Mother Nature decides Blue Sox’s 4-2 loss against the Mountaineers

By Kate Endres 

What started as a partly cloudy summer day in Montpelier quickly turned into a chaotic rain storm in the Valley Blue Sox’s 4-2 loss against the Vermont Mountaineers on Tuesday. Both teams traded runs through the first five innings, but Vermont’s (8-14) ability to answer quickly and capitalize on extra bases before Mother Nature intervened proved decisive against Valley (8-11-1). 

The Mountaineers pulled ahead in the fifth, when Matthew Jackson (Stony Brook) tripled to right and scored on David Alvarez’s (Eastern Kentucky) RBI double, pushing Vermont ahead 4-2. It was Alvarez’s third hit of the night and his second RBI, and it gave the Mountaineers their largest lead before the weather shut everything down. 

With that, Vermont had taken control of the scoring earlier. In the first inning, Elliot Miles (UMass Boston) homered to right to give the Mountaineers a 1-0 lead on their first trip to the plate. In the third, Jackson singled, advanced on a failed pickoff and scored when Alvarez drove a ball through the right side, putting Vermont back in front after Valley had briefly pulled even.

The fourth inning added separation. JJ Parsons (UNC Greensboro) singled, moved up on a stolen base and scored on a passed ball, breaking a 2-2 tie and giving Vermont a 3-2 edge it would not give up.

Valley’s scoring came earlier, and both times they answered Vermont’s pressure. In the second, Matt Wolfe (Middle Tennessee) singled, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on Chris Cancel’s (UConn) sacrifice fly to tie the game 1-1. 

In the fourth, Wolfe singled again, Gabriel Cavazzoni (Seton Hall) and Anthony Tirado (Penn State) dropped down back‑to‑back bunt singles, and Wolfe scored on Cancel’s ground‑ball double play to pull Valley even at 2-2.

The Blue Sox nearly added more in the fifth when Jack Myers (Georgia Southern) doubled and advanced to third on a wild pitch, but a pair of flyouts ended the inning. Valley was preparing to bat in the sixth when rain intensified, prompting a delay and eventual stoppage.

A major bright spot for Valley came from starting pitcher Maddex LaBuda, who threw all five completed innings, which is his longest outing of the season. The Quