-run single in the third. And then Rice woke up, scoring five times while sending nine batters to the plate in the fourth. The final two runs were unearned. Rice tacked on another unearned run in the sixth to take a 7-2 lead. Colchester, which went down 1-2-3 in each the fourth and fifth innings, made a game of it in the sixth. In that inning, the Lakers drew within 7-6 by scoring four runs on no hits, two errors and four walks, and Rice contributed three passed balls and a wild pitch. Lucas Mullally led off with a walk, stole second, moved to third on a wild pitch and came home on a passed ball. Curtis White followed with a pinch-hit walk, and Joey Doud walked with one down. After a passed ball allowed the runners to move 90 feet, Joey Goldsbury drove in a run and subsequently reached on an error. Joey Doud later scored on a passed ball, which allowed Goldy to move all the way from first to third. D.J. Edwards then reached and motored all the way to third on an error, which allowed Goldy to score. Two outs later, the rally ended, but our line for the inning was 0-for-4 with four walks and four runs. Ryan Uhrie made his varsity debut on the mound in the top of the seventh, allowing three runs, but the Lakers went back to work in the bottom of the seventh. Down 10-6, Colchester again took advantage of Rice miscues. With two down and Lucas on second and Aaron Thibault on first after being hit by a pitch, the runners moved up on a wild pitch and Joey Doud walked. Brad Frieberg walked to force in a run, and D.J. hit an infield single to make it 10-8. However, the Green Knights finally got the much-awaited 21st out of the game to end the Colchester comeback. After the Lakers went 4-for-12 as a team over the first three innings with two runs, three walks and five strikeouts, they went 1-for-14 with two strikeouts, seven walks and a hit batter over the final four innings - and somehow scored six times! Only in high school baseball. In all, the teams combined for 18 runs but only 12 hits, including five by Colchester. Lucas finished 1-for-2 with three runs and two walks while D.J. and Kyle each had two RBIs.
Random Notes: This marked the first time in the 26 all-time matchups between CHS and Rice that each team scored at least eight runs ... Entering the sixth inning, Joey Doud had walked twice in 73 career plate appearances. Then he doubled that total by walking in not only the sixth inning but also the seventh inning ... Seven seniors started on Senior Day.

May 27 at Essex - L, 16-0
The regular-season finale ended up being the worst shutout loss in program history as the Hornets finished the regular season 16-0 with a fitting 16-0 win. (Not to take advantage of our pain, but wouldn't you think the Burlington Free Press might have used that as a crafty headline the next day? They didn't.) Lance Nichols and D.J. Edwards had Colchester's only hits, and the Lakers ended up with just six base runners. Essex posted at least one run in each of the six innings it batted and finished with 17 hits.
Random Notes: Shelby Nolin struck out the first batter he faced in relief, becoming the fifth Colchester pitched to fan 100 career hitters ... Before allowing nine earned in four innings against Essex, Jeremy Bigelow had allowed nine earned runs in his first 33-1/3 innings this season ... The loss eclipsed 13-0 losses at MMU on May 16, 1978, and Spaulding on April 24, 1986 ... This was the most runs Colchester had allowed on the road since May 23, 1992, when the Lakers lost, 16-7, to St. Johnsbury at Centennial Field. The last time CHS allowed this many runs at an actual opposing high school was May 25, 1991, a 16-1 loss at Essex ... It was also just the sixth time the Lakers allowed a run during every inning of a ballgame, out of a possible 505 contests. In fact, five of them are since 1999, and this marks the second year in a row it happened against Essex ... Colchester is 4-23 all time against Essex and has allowed at least one run in each of the past 12 innings to the Hornets, who have scored 71 total runs while plating a run in 25 of the past 32 innings against CHS. On May 4, 2000, the Lakers held Essex scoreless during the fourth, fifth and sixth innings - the last time Colchester shut them out in three consecutive innings.

June 2 at South Burlington - L, 8-1 (Playdown)
After being unsure for much of the past week or two about whether we'd make the playoffs, Colchester qualified as the No. 15 seed and faced No. 2 seed South Burlington, the eventual state champion. South Burlington's Steve Maglaris held us to just one hit last time, including none over the first 6-2/3 innings. We hit better this time, but early errors dug us an insurmountable deficit. The Rebels scored in the first to take a 1-0 lead, but the Lakers committed three errors in the second to help make three of South Burlington's four runs that inning unearned. The Rebels tacked on single unearned runs in the fourth and fifth before tallying another run in the sixth. Shelby Nolin picked up our first hit with a second-inning single, and Sean Burns singled home Joey Goldsbury, who had singled, in the third inning for our lone run. We added three more hits in the game. Sean finished 2-for-4.
Random Notes: Lance Nichols became just the second Lakers sophomore hurler to start a playoff game. Travis Clairmont '02 started the 2000 playdown (5/31/00) and semifinal (6/7/00), winning each time ... As promised to Lance, I will finally address a question he asked during this game - had sophomores ever batted 1-2-3 for the Lakers in a game before today? He may very well have been patronizing me when he asked, but it made me wonder. And, as far as I can tell, the answer is "NO" - this game was the first time sophomores ever batted 1-2-3 for the Lakers. I had a couple close calls in my research, though. My best other possibility was in 1986. Sophomores Shea Lamphere and Mike Myers began the season as the 1-2 hitters, and Kevin Grabowski was called up midway through the season. Yep, the best power hitter in program history was a mid-season callup! I'm not sure where he slid into the lineup, however, or whether Shea and Mike were still 1-2 at that time. The No. 3 hitter, Todd Collins '86, finished with the most runs, RBIs and highest OBP during the season, so I don't know if Saddie would have moved him down to cleanup to let a sophomore hit ahead of him all of a sudden. So I'm going to go with a "probably not" on whether these three sophomores ever batted 1-2-3 in 1986. There were a couple other possibilities, but I rather quickly ruled them out.

A now, finally, the game recaps are all done. As an addendum to the whole second inning issue - we scored zero runs in the second inning during 2004 - the Lakers had one of their best innings in the second frame this year. The team batted .317 with a .406 on-base percentage and four extra-base hits, all team highs among the seven innings we regularly played. What a difference a year makes.

Just like last year, I'm going to delve into the individual bios. For some, they're going to be longer than others. That's just how it is sometimes, though. Like last year, I'll begin with the youngest players and work my way up to the seniors.

PLAYER RECAPS

THE SOPHOMORES

THE JUNIORS

THE SENIORS

Like I mentioned in Shelby's bio, this senior class was the first I coached. I mean, I helped Saddie in 2000 with the varsity team, but the first time I really invested time into coaching was with Coach Phillips in 2001, and even then I felt more attached to the book than the on-field tactics. As time went on, I decided to attempt to expand my repertoire, experience and knowledge. So I helped Bob Yarnell that summer. Working with these guys in the summer of 2001 was a lot of fun. I mean, we only won two games - St. Albans twice, if memory serves correctly - but we had a lot of guys who eventually played for us on varsity. From this class, Robbie, Ringy, Shelby, Joey Doud, D.J., Lucas and Brad all moved through the CHS baseball program. Robbie and Brad were our second baseman/outfielders. I loved D.J. in the outfield, where he covered a lot of ground. Alas, he wanted to be a shortstop, so we played him there a little. He looked scared to death of the ball, to be quite honest. What a difference four years make. Ringy played some third base, but he had a cannon so I wanted him in the outfield. Shelby pitched, played third and I think caught a little. Joey Doud also caught...and I couldn't tell you where else he played! But he struggled a bit with catching and eventually outgrew the position, anyway. Then there's Lucas, who I think filled in wherever we were missing someone on any given day. He caught, pitched, played center, first and third - and I'm sure he would have played almost everywhere else if given the option (It would have been an interesting task playing him at all nine positions in a seven-inning game, which I would have been receptive to). That was a fun time for me, and I hope the guys didn't completely dread coming to games.

A LOOK AHEAD

Despite claims to the contrary, I am not Nostradamus, and thus I can't tell you what the future holds for the CHS varsity baseball program. What would make me, and many others, most happy would be a return to perennial success. With Mickey, Sean and Lance moving into their junior seasons, as well as integral contributors like Jeremy Bigelow, Curtis, Thibs and Warner becoming the senior leaders, and all of this year's talented sophomore class being elevated to varsity status, will this set up an overwhelming amount of success in not only 2006, but also 2007?

The seven graduating players take with them a collective .202 career batting average and solid .894 fielding percentage, and Shelby takes with him three years of varsity pitching experience. The 12 players with varsity experience who are eligible to return have compiled a .232 career batting average between them, but the three new everyday members of the lineup in 2005 - Lance, Mickey and Curtis - hit .305 while walking 17 times and K'ing only 18 times. Lance and Jeremy Bigelow each had a great season on the mound in 2005, and they would be the foundation of the rotation in 2006. With a bunch of quality ballplayers coming up from JV next spring, I see no reason why this team can't win 10 games and even make a run deep into the playoffs. Will they? As I've become accustomed to saying in my writeups for the Web site, "Stay tuned."

Epilogue: As I finish up this recap after a few weeks of working up to five hours each night on writing and researching, I want to know if this piece of writing is ever read. I received some really supportive feedback from parents this year about the Web site, which was really nice - I hadn't received many comments since I began regular updates during the 2000 season. I've written recaps since 2000, and I don't recall being told by anyone that they ever read a recap. If no one sends me e-mail or lets me know otherwise that they, at the very least, find it interesting, then I'll know there's no demand for this next year.

I'm planning on maintaining the site again next year and helping organize the statistics, but I also have a job beginning in mid August. I'll begin working as the Assistant Sports Information Director at Wheaton College in Norton, Mass., but I'll remain as involved as possible with CHS baseball as one can from that far away. I plan on updating the site during the off-season and getting information posted as quickly as I can come springtime, and then seeing what I can do for game updates.

For the record, the 2004 recap was 13,444 words (disregard what I said at the bottom last year, because I mistakenly including charts), which I considered epic at the time. I had neither intention nor reason to believe I would exceed that this year. Total count for 2005: 18,806.

July 25, 2005

Alrighty, here's what's updated: All the Series Histories with breakdowns of all games, league games, postseason games and Centennial Field games. They're all in PDF form, too. I'm working on the HTML version of the 2005 stats as we speak. I also want to thank Bill Delaney '81 for identifying the two managers in the 1980 team photo. He and Rick Harrison '80 have been keeping me entertained with stories of the team during their years at CHS, which has been fun to read. Always interesting to see what the program was like back in the day. More soon.

July 24, 2005

Ten days later, and finally an update! I've completed work on the game recaps, and I have all of the information for the player capsules ready. The next step is formulating the player capsules, and then editing. This could be done very soon, as I look to complete that and a couple other tasks before I land my next job. That could be within the next week. Thus, I'm happy to say I've finally updated the Series Histories, Odds & Ends and career statistics. The career statistics, however, are now only in PDF format. It's much easier for me to maintain that way, and actually could take less time to load than a normal HTML document, depending on the speed of your Internet connection and computer. Plus they're cleaner. I might go that way with the Series Histories page, too. I'll be back with the recap soon, I promise.

July 14, 2005

I'm finally sitting down to write the season recap, complete with game summaries, since I really didn't do them much this year. I hope to have everything up to date one of these days, like before I take off and find a job, though I am actively seeking. Not to be remiss, I'd like to congratulate all of the seniors on graduating, and I lend those congratulations to a few former players who received their diplomas last month. Good luck in the future. By the time you're at college, the season recap you're your senior season might even be complete. Stay tuned.

June 5, 2005

I've updated the record book section, as well as the Odds & Ends, All-Time Roster and Year-by-Year pages. I'll get to Series Histories soon, I hope. Look at the career records, when you get a chance. D.J. graduates with two records and Shelby six. I'll do recaps of all the games soon, I promise, as well as a season recap. It won't be as detailed as in the past, mostly because I wasn't there all season and didn't see everyone from the beginning. But everyone will have something.

June 2, 2005

We lost our playdown game today at South Burlington, 8-1. After being one-hit by Steve Maglaris last time, including being held hitless for the first 6 2/3 innings, we smacked six hits. I've finally posted the stats for the season. Check it out, and enjoy the inordinate amount of statistics. Or don't. There is quite a bit. Gotta love STATCREW. So now you see why I wouldn't have posted a lot of these this year, with all of the information I could have leaked. Of course, not all of it was necessary. At some point, I'll take that down and post the final ones I always post. Enjoy, and lemme know if there are some mistakes in the stats or play-by-plays.

June 1, 2005 (Afternoon)

Congratulations to junior Curtis White for being named second team All-Metro. He's the fourth catcher in program history to be named All-Metro. Also, congratulations to senior Joey Doud and sophomore Mickey Merola for being named All-Metro honorable mentions.

June 1, 2005

Well, after a morning of uninspired writing at work, I figured I'd come back here during lunch to try my hand at writing a brief update. We indeed will be the No. 15 seed in the playoffs, and we'll play No. 2 South Burlington on Thursday at 4:30 p.m. at SBHS. We're 0-3 all time in the playoffs against the Rebels, including 0-2 in the playdowns. We last played them in the 2002 playdowns and lost at their place, 7-0. However, when we lost in 1997, we were also No. 15 and they were No. 2. They only won, 4-1, and we were only 5-12 going into that game. Their record? Same as this year. 15-1.

The other time CHS faced South Burlington in the playoffs was 1983, when the Lake Division champion Lakers, still a Division II squad, was the No. 3 seed in the Division I postseason and hosting No. 6 South Burlington. Colchester led, 1-0, going into the top of the sixth behind Doug Bergstein '83, who was 14-0 in his career and had allowed 48 runs in 108 2/3 career innings entering the sixth, an average of 0.44 runs allowed per inning. He recorded only one out in the sixth, allowed five runs and got tagged with the loss in his final high school game. 1983 was also the second of only four times that three CHS hurlers each pitched at least 29 2/3 innings in a season. The fourth was this season, and Lance needs only one out to make that three with 30.

Let me throw some random numbers out there, but don't let them go to your head: We've lost eight in a row to South Burlington, last winning on May 12, 2000, when Travis Clairmont '02 took a no-hitter into the seventh; we're 2-15 all time at SBHS, last winning on May 11, 1999; we're 1-9 all time in road playdown games, last winning on June 8, 1994, at Middlebury.

Now here are some positive signs: We've won five playoff games on the road in the last five seasons; as the No. 18 seed, we almost beat No. 2 Rutland last year, at Rutland, no less, and with much the same cast of characters; we're 1-1 all time in the playoffs on June 2.

How close were we to having a higher seed? Only a few innings away, in all honesty. Let's look closely at just how close, and realize how good you guys really are and how good your team is, and how your record would reflect that if not for a couple of these situations. Before you read this, however, please realize I'm trying to point out how good the team has been this year, and how painfully close the Lakers have come to winning these games, only to miss out on an opportunity or break down at an inopportune time:

With all that in mind, what if we'd won those six games? What if we'd gotten that one big hit, made that crucial out on defense or just gotten lucky? In all six games? Well, we'd be 12-4. Rutland is 12-4 and holding down the No. 3 seed. And if you look at the 10-0 loss to SB, things don't look that bad. I don't want to add fuel to the SB fire by saying they didn't really crush us, let's break stuff down: Their first two runs were unearned (and we gave them five outs in the third, so it could've been worse). The fence, I'm told, was very shallow, so the one-out home run in the fourth would have been caught (I'm told). Then, after a two-out single (if the HR ball had been an out), the error would have ended the inning. No six runs. And then in the sixth...well, I can't defend three walks. And, actually, none of those walks scored. But South Burlington also won because they put pressure on us, and good teams apply pressure until their opponent breaks.

So, quite honestly, I don't see any reason we can't win tomorrow. They'll be throwing a good pitcher, no doubt, but we'll counter with good pitching. We just have to be solid defensively, which we're more than capable of being, and then be aggressive with the bats. I ask you this: What's stopping us from pulling a big upset tomorrow?

May 29, 2005

Here's the playoff scenario right now: I think we're going to get in as a No. 14 or 15 seed. Let me go into depth about why I think this, and I'll explain it as best I can for those of you who are wondering why I came to that conclusion.

First off, there are four divisions for baseball in Vermont: I, II, III and IV. We compete in the Metro League during the regular season, but our standing in the Metro has nothing to do with playoff placement in our division. We finished tied for ninth in the Metro this year with a 6-9 league mark, but the Metro League is a grouping of 16 teams that are merely competing for a regular-season league title. It has no bearing on postseason. In the Metro, we play 15 league games - the first time we played MMU this year, when we lost 5-1, that was the only non-league game we played all season. That game counted in our overall record and affects our playoff seeding but is the only game that does not affect our standing in the Metro. Below, I mention the 13 Division I teams we played this year, and the two Division II teams we played. Colchester and those 15 teams comprise the Metro League.

Let me set up the playoff scene for everyone: There are 20 teams in Division I, and only the top 16 get into the playoffs (NOTE: If a team decides it does not want to be under consideration for the postseason, it is not required to apply. I recall one school that decided the only athletic teams it would allow to apply for the playoffs were those with at least a .500 record). Each team has an index rating, which is calculated based on points awarded for wins. Teams receive three points for a home win against a team from a lower division, four points for a home win against a team of the same division or road win against a team from a lower division, and five points for a road win against a team of the same division. And since we can't play a team from a higher division (since Division I is as high as it goes in Vermont), I won't even touch upon that issue.

Now then, we played 13 Division I teams this year and two Division II teams (Milton, Mount Abraham). In the case of Milton and Mount Abe, they primarily compete against Division I teams during the regular season and then compete in the Division II playoffs. Here's a list of the D-I teams, including the teams we played this season:

Let's look at how our index rating was calculated. We received 25 index points, and this is how:

In the case of our MMU game at Centennial, it was a home game that happened to be played at a neutral site, so it's still considered a home game when it comes down to the index points. We then take our index points and divide that by the number of games we played. In the end, that actually helps teams that couldn't play a full schedule. As it is, teams only need to play a minimum of eight games to be allowed to apply for the postseason. Anyway, our index rating is 1.56.

By my count, Spaulding (0.88), Missisquoi (1.13) and Middlebury (1.44) all definitely have a lower index rating than we do. Lamoille finished up 5-11, and I know two of their wins came against U-32 (D-II) and one came against Randolph (D-II). That's 10 index points, and there would be no way they could have a higher index rating than Colchester. Thus, there are at least four teams below us.

Unfortunately, I don't know Hartford's index rating, but they're either floating right under us or have just snuck by us by virtue of playing a lot of Division II teams. We'll find out soon enough. However, North Country has the same index rating we do - 1.56 - and I believe we move past them in the Division I standings because we hold the tie-breaker by virtue of our 4-1 win on May 12. The only reason we have the same index rating is because they lost their last five games, including at least one that they probably should have won. They led Spaulding, 9-3, on Tuesday going into the top of the seventh at home and proceeded to allow eight runs, only to lose, 11-9. They would leapfrog both us and Burlington in D-I if they had won that game.

The pairings will be announced on Wednesday, and they are usually available on the Vermont Principals' Association Web site some time in the morning. Since it appears we will be making the postseason, I suppose it's safe to say we've played 31 postseason games all time, and we're 13-18. We're 5-10 in the playdowns, including 4-1 at home. But we will be on the road. Odds are we'll bypass having to face Essex, but we could be going to either South Burlington or Bennington (Mount Anthony). Stay tuned.

GAME UPDATES: It's about time I update some games, so let's work on the past three games from this week, when we went 0-3 to finish the regular season 6-10.

vs. BFA-St. Albans, May 24: We lost to BFA-St. Albans, 3-2 in nine innings, on Tuesday. It was just our second loss in nine games against BFA since 1998. Since we also lost to them at home in 2003, this was the first time since 1991 and '93 that we lost consecutive home games to the Bobwhites. Lance had a great game on the mound, striking out eight while not walking anyone and allowing only two earned over nine innings. We trailed midway through three, 1-0, before Mickey drove Jeremy Ringuette home with a sac fly to center. BFA re-took the lead in the sixth, 2-1, before Shelby led off the bottom of the inning with a walk and stole second. After Curtis singled into left and moved Shelby to third, Joey Doud laid down a suicide squeeze to knot the score. Despite it being late in the game, Lance struck out five during an eight-batter stretch from the sixth to eighth innings. However, BFA's Kevin Hurlbut led off the ninth with a solo home run. Curtis finished 2-for-4 while Shelby and Ringey each walked twice. Lance fell one inning shy of Jeff Pecor's '92 single-game record of 10 innings pitched, which came in the team's longest game ever on May 26, 1992. He actually received a no-decision, as the Lakers finally won in 11. Tuesday's game was just the 10th in program history to go at least nine innings, and it was the second-lowest scoring game to go that long - we beat Missisquoi, 2-1, in nine innings on April 30, 2002. Of course, when was the last time we went nine innings, and the same pitcher pitched every inning? Last June 4, when we knocked off BFA in the Playdowns, 6-5, behind Shelby's complete game effort. And the only other times we played games of at least nine innings at Colchester High School were during that 11-inning affair in 1992, a 4-3 defeat of Rice, and on April 24, 1976, a 4-3 win over BFA-Fairfax in nine innings. In the Lakers' third game ever. Dave Prescott '77 pitched all nine innings that day. Only Prescott, Pecor, Jess Mattison '02 (9 IP on 4/30/02), Shelby and Lance have pitched at least nine innings in a game for the Lakers. And none of them before Lance were sophomores.

vs. Rice, May 26: At the outset, this Senior Day game was so eerily similar to mine it's not even funny. On May 25, 1999, it was also drizzling pretty badly before and during the game. We were also hosting a good Rice team. They were even better back then, and I believe they went on to be the Division I runner up. This year's team also threatened to have great hitting and lights-out pitching, depending on the day. So you can imagine why I was feeling a little déjà vu, and even thinking about how we lost, 24-3, that day, our worst loss ever (just three weeks after our largest win ever, incidentally). Fortunately, this Rice team wasn't as dominant, and this Colchester team found a way to rally toward the end. We led, 2-1, after Warner drove a two-run single into left-center with two down in the third, but Rice rallied for five runs on three hits and two errors in the fourth and eventually led, 7-2, going into the sixth. And then we decided to rally. It happened so quickly that I don't think our players really noticed. But we scored four runs on no hits (i.e., zero hits) in the sixth to draw within 7-6. Rice helped us, though, and we drew four walks while they contributed three passed balls, two errors and a wild pitch. They tacked on three in the seventh as sophomore Ryan Uhrie became the first Laker with a last name beginning with "U" to play varsity, but we rallied again. Down 10-6 with runners on first and second and two down, Joey Doud drew a walk to load the bases and force Rice to bring their starting pitcher back into the game. Brad drew an RBI walk, and Ringey reached on an infield single to make it 10-8, but we couldn't push any more runs across. We ended up with eight runs on only five hits, and this marked the first time in the 26 all-time match-ups between CHS and Rice that each team scored at least eight runs. And here's the crazy fact of the year: Entering the sixth inning, Joey Doud had walked twice in 73 career plate appearances. So, of course he'd have to double that total by walking not only in the sixth inning but also the seventh. Crazy.

at Essex, May 27: The week ended with a thud and the worst shutout loss in program history. Lance and D.J. had our only hits, and Bigelow went from allowing nine earned runs in his first 33-1/3 innings this season to allowing nine earned in four innings against Essex. They're just that good. It was my first time coaching first since the 2001 playoffs, I believe, and only five of you guys came down to first to join me. Nice to see Ricky get on in the seventh, though. I still can't believe the Burlington Free Press didn't play off the fact that Essex beat us, 16-0, to complete the regular season at 16-0. But, whatever. The loss eclipsed 13-0 losses at MMU on May 16, 1978, and Spaulding on April 24, 1986. This was the most runs we'd allowed on the road since May 23, 1992, when we lost, 16-7, to St. Johnsbury at Centennial Field. Last time we allowed this many runs at an actual opposing high school? May 25, 1991, a 16-1 loss at Essex. It was also just the sixth time we'd allowed a run during every inning of a ballgame. Out of a possible 505 ballgames. In fact, five of them are since 1999, and this marks the second year in a row it happened against Essex. Which is scary. Now, we have certainly been dominated in the all-time series, losing 23 times in 27 games, but the last few years have been even worse. We've allowed at least one run in each of the past 12 innings to Essex, and the Hornets have scored 68 total runs while plating a run in 24 of the past 31 innings against us. Actually, make that 71 in 25 of 32 dating back to 2000. On May 4, 2000, we held Essex scoreless during the fourth, fifth and sixth innings - the last time we shut them out in three consecutive innings - and led 5-3 in the seventh before allowing three runs and losing. Heck, we didn't even hold them scoreless in consecutive innings the last time we beat them, 16-13, on May 6, 1999. Joe Malley's brother, Nate '99, pitched us into the seventh as we led 16-9 at their place, and I even came on as a defensive replacement at second base for the final inning. However, they plated four runs to creep back into it, and we brought Luke Laroche '00 (our current JV coach) in from center field to record the save. I remember Nate moved to first base after coming off the mound, and there was a popup between him and me on the right side of the infield, and I was quite thankful he called me off in what was a big situation. And I remember yelling a lot while in the field (the pumped-up kind of yelling, not berating anyone) and Jason Carey '01 was playing short and was surprised with how much I got into it...but I'm sure some of you guys were feeling like that against CVU and MMU, and in some of the big games you were leading this year.

Well, I hope that catches me up on some stuff. More soon.

May 22, 2005

$38.51 in gas and 369.58 miles of driving during a 46-hour span, which included seven hours on the road and just 10 total hours of sleep. The most important number, however: two. Two wins by you Lakers, and back to 6-6 in the league and 6-7 overall.

That recapped my last few days. I'm not gonna lie: I came home and napped for a little while. But that came after we won at Mount Abraham, 6-3, on a day when the forecasters got it all wrong. Rain was predicted, but it was warm and sunny in Bristol. We led, 1-0, then trailed, 2-1, after a couple solo home runs, but we came back with three in the fifth, I believe. We actually scored a seventh run in the sixth, but Mickey was called out for missing second upon an appeal. Funny thing is, that set Lance up to get the save in relief of Bigelow, who allowed about six hits and K'd eight over the first six innings (I don't have the book, that's Coach Phillips' this year). Of the 22 pitchers who have appeared on varsity as sophomores, Lance became just the fourth to record a save. He also went 3-for-4 as the DH, and Mickey and D.J. each had a couple hits. Forgive me if I forgot someone else's accomplishments. Burnsie walked with two down to start a rally in the fifth or sixth (again, no book) to help us put the game further out of reach. And Thibs courtesy ran a couple times, and he was covered with half of Mount Abe's infield dirt after the pitcher threw back three straight times during his first time on base. Way to get dirty, kid.

So after an 0-4 start, you guys are rapidly closing in on .500. This is the first time the Lakers have won six of nine games since between May 4, 2002, and May 28, 2002. CHS has rebounded to reach .500 in the league, the first time they've done that after starting the season 0-3 in league play. This was the eighth 0-3 league start. For those wondering, the first game against MMU is the only game this season that doesn't count toward your league record. It's also the first time CHS is .500 in the league since May 8, 2003, when we were 2-2 after a win at Milton.

We've also now won our last two games at Mount Abe, last losing in 1997. CHS is also 15-14 all time against the Eagles and 9-5 in Bristol. The nine wins tie the Lakers record for most road wins against one team, as CHS has also won nine on the road against Vergennes. However, the ninth win "at" Vergennes was a road game played at Colchester High School in 2000 due to poor field conditions in Vergennes. We haven't played Vergennes since that day. Also, take into account the fact that we didn't play Mount Abe from 1986-94. Not sure why I threw that in there, but I figured it might add some reference to our whole history.

This season is the first since 2000 that we've beaten both MMU and Mount Abe, and just the fifth time in the 21 years we've played both teams. The other times were in 1982, 1983 and 1995. Again, I'm not sure why I decided to look this one up, except that we've had a checkered past with MMU. After winning our first two all-time matchups with MMU in 1976, we lost our next 12 games against the Cougars from 1977-82. So I guess you could really do this with any teams.

Time for some random sophomore statistical fun.

Coming into the MMU game, Mickey was batting .323. Then he had three hits, and I think it was actually a 3-for-3 effort with a walk. I might be wrong. But then I believe he was 2-for-3 with a walk against Mount Abe. If that's all correct, then he's hitting .405 right now. No CHS sophomore has ever hit .400. Only three have even hit over .350: Jason Carey (.377 in 1999), Mike Myers (.372 in 1986) and Sean Murphy (.356 in 1993).

And coming into the MMU game, Lance was 3-for-17 (.176). Then he went 2-for-2 against MMU and 3-for-4 at Mount Abe, lining into a double play for his only out. So now he's hitting .348. Not a bad way to boost the average. The guys were also telling me that he was 3-for-3 on JV against MMU on Thursday, so let's recap his last three days: 3-for-3 on JV against MMU on Thursday, 2-for-2 on varsity with a blown save and a victory in relief against MMU on Thursday, 3-for-4 on varsity with a save against Mount Abe on Saturday. He had a hit in eight straight at bats during those three games! Amazing.

As a side note, in the first game I ever saw Lance play in his lifetime, which was Thursday's MMU game, he equaled my high school hits total. Not varsity total, high school total. Two hits in 31 at bats in more than 30 games. It is even really possible to hit .065? At least my on-base percentage was .275. Ah, the curse of knowing your own stats when they're terrible. Anyway, I even got to keep book again today. I know it's no thrill for you guys to keep the book, but it's pretty cool when you know the book. Then you can basically read any scorebook and reconstruct the game. Thanks also to those of you who helped me piece together some things which were rather confusing in the book. I have a working knowledge of it because I sat the bench for so many years, which is where I forged my craft. Funny thing is, I'm better off for having sat and learned the book because it's still very useful in my life these days. Anyway, I don't wish the same fortune upon you guys, but it's really nice to know.

Well, guys, BFA is the final hurdle to climb all the way back to .500. And they have an identical record as you do: 6-7 overall, 6-6 in the Metro after beating CVU on Saturday, 4-1. I hope to be at the game on Tuesday, but I wish you well if I can't say it in person. Haven't gone without seeing at least one high school game at CHS since 1995. Have a good Sunday.

And as for playoffs, it certainly looks like we have a good shot of getting in! And with a logjam of 6-7 teams right there in the middle, it's even theoretically possible you guys could host a game if you keep on winning.

May 20, 2005

First off, it's 12:46 a.m. and I'm doing an update for the site. What a heck of a game - we found ourselves with a few chances to win it late, and then they did, too. But, knocking off an 8-3 team is always a big win, and I'm glad that you guys could experience not only playing at Centennial Field, but winning at Centennial Field. For those who don't know, the final was 8-7, but there was plenty of drama throughout. We led, 7-0, by the third inning only to see MMU rally for four in the fourth and I think the remaining three in the seventh. We had the winning run at second and none out in the bottom of the inning but didn't score. Then, in the eighth, we had no one on and two down and found a way to mount a quick rally. Funny how things work, eh? Mickey walked with two down, Lance singled through the right side, and Curtis singled into right to bring Mick home ahead of the throw. Great finish, great game.

In our 30-year history, we have now faced MMU 44 times - by far the most of any opponent. Our record: 12-32. Funny thing is, three of those wins have now come at Centennial Field. Last time we played at Centennial was in the 2000 state championship game. We led, 5-0, in the fourth inning and had the bases loaded and no one out but were unable to score in the inning. They came back to lead, 6-5, by the bottom of the fifth, then we scored once in the seventh to tie it at 6. After we scored once in the eighth, they countered with two in the bottom of the inning for a walk-off victory. Final: 8-7. In eight innings. Sound familiar?

Oddly enough, in our previous Centennial matchup (which came in my senior season of 1999, and was the only varsity game I ever played all seven innings - only in the field; Saddie was smarter than to let me hit for myself), we trailed, 6-0, going into the top of the seventh before we scored eight runs and won, 8-6. The paper reported it as 8-7. Anyhoo, it's crazy stuff like that that made me quite wary of leading 7-0 in the third inning. Crazy things happen.

It was also nice to catch up with some people; saw Saddie, Little Newtie (who helped me the best he could with the JV roster), the Nichols, and of course Luke. And the team. Ringy looks like a '70s ballplayer, I swear. Like he is from the original 1976 team or something. Unbelievable that you guys will be graduating soon. I remember the summer of 2001 when I coached some of you seniors for the first time...

Back to the random notes, however. This was our third consecutive one-run game at Centennial. In our last night game, on May 17, 2001, we trailed Rice just 4-3 going into the seventh before they scored 10 times. Then we scored three times in the bottom of the inning and lost, 14-6. The last time we won in a night game was on May 23, 1998, in a 2-1 contest against CVU. The winning pitcher was Justin Bissonnette, a sophomore southpaw. Who won tonight, also in a one-run decision? Sophomore lefty Lance Nichols.

Last time we won on a walk-off hit was May 29, 2003, when we scored three in the bottom of the seventh to beat Rice, 6-5. But in the 19 games we've played at Centennial since 1990, we'd never won on a walk-off hit. Until now. That and the fact that this was just the 16th walk-off victory in the program's 501-game history! The complete list, with available information:

OK, to my astonishment, after poring over all the line scores from the newspapers and the scorebooks from the past few years, we saw something tonight that had never occurred in CHS varsity baseball history: a pair of sophomores each smacking extra-base hits. Mickey and Lance each doubled. That had never happened before, to my knowledge.

Wanna know how many times in 501 games we had completely blown a seven-run lead only to eventually win the game? To my knowledge, just once: May 8, 1982. We led, 8-0, at Middlebury after two turns at bat, and they put together 10 runs between the third and fifth innings to take a 10-8 lead. However, the Lakers scored twice in the sixth and twice more in the eighth. Were any of you alive at the time? Gosh, I hope not...or else it's taken you quite a while to complete your schooling. Coach Laroche was a few months old, I believe, and I was in my eighth month.

We have, however, blown seven-run leads on at least two occasions and ended up losing. Again, this is based upon the information I have, which is probably 95 percent complete. On May 12, 1988, the Lakers led Essex, 7-0, after two innings before walking nine Hornets in the third and falling behind, 8-7. After regaining the lead and holding an 11-8 edge with two outs and no one on in the top of the seventh, the Lakers pitching surrendered consecutive bases on balls and a game-tying, three-run homer. Essex then scored twice in the eighth while CHS scored once and fell short, 13-12.

The other time it happened: April 27, 1995. CHS scored four times in the first and three times in the third to go up, 7-0, heading into the top of the fourth. That's when St. Johnsbury scored three times before exploding for six in the fifth thanks to seven walks and a hit batsman. St. Jay let the 9-7 lead slip away by allowing the Lakers single runs in the fifth and sixth, creating a 9-all ballgame, but the Hilltoppers scored twice in the seventh and allowed only one run to notch the win, 11-10.

Well, it's now about time to say you guys have a game tomorrow, it being 1:57 a.m. and all on Friday. Take care, guys. Enjoy your last few weeks of school. And to you seniors: I was at the Dartmouth baseball banquet last night, and seeing the emotion these guys displayed when talking about their team, their teammates, their program and their school really made me realize exactly how special their time here was. I hope some of you guys feel that strongly about the CHS baseball program when you begin reflecting upon your high school careers. As was repeated many times by the Big Green ballplayers, enjoy your time and don't take anything for granted. That's all from here for now.

May 11, 2005

Congrats to you guys on some nice wins lately, and what the Burlington Free Press made sound like a good game until late against CVU. You guys are off to the best eight-game start for CHS since 2001, when the Lakers were also 3-5 and finished 9-9.

I know I have a lot of catch-up to do on games I've missed, but don't worry - I'll pore over the stats when I have them and I'll find some nuggets for you guys. Shelby broke the program record for career games on Saturday against CVU with his 23rd, and he's close on innings pitched and strikeouts, too.

Something I wanted to post here during my lunch break is about Lance's two-hit shutout yesterday. It's only the 22nd shutout in program history, believe it or not. In 497 games! It was also just the 21st complete game shutout, as Jess Mattison and Jared Lowe shared one in 2002. Other miscellaneous fun facts:


April 27, 2005

For the fourth time in five years since Colchester's 2000 state championship game run, the Lakers began the season 0-2. Coach Phillips and I exchanged an e-mail, and he said that in the 6-4 loss to Milton on Tuesday, you guys were up 4-0. Sounds like Jeremy Bigelow pitched well enough to win in his varsity debut. He also said it was actually Sean Burns who had the two RBIs, not D.J., so that was something merely misreported to the Burlington Free Press by Milton. It was also the 11th time in 12 games that we opened the season on the road and lost.

On Wednesday, CHS lost to MMU, 5-1 in five innings. I can only assume it was cut short due to weather or darkness. According to my records, the last time a game ended before seven innings for a reason other than the 10-run rule and was never completed was on May 20, 1993, when the Lakers knocked off South Burlington, 10-2, in Colchester. In fact, I can only find six other instances in the program's 491-game history. This was also the Lakers' first Wednesday game since 2001. Sounds like Shelby also pitched pretty well, and assuming he didn't pitch in relief against Milton, today was the 20th pitching appearance of his career, tying him for third in program history, and just two shy of the program record. He's just the sixth player to reach that mark at CHS. Unfortunately, the Lakers don't have a very good track record against MMU. We're 11-32 against them since our first meeting in 1976, our first season. We've met each year since and are 3-17 in 20 games in Jericho. We've now lost six in a row to MMU, beginning with the 2000 state title game loss. Going back further, we're 2-10 against the Cougars since a playoff loss in 1995.

Looking ahead to tomorrow, we also opened the home portion of our schedule against South Burlington last season. We lost, 9-8, but had a valiant comeback from what I believe was a 9-2 deficit. Heading into the game at 0-2 doesn't mean the season is over - heck, the 1993 team started 0-3 and ended up 10-8, advancing all the way to the quarterfinals of the playoffs. So nothing's impossible.

Coach said he'll send me the stats this weekend, so they'll be up within the next couple of days. As for the other pages, I'll update the all-time roster, series histories, records and the like when I have the box scores. I know some of you guys have now made your varsity debuts and possibly even picked up your first hits, and I'll update that when I have it. Also, I should point out that our captains this season are D.J. Edwards, Shelby Nolin and Joey Goldsbury. As far as I know, Goldy is the sixth junior in program history to be named a captain, and the third during Coach Phillips' five-year tenure.

April 23, 2005

Word has gotten to me all the way down in New Haven, Conn., that today's opener with MMU has been postponed until Wednesday. I looked some miscellaneous information up for those who like that sort of thing - the last time the Lakers won their season opener was April 18, 2000, when CHS knocked off BFA-St. Albans, 10-0, in Colchester; we're 1-2 all time on opening day against Milton, which will now be our season-opening opponent due to the schedule change. We won last time we faced Milton in an opener, 11-4, on April 18, 1996, at CHS; here's a good one (or bad one, depending on your perspective) for you - we are 1-10 all time when opening the season on the road. CHS defeated Mount Abraham on April 13, 1985, in Bristol, 13-6, and has lost the last eight times it has opened the season on the road. I'm going to wager a guess that most of you guys weren't alive for that game...

Well, enjoy the weekend off. I know I hate to be postponed or canceled - I hope you guys didn't have to go all the way out there to find out you weren't going to play. Good luck against Milton, a team that is looking a lot better than a couple years ago. The Lakers are 14-22 all time against their border rivals, including 8-11 at their place.

April 21, 2005

I just put the varsity and JV rosters up, as well as the JV schedule. Obviously if any of the info posted is wrong, let me know ASAP! I'm not familiar with a couple of the guys on varsity, and most of the freshmen, either, so some of their info is missing. Fill me in if you can. Same with uniform numbers. I'll complete these as soon as I can. I'll be getting some stats up within a few days of Saturday's opener, too. That is, if the weather holds off. Congrats to all of you guys who made it onto each team this year. I realize with not seeing much of your games this year that I won't have too much insight in these writeups, but feel free to add your $.02. Drop me a line, I can add in some highlights as according to some of you guys. Good luck this weekend! I'll be checking the Freeps online for your game - I'll be in New Haven, Conn., with the Dartmouth baseball team.

April 6, 2005

I've added Centennial Field to the schedule for the May 19 game with MMU. Many of us remember the last time we played MMU at Centennial Field - June 10, 2000, in the Division I state championship. Led 5-0 in the fourth and lost, 8-7, in eight innings. More on subject, this will mark the 11th season in a row we're scheduled to play a game there. Overall, CHS is 8-10 in 18 games at the University of Vermont's home ballpark.

This season, I'll continue to keep a practice schedule on the site. That will be posted soon, as will this season's roster. Congratulations to all of the guys who made the team. Turns out I'll also be compiling the Metro League standings, and those will be housed on the site, too.

I'll put up some more info when I receive it, but I figured I'd throw some milestones that the team could reach this season out there. We've played 489 games all time, and the 500th game is currently scheduled for May 17 at home against Missisquoi. We're also 27 doubles from 500; 156 putouts from 10,000; 44 walks from 2,000 (batters); 20 strikeouts from 3,000 (batters).

During my travels with the Dartmouth baseball team this past weekend, I went to the University of Pennsylvania in Philly, as well as to Columbia University in NYC. It turns out Scott Graham, for those of you who remember him, is now at Penn and playing for the baseball team. It was nice to see another Colchester kid move on to play college sports, even if he didn't finish his education in Colchester.

And with that ends the driest, most boring update I've ever written! Hope the snow is melting in Colchester and you guys are getting psyched up for season No. 30.

March 16, 2005

This is the first week of practice for pitchers and catchers, and I figured I'd post some news. Coach Phillips will be passing along scrimmage and practice information, and I'll post that when I get it. I also hope to use STATCREW for the stats this year, which looks more professional than what I have put together the last few years. If I can get the program on my computer, it will look something like what Saint Michael's has on its baseball site. (Click here to check it out.) As I pointed out to Coach Phillips, it would be great to get someone to keep a detailed scorebook ... just a thought for some of you ballplayers.

Also, Coach Phillips told me that I can officially announce Luke Laroche as the new JV coach. He replaces Brian Flynn, who moves back up to varsity assistant, a post he filled in 2003. Luke graduated from Colchester in 2000, and he primarily played center field for the 2000 Division I runner up team. Luke moved up to varsity for a few games as a sophomore in 1998 before playing center field and pitching as an upperclassman. During his final two seasons, he appeared in all 37 games and 242 of a possible 246 innings in the field. Luke was one of the high-average sluggers from the Class of 2000, and he still holds the single-season program RBIs record (27) and is tied with numerous others for the single-game singles (4) and RBIs (6) records. Luke is still in the top 10 in Colchester history in 17 major statistical categories: RBIs, 2nd (51); batting average, 2nd (.430); on-base percentage, 2nd (.510); runs produced, 3rd (83); sacrifice flies, tied for 3rd (4); times on base, 4th (80); slugging percentage, 4th (.688); total bases, 4th (88); extra-base hits, 5th (19); hits, tied for 5th (55); home runs, tied for 5th (5); doubles, 7th (10); triples, tied for 7th (4); runs, tied for 8th (38); singles, tied for 8th (36); and bases on balls, 10th (25). The fact that he had a .510 OBP as a cleanup hitter is remarkable. Luke is also the only Laker besides Jason Carey to be in CHS's top 10 in career singles, doubles, triples and homers, and he K'd only 14 times in 128 at bats. Luke also batted .477 in 2000, the fifth-best single-season average in program history, and he's one of just four Lakers with 30 hits in a season. As a side note, Luke pitched all five innings against Burlington on May 1, 1999, which was my first varsity start. Luke drove in six runs, thanks in large part to two doubles and a home run, as we won at their place, 20-2. I know that after high school, Luke went to Castleton State College and set the school's career goals record.

Also, Coach Phillips tells me that Coach Saddlemire is back for this season! According to my records, this is his 25th season in the program. He was first the head JV coach (1981-83), before serving as head varsity coach for 17 years (1984-00). Since 2001, he has been a JV assistant.

Anyway, good luck to everyone this week and next (and maybe the next? I don't know how long tryouts are running this season...) with tryouts. This is the first time I'm missing a season since 1995, and the first time I'm missing being involved with or seeing tryouts since 2000, so I wish everyone the best.

February 28, 2005

Welcome to 2005. This is the first update I've made since before Christmas, but I'll be keeping stats on the site still and updating for Coach Phillips throughout the season. Here's a note from Coach Phillips regarding sign ups:

Varsity and junior varsity baseball sign ups will be Tuesday, March 8, and Wednesday, March 9, in the CHS cafeteria after school. Please see Mr. Bahrenburg if you cannot make the sign up sessions.

Good luck to everyone who tries out!