May 31, 2011

The news is coming in about you guys winning your playdown game over Spaulding, 7-1, and thus forging ahead into the quarterfinals on Friday. Congratulations on your first postseason win since 2004 - and first postseason victory that wasn't a play-in game since 2000, which was also the last time CHS won a tournament game at home. That one was a 6-1 playdown triumph over North Country during a season that ended with the Lakers playing for the state championship. The seven runs were the most plated by CHS since 2001, an 11-10 play-in win over Middlebury in a game contested at Milton High School, and the six-run margin of victory was the team's largest since downing Brattleboro, 11-2, during the 2000 semifinals. Having said all of this, these were the most runs and largest margin of victory ever for a CHS team at home during the postseason. Then again, in its 36th year of play, this was just the program's 10th home playoff game. This was also the first time the Lakers took on Spaulding in the postseason since the 1982 quarterfinals, a 6-5, eight-inning win that was decided by Tom Bergeron '82. (Read his account.) Believe it or not, Spaulding is just the second team against which CHS has multiple postseason victories, joining Middlebury. Additionally, by posting your second home win against the Crimson Tide this spring, the Lakers have multiple home victories versus the same team for the first time since 1982, when CHS knocked off Missisquoi twice at home, and three times overall.

At 15-1, you guys have the most wins since the 1982 team, which posted a school record for victories en route to a 16-3 campaign and a trip to the Division I semifinals, one of only two appearances the Lakers have made in the penultimate round of the play-offs. I was fortunate to witness you guys making some history on Saturday, as you recorded your 14th win to match the 1982 team's record for regular-season triumphs; nailed down the highest postseason seed (No. 1) in program history, besting the 1983 squad's No. 3 seed; and clinched the first league title since 1995, as members of the Metro South. Back then, the Metro League was split between North and South divisions, and the South had nine teams that year. The Metro now has 16 programs, so this is easily the largest conference CHS has ever topped. (The Lake Division had eight teams in 1982 and 1983, the years during which the Lakers won their other two league crowns.) Your 13th league win, that 13-5 victory over North Country, broke the standard held by both the 1982 and 1983 teams. (Actually, since the game began on May 20, technically your May 24 win over Milton was your 13th league win, and the North Country game was your 12th league win. Semantics.)

Meanwhile, the scores are coming in via Twitter, and here's the one you wanted to know - CVU beat Harwood, 5-3, setting up the game that Mother Nature just didn't want you guys to play. First you both showed up for a home game on Thursday that didn't see a single pitch thrown - but from all accounts, you guys had a good time during the weather delay - and then you guys got two outs into the top of the third inning on Saturday before weather again halted you guys with the score tied at five; due to the weather and Saturday being the final day to play regular-season games, the remainder of the contest was called off, and no stats counted. I thoroughly enjoyed the abbreviated game and the day as a whole, but as much because of the baseball as just seeing the players interacting and having fun. That's where we all lose ourselves sometimes: We forget that you guys are still high schoolers having fun playing baseball. Now there are message boards and blogs and such (in my defense, I've been maintaining these stats with this website since 1999, and I certainly don't predict things or post bulletin-board material), not to mention some of you will go on to play in college, where it will be much more a job than a hobby. For some of you, that's perfect. But for some of you, this will be the pinnacle of your baseball career, baseball success, and baseball enjoyment. Whether now, soon, or in the distant future, I hope you realize how special this season is.

As for the CVU mini-game itself, I was incredibly impressed by your patience: You induced 69 pitches from the Redhawk pitcher ... in only two innings of work! Tommy Vaux provided a tremendous seven-pitch at bat to lead off the first - exactly the kind of at bat that you hope a leadoff hitter can provide - before you guys saw 53 pitches in your five-run second inning alone. Six of the 10 batters saw at least five pitches, and the four who didn't ended up doing thus: Josh Place hit a sac fly, David LaCroix was hit by a pitch, Zach Tandy punched a two-run single into right field, and Andrew Cootware singled to center and plated the fifth and final run. All in all, it was an incredibly aesthetically pleasing inning for a baseball fan to watch.

So as you guys forge ahead, remember not to take this ride for granted. The Lakers didn't even qualify for the play-offs between 1985 and 1992, including posting a total of 18 wins during a five-year stretch between 1986 and 1990. I'll be greatly looking forward to hearing about your CVU game come Friday afternoon.

May 27, 2011

Turns out I found out yesterday that I had a four-day weekend beginning today. So between my sister running in the Burlington Marathon and my family wanting to see me, and you guys having a couple games tomorrow, I figured I'd come into town and see them but also swing by your games. Thus, live stats will be available for both games. See you all at the field (weather permitting, of course).

May 24, 2011

The streak continues, and some interesting goings on around the Metro have you guys in a pretty good position now. Thanks to your 15-0 win at Milton - which tied for the largest shutout victory in program history; three of the five 15-0 wins have now come since last May 11 - and BFA-St. Albans' 3-0 loss to CVU, you now need one win to claim at least a share of the Metro League title. Without knowing Rutland's schedule, I'm also fairly confident that another win would clinch you guys the No. 1 seed in the Division I Tournament. Now then, don't quote me on that one, but as everything shakes out this week, you'll likely know the final scenario once your rescheduled game with North Country is over on Saturday. Meanwhile, your next game is against that aforementioned CVU team - they've beaten BFA, Essex and MMU and are also streaking, going 9-1 since a 1-3 start. Live audio supposedly will be running at the Northeast Sports Network's website, but last time they did a game of yours, I couldn't find any link to audio on their site. Best of luck on Thursday against CVU.

Before I get too far, I must commend Zach Dandurand and Chris Poirier on combining for your shutout today. It was the 32nd shutout in program history, and the seventh combined shutout. (Dandurands have now played a role in five of them.) It was just the second time two seniors combined for a shutout, joining Kenny Boucher '95 and Tom Dicesare '95 from a May 23, 1995, contest versus South Burlington.

Coach Crazy tells me that Ryan Crowley hit two homers today, Matt Roy had one, and David LaCroix tripled (possibly for his first varsity hit? If so, congratulations!). The three home runs tied a program record, which last occurred on May 3, 1994, at CVU. However, that was a nine-inning game, and the Milton game took only six to be decided. Prior to that, CHS swatted three against Burlington in 1987 and Lamoille in 1982. Both of those games were at home. So this was the first time the Lakers hit three home runs in a road game that did not go to extra innings.

Meanwhile, only two players in CHS history - among 301 players - had homered twice in a game prior to today. Ryan became the first Laker since Kevin Grabowski '88 on May 26, 1987, to go deep twice in a game. Grabowski is the program's season (8) and career (14) home runs leader, and he also homered twice on May 12, 1987, notching both of his multi-homer games at home. Only Paul Choiniere '82 had done it before Grabowski, hitting a pair against Lamoille on April 24, 1982, also at home. So not only was Ryan the first CHS ballplayer to hit two home runs on the road, he was also the first senior to hit two dingers in 28 years, and just the second right-handed hitter (Grabowski was a lefty).

With four home runs in the last two games, you guys suddenly have seven for the season, the most since the 2000 squad hit 12. And think about it - those four homers came in six-plus innings (I'm not sure when the last home run was today, but let's just say six innings and then also Andrew Cootware's homer to end the Spaulding game). Let's put that into perspective: Between 1995 and 1998, the Lakers hit a total of two - in 69 games (and roughly 483 innings). Ryan has three homers this spring, the most by a Laker since Jason Carey '01 had three in 2001. Meanwhile, thanks to hitting two last year, he is just the seventh Laker with multiple multi-homer seasons, joining Carey, Grabowski, Scott Benoit '89, Addie Dion '00, Luke Laroche '00 and Ty Pratt '00.

But let us not forget about Matt Roy. In addition to becoming the first lefty hitter since Carey in 2001 to hit multiple homers in a season, he's the seventh player with multiple dingers in his first season on varsity - whether playing a full season or even just one game - joining Carey, Dion, Jamie Young '89, Jeff Pecor '92, Sean Murphy '93 and Brian McGary '09. But Matt joins Carey as the only lefty hitters to do so.

Around this time of year, when I notice the team still has no triples, it's a relief when someone finally hits one. So thanks to David, the 2003 team will remain the only squad in program history without a three-bagger, at least for another year. And, heck, while we're here, David is the 10th sophomore to hit a triple. The only other lefties on that list, though? Why, of course, they're Carey and Grabowski.

The 15 runs you scored against Milton were the program's most against the Yellowjackets since May 15, 1993, when CHS won by a 17-7 count in Milton. In 43 meetings, this was the second-largest margin of victory, being surpassed only by a 21-5 win on May 6, 1982, in Colchester. So this was CHS's largest win ever over Milton on Milton's field.

At 13-1, you are one short of matching the 1982 team's record for regular-season victories - it went 14-2 before finishing up 16-3 overall - and with a 12-1 league record, you have tied the 1982 and 1983 squads for the conference wins mark ... CHS is 7-1 on the road for the second time in four years after winning as many as six road games only twice in the program's first 32 years ... With 84 runs on the road, you guys scored the most runs away from home since the 1999 club, which plated 93 in eight games. The 1994 team also scored more than you guys (85) but had 10 games to do so.

May 19, 2011

The last time CHS was involved in the monumental upset you guys nearly endured today was the day I graduated college - May 13, 2004. As the 19th-ranked team in what was then a 19-team Division I, we rallied for an 8-3 win over visiting CVU, which was No. 2 in the state according to the VPA's index ratings and was the defending state champion. Sounds like something even more dramatic nearly occurred today, with the last-place team - No. 16 Spaulding - nearly knocking off the team that is now tops in the VPA's rankings on its home field. From what I heard from Coach Crazy, you guys needed three runs in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game at four before Andrew Cootware hit the first walk-off home run in program history to cap the 5-4 win. Thus, let us run the walk-off list once more: Though it's basically the second straight day you won via a walk-off hit, it's officially the first since last Thursday but the fourth in 25 days, all in extra innings. That matches CHS's total for extra-inning walk-off wins from the previous 10,938 days over nearly 30 years. That's just a time frame that is longer than my current lifetime. Incredibly, you are now 4-0 in one-run home games, and the four extra-inning home wins are one short of the program's 35-year total entering this season. Somehow that is unfathomable to me. Your winning streak is now at 11, as CHS has won eight straight at home against Spaulding, last losing in 1988.

Coach Crazy pointed out another oddity that has arisen due to the bevy of extra-inning affairs: By playing two nine-inning games and three contests that ended in the eighth, you have played seven extra innings this year, the exact length of an additional regulation ballgame. So while you are 12-1, you might as well have played 14 games. Good luck tomorrow against North Country, ostensibly your fourth game in four days.

May 18, 2011

Congratulations to you guys on now surpassing the 29-year-old school record for consecutive victories that you tied yesterday, as your win streak is now at 10 after yet another walk-off victory, this time over Missisquoi, 4-3. But with the way baseball works, your win yesterday ends up being the 10th win in this current streak, and today's game - which began on April 25 and was suspended until today with the teams tied at three after eight innings - is actually the first win in that streak. Got that?

For a suspended game, the date it began ends up being the date it is eventually decided, as well, regardless of when it actually is completed. In making absolutely sure of this, I scoured some old MLB games, including a 2009 game when the Nationals and Astros had a game suspended for two months and four days - and the winning pitcher ended up being Joel Hanrahan, who had been traded away a month after the game began, but a month before it really ended. So while Zach Tandy got the win against Missisquoi for a game he pitched today, the history books will insist he did so on April 25, a whole two days before he tossed a two-hit shutout at Rice. And with this being yet another walk-off win - your third of the season - it's actually technically the first of the season.

To that end, time to rerun the walk-off list:

Somehow Jared has played a role in all three of these walk-off wins, driving in the winning run twice while scoring the winning run in that third victory. Barring it happening in one of those 1976 games, this is the first time the Lakers have won thanks to a walk-off based-loaded walk. Meanwhile, after not winning via a walk-off since 2005, you guys officially had three in 18 days. That's the same number of walk-offs from the previous 6,171 days over nearly 17 years. (And all of your walk-off wins have come in extra innings, matching CHS's total for walk-off wins in extra innings from the prior 10,550 days over nearly 29 years.)

And now for some random notes: CHS had four extra-inning wins between 1995 and 2010, going 4-10 in extras. You guys are 4-0 in extra innings this spring, including 3-0 after posting a 3-5 mark at Colchester High School during extra-inning affairs between 1983 and 2010. The four wins also surpass the 1982 squad for the program mark for extra-inning wins ... CHS has now won six straight against Missisquoi and is 21-12 since a 1-12 start to the series ... The Lakers are 12-6 at home against the Thunderbirds since suffering six straight losses from 1976 to 1981 at the beginning of the series ... I was remiss to forget mentioning it, but your win over MMU last Thursday came in the 600th game in program history. Yesterday you played the 601st game. Today you officially completed the 592nd game ... Also, I realized that Josh Place's four hits yesterday gave him the all-time lead among Lakers with that first name. He leads the other Josh by three hits ... CHS hadn't won three one-run games at home since 1983 ... You're the first team in program history to start 10-1 in league play ... Eleven regular-season wins tie the most the Lakers have posted since notching 13 in 1983, one year after collecting a record 14 ... Five consecutive home wins are CHS's most since 2000. The next-longest streak is a record 14, between 1982 and 1983 ... Coach Perry (41-21) passed Ron Matthews (40-15 between 1981 and 1983) for third in program history in wins. Next up is Pat Phillips (45-76, 2001-07), then Dave Saddlemire (115-172, 1984-2000) ... You're 11-1. Now imagine being part of the 1986-88, 1989-91, and 1990-92 teams; they all went 11-37 during a three-year stretch. From 1988 to 1990, CHS was 10-38, and in the early days, between 1977 and 1979 (the second through fourth seasons in program history), the Lakers were a combined 8-36.

Best of luck the next two days against Spaulding and North Country.

May 17, 2011

Prior to today, the last time CHS won its ninth straight game, Coach Crazy was a day past two months old, CHS was still a Division II school, and Coach Saddlemire had yet to even taken over the program. Yes, things were quite different back in 1982. So here we are some 29 years later, as you guys have tied the program record for consecutive victories at the beginning of an arduous four-day stretch, one which includes three full games and the completion of another. Congratulations on continuing the streak, as well as being the first Lakers team to kick off a season 10-1. At 9-1 in the league, you're back in first place by half a game (BFA-St. Albans' game was postponed) and the first team since 1983 to be off to a 9-1 conference start.

And now to some of the fun stuff that Coach Crazy passed along. I hear that Matt Roy and Tommy Vaux both hit home runs during your 11-6 win at St. Johnsbury, marking the first time since May 26, 2001, that the Lakers hit multiple home runs. The longballs that day were swatted by Jason Carey '01 and Chris Corrigan '02, Nick's brother. However, that was in a play-in game against Middlebury (in a neutral-site game at Milton High School). In fact, the previous two-homer game by CHS was also in the play-offs, on June 7, 2000, an 11-2 semifinal victory at defending state champ Brattleboro, when Luke Laroche '00 and Ty Pratt '00 hit home runs that haven't landed yet. So the last time the Lakers hit multiple home runs in one regular-season game was May 17, 1999, when Pratt and Addie Dion '00 both went deep in a 12-4 win at Winooski. However, that wasn't Pratt's first career home run. So, when was the last time multiple Lakers hit their first career homer in the same game? May 3, 1994, a 15-9 win at CVU. Marc Ferlo '94, Mike Johnson '94 and Jeff Simays '94 all went deep - one of only three times CHS has hit as many as three home runs - with the home runs for Ferlo and Simays proving to be the only ones of their careers.

Then there's the matter of Matt's grand slam. He became just the third Laker - in 36 years worth of history - to hit one, joining Carey and Tom Hergenrother '96 (Jason hit two). And baseball being the quirky game it is, it's probably no surprise that three of those four grannies have now been hit against St. Johnsbury. (Two at SJA, one at CHS.) Matt's grand slam was the first for CHS since Carey's nearly exactly 10 years ago, on May 15, 2001, at North Country.

Based on the figures I have, Josh Place picked up his first varsity hit today en route to going 4-for-4. If I had all of the resources that could tell me for sure whether a Laker had ever had a four-hit game as part of the game in which he picked up his first varsity hit, I'd scour through and find that one. Unfortunately, I don't, but I can tell you that based on what I do have, I can't find any such situation arising during the past 13 seasons.

St. Johnsbury note: Since starting the series 0-8, CHS is now 12-4, including having won the last five meetings. After losing the first two contests at SJA, the Lakers have gone 6-2 there since 1996.

And now for a comparison of the teams that put together nine-game winning streaks: The 1982 team outscored its opponents over those games 71-28, scoring an average of 7.9 runs and allowing 3.1 per contest. Five of the wins were by three runs or less, and only the final one - a 6-5 play-off victory against Spaulding during which Tom Bergeron '82 delivered a walk-off single in the eighth inning - came by one run. However, only two of the wins came on the road, while this year's team has won five during their current streak away from home. The runs look incredibly similar, though: 73 for, 36 against, 8.1 to 4.0 as an average score. Six wins have been by three or fewer.

And as I think about it, you guys haven't won a game at home by more than three runs in a while - each of your last five home wins was by three runs or less; tomorrow might be similar, win or lose - so let's really bring this item full circle. The last time CHS won at home by more than three runs was last May 18, a 15-0 win over St. Johnsbury.

May 12, 2011 - Evening

When Devin Dessormeau came to the plate this afternoon in the eighth inning, he carried exactly zero career varsity hits. And Colchester carried exactly zero home wins against MMU since 2000 - when Devin was a mere four years old. By the end of his at bat, he had not only his first hit but had delivered the Lakers to a 6-5 win, helping them overcome an extra-inning deficit for victory for the second time in six days. In downing the Metro League leader, Colchester itself took over first place in the conference. And add Devin's hit to the list of walk-off plays in program history: Thus CHS won via a walk-off for the second time in less than a week, matching its total number of walk-off wins from the previous 10 seasons combined. CHS had only won in the bottom of the last inning twice in the same season previously in 1976 and 1989. As far as I can tell, Devin is the first Laker whose first hit was of the walk-off variety, and he joins Sean Gilbert '94 (1992) and D.J. Edwards '05 (2003) as the only sophomores to record walk-off hits. Meanwhile, CHS picked up its first home win over the Cougars since nearly 11 years to the day of its most recent one - on May 13, 2000, in game one of a doubleheader (game two was against Middlebury), Coach Crazy batted eighth in right field, went 0-for-1 and walked and was hit by a pitch. The Lakers won, 8-6. Luke Laroche '00 hit the program's 100th home run in that game.

More than this, you Lakers are 9-1 overall and 8-1 in the league. (Keep in mind that your Missisquoi game that remains until purgatory until Monday will either retroactively be your second win of the season or mean you began 1-2 and would now be 9-2. Your choice.) The only other time a CHS team started 9-1 was in 1983, and that was also the only other time the Lakers began the year 8-1 in conference. And then there's the little matter of your current eight-game winning streak - it's the second longest in program history, one short of the 1982 squad's mark (but, again, win that Missisquoi game and it gets tacked on to the beginning of the streak).

Oh, right, and then there's your 3-0 extra-innings record this year (with that Missisquoi game pending, as it resumes in the ninth inning, tied at three), as you have tied the 1982 team's record for most extra-inning wins. And your two home extra-inning wins are a school record. Only twice had the Lakers previously played even two home extra-inning games; you're about to play your third on Monday. Meanwhile, between 1993 and 2010, the Lakers played a total of three extra-inning home games.

As we keep moving forward, I keep feeling the need to remind you how many teams whose full-season win totals you keep surpassing. With nine wins, you already have more wins than 22 of the 35 CHS teams to come before you. A major reason is the first of two historic victories on Saddlemire Field in as many days, your 9-6 triumph over Essex yesterday. How tough a go have the Lakers historically had against the Hornets? Let's see ... You guys broke an 11-game series losing streak, winning for the first time since May 6, 1999, when even I was active - it was at Essex, we led 16-9 heading into the seventh, and I came on as a defensive replacement at second base. Nate Malley '99 caught a popup at first base that I definitely could have taken but thought it a much better idea that he try to make the play, and I recall Jason Carey '01, who was playing shortstop, telling me after that he had never heard me yell so much while in the field. Meanwhile, Luke had to come in from center field to pick up the save. We held on, 16-13 ... It was your first win over EHS at home since April 27, 1996. Which had previously been CHS's only win over Essex in 14 all-time meetings in Colchester. You're now 2-13 all time at home, and 5-28 overall ... The nine runs were the most a Lakers team had scored against Essex since that 1999 win, and the most in a home game since May 12, 1988, a 13-12 loss in eight innings. According to something I researched many years ago, apparently CHS led that game 7-0 and - should you think a game is ever truly over before the final out - then 11-8 with two down and no one on in the top of the seventh. But that's what happens in a game where you walk 15 batters.

This year is also the second in program history that CHS knocked off both Essex and MMU, two teams that have at least claimed a share of the Metro League title 16 times since the conference began play in 1984. That other year? My senior year, 1999, when we won that Essex game I discussed before and rallied past MMU, 8-6, at Centennial Field by scoring eight runs in the top of the seventh inning. It was Coach Saddlemire's 100th win. And we all know what happened that year: nothing, absolutely nothing. A 9-4 start was followed by a season-ending four-game losing streak, capped by a 6-5 playdown loss at CVU in nine innings after we led 5-3 with two out and nobody on in the bottom of the seventh. Always be wary until the same hasn't also happened to you.

Hopefully there will be some more to write soon. Good luck with Missisquoi before heading off on your longest road trip of the season, to St. Johnsbury.

May 12, 2011

Thanks for the heads up from Coach Crazy - live audio of today's game will be available beginning at 4:20 p.m. through the Northeast Sports Network. [Edit: Well, so much for that - no link was ever posted, but sounds like it would have been a stressful last couple of innings to listen to! But well worth it, of course.]

May 10, 2011

Well, many things to talk about, but first off, thanks to the coaches and the players for your hospitality on Saturday. It was fun to hang around the dugout and do the live stats for your BHS game. And, of course, you made it quite exciting at the end.

With your win last Friday over Mount Abe, CHS has now won 11 of the last 13 meetings in Bristol since 1980 - after losing the first four road meetings. Then there's the flip side of that: CHS has lost six straight road meetings, last winning in Colchester in 1998. Go figure.

Then there's the fun that is this Burlington game. First off, remember that ball Matt Roy hit in the bottom of the seventh that many of us thought was gone? That would have produced the first walk-off home run by a Laker in the program's 36-year history - not to mention, quite remarkably, just the second homer by a left-handed CHS hitter at Saddlemire Field since the end of the 2001 season (Nick Barton hit one last year). As it is, Jared Cayia's two-run double capped a three-run eighth inning, lifting the Lakers to a 4-3 win after falling behind, 3-1, earlier in the frame. First off, it was just the 17th time in program history that CHS won on a walk-off play. Here's a list that I had (thankfully) already compiled in 2005:

Let's break this down: This was only the second time in program history that CHS overcame a multiple-run deficit in the bottom of the last inning to win, joining the 2003 team. In that instance, we were down 5-3 in the seventh against Rice and scored three times without committing an out in the home half. On Saturday, the only out you guys had in the eighth was Zach Tandy's sacrifice. ... The three runs you scored in the eighth inning was the most you scored in an extra inning since ... the previous Friday, at Vergennes, when you also scored three runs, this time in the ninth inning. And just how many such three-plus-run extra innings had occurred in the program's first 592 games leading up to that Vergennes game? Only four, in 1980, 1982, 1990 and 1994. So let's recap that: You guys had two three-run extra innings in a nine-day stretch after the program had recorded its previous two three-plus-run extra innings during a 10,590-day span that took nearly 29 years to elapse. As far as useless baseball stats go, that one sounds about right. ... It just wasn't meant to be for Matt, anyway: Of the walk-off hits that I can account for, the only one by a left-handed hitter was Todd Collins '86, on May 20, 1985. ... CHS is 5-2 against BHS since 2005 after starting the series 6-18.

I've been reminded many times that a good regular season doesn't necessarily mean a lot unless that team has a good postseason showing. That's not to belittle at all what you guys have done - I can't tell you how incredibly proud I am as an alum to see this program have this kind of performance. While I'm thrilled that you guys are 7-1 - and not only at the top of the Burlington Free Press' Alex Abrami's power poll but I believe also currently in the top spot in the VPA's seedings - and 6-1 in the Metro, just a game out of first place, I know that the regular season exists really to set up teams with your kind of talent and upside for a good postseason seed. So without celebrating the regular-season success just yet, I still am finding some neat, historic things I want to share thanks to your 14-5 win over Middlebury today. You've won six straight, the longest streak since - wait for it - 1983, a seven-gamer. Meanwhile, as soon as that Missisquoi game goes final, the result reverts back to the day the game began. So just by winning an inning or two (or more? guess we'll see), you could retroactively extend that winning streak to seven, not to mention whatever you're able to do against Essex and MMU, two perennial powers, not just in the Metro but in the grand scheme of deep tournament runs and state titles. Midway through your schedule, you're 7-1; the only CHS teams to begin the season 7-1 were the 1982 and 1983 teams. Both years they won the Lake Division and, as members of Division II, took part in the Division I play-offs. The 1982 squad went 16-3, setting the school record for wins, while advancing as far as the D-I semifinals as the No. 4 seed. In 1983, the Lakers finished 14-4, being upset in the quarterfinals as the No. 3 seed, the highest in program history. And, shoot, the seven wins are already better than 16 teams' season totals. Meanwhile, the 6-1 league mark is the best start since 2000, when the Metro League was still split between a North and South; CHS finished 6-2. Finally, in a series that dates back to 1978, the Lakers scored their most runs in a game at Middlebury since plating 17 in 1991 and snapped a five-game losing streak at Middlebury Union High School, its longest at any site in the 34-year, 42-game series history.

Best of luck against Essex and MMU in the next couple of days!

May 6, 2011

For the second straight year, we're going to do some live stats for a particular game, which will be for tomorrow's game against Burlington High School at 3 p.m. (since I'm in town and all). Find the live stats here. Enjoy!

April 30, 2011

Stats are now up for the first three games, and I must give much thanks to Coach Barton for not only continuing on with the team, even after Nick's graduation, but for putting together some pretty detailed information for me so that inputting the stats into STATCREW has pretty much been a breeze so far.

Already guys like Zach Tandy and Tommy Vaux are approaching - if not exceeding - their numbers from last year. And congratulations to Matt Roy on his first varsity hit, back against South Burlington April 16, and the additional ones that have followed. Recent highlights:

  • April 25 vs. Missisquoi, suspended after eight innings, tied 3-3: Technically this game is still ongoing; it's in a purgatory of sorts. Whenever the game ends, it will still technically be an April 25 game, since that's when it began. And, as such, we're also waiting for the outcome of your home opener still!

  • April 27 at Rice, 11-0 win: Random tidbits - 32nd shutout in CHS's 36-year history ... First road shutout since June 2, 2008, oddly enough also at Rice ... Largest road shutout since April 29, 2000, a 12-0 win against North Country in a neutral-site game at Essex ... So, in terms of proper road games at one of the participating schools' sites, it was the largest road shutout since May 26, 1998, also 11-0, also at Rice. Jim Dicesare threw a one-hitter that day ... However, Jimmy D's one-hitter came in a six-inning game, so the last time a CHS pitcher had a complete-game shutout over seven innings on the road was May 5, 1994, when Kenny Boucher beat North Country. (I'm excluding a couple neutral-site shutouts, such as Travis Clairmont blanking Milton at Doubleday Field in 2002.) ... I'm not in the business of feeding egos or building people up, but I found the following interesting, a list for complete-game shutouts on the road where the pitcher went at least seven innings and had a low-hit (zero to three hits) ballgame:

    Date Pitcher Hits Opponent
    4/28/81 Adam Viens 1 Vergennes
    5/13/83 Matt McKenzie 2 BFA-Fairfax
    6/1/93 Nate Brubaker 2 Rice
    4/27/11 Zach Tandy 2 Rice

    CHS has won six straight against Rice, phenomenal when you consider the Lakers lost 18 of the first 26 meetings.

  • April 29 at Vergennes, 7-4 win in nine innings: Since starting the all-time series 5-5 between 1976 and 1980, CHS has gone 16-2 against the Commodores ... And despite that commanding lead in the recent portion of the series, the seven runs are the most scored by CHS at Vergennes since 1995. Then again, Vergennes left the Metro from 2001 to 2007, so the teams didn't play during that time. Thus, CHS also hasn't lost since 1998 ... First extra-inning win since 2005 ... First road extra-inning win since 2004 ... Three-run ninth was the highest-scoring extra inning since May 3, 1994, when CHS put up six in the ninth at CVU during a 15-9 win ... Coupled in with the MVU game, this marks the first time since 2005 that CHS has played multiple extra-inning games. The 1982 team set the program mark with three.

  • April 30 vs. South Burlington, 4-2 win: First time beating a team twice in one season since 2004, when we won twice at BFA-St. Albans by one run, including once in a play-in ... This extends the Lakers' run of success against SB to a 3-1 mark over the last four meetings after winning three of the previous 27 contests (and starting 7-35 in the series).

    Fun with stats: The 10 doubles you had in your first three completed games were more than four CHS squads put together for entire seasons, in 1977, 1978, 1979 and 1983 ... The record-setting 1997 team scored 47 runs all year in 18 games. You had 30 in your first three games (and 44 in five-plus games).

    April 24, 2011

    The schedule is online, as are the Metro standings, which I plan to continue keeping this year. As I'm finishing up my first year as the sports information director at Wheelock College in Boston - about half a mile from Fenway Park - things are crazy down the stretch, though I anticipate having more time in May, both for my own life and to commit some time to the baseball program once again. As your coaches return from vacation, we'll also square away the roster, not to mention stats. Coach Crazy tells me that Andrew Cootware might have broken the school record for career times hit by a pitch, so kudos to him on that record! (A painful one, no doubt. The old record was nine, by Kris Cauchon, who currently plays at Plattsburgh State. And this means Cootware would be the first double-digit plunkee in the program's 36-year history.) Meanwhile, I'm flipping through the behemoth 40-page record book I've compiled over the years and realizing it's incredibly longer than most record books my colleagues and I are able to put together - much of the credit goes to Coach Saddlemire and his efforts to piece together information from the first 23 scorebooks, from 1976 to 1998, before I played as a senior in 1999 and coached a bit in 2000. And then the first 25 books got lost in the summer of 2000 in a cabinet in the back science room at CHS. Lost to history. Sigh. Thus, I suppose I've continued on as the CHS baseball historian since I last coached in 2004.

    Here are some nuggets from your first two games:

  • April 16, 13-1 win at South Burlington: That was only the third win in 24 games CHS has ever played at SBHS. Yes, that's a 3-21 record. It snapped an 11-game road losing streak to SBHS, with the last victory coming by a 9-7 score on May 11, 1999. I do believe I came on as a defensive replacement at second base late in that game, and that Luke Laroche picked up the save. And odds are good that Coach Crazy thus would have gone into the outfield somewhere. Anyhow, CHS has now won two of its last three against SBHS after winning two of its last - brace yourselves - 24 between 1996 and 2009. Thirteen runs were the most you guys scored against SBHS since winning 15-0 in 1995, and the most scored by CHS at SBHS since a 14-7 win in 1988. Thus, the 12-run victory was the largest ever by CHS on SBHS's home field.

    Oh, but that's not all. CHS has now opened the season seven times against SBHS, and that was just the second win - but the second in a row. And CHS is now 3-13 when opening the season on the road. (That includes winning two of the last three.) Thirteen runs were the most scored during a season opener - at any site - since beating CVU, 18-10, in 1990. But that was at home. So your 13 were the most scored on the road in a season opener since April 13, 1985, when CHS knocked off Mount Abraham, 13-6. But that was only a seven-run margin, so your 12-run victory was the largest ever by a CHS team when opening the season on the road.

  • April 22, 18-6 loss at BFA-St. Albans: You guys won't like this one much, but with the good comes the bad, too, and I'm just throwing facts out there, not passing judgment. The 18 runs were the most allowed by CHS to BFA-St. Albans since a 19-6 loss on May 21, 1991, and the most yielded to the Bobwhites in 15 all-time meetings at Collins-Perley. CHS has now lost six straight to BFA after winning 11 of the prior 14 meetings. It was only the 10th time in program history - out of 591 games - that CHS allowed at least 18 runs, and the first time since a 22-7 loss versus CVU in 2001. However, it was just the fifth such occurrence on the road, and the first since a 21-3 loss at Burlington in 1990. And here's an abstract one for you - it was the first time CHS allowed at least 18 runs in a game played outside Chittenden County since April 22, 1978, a 21-3 loss at Missisquoi (in Swanton, which joins St. Albans as being in Franklin County).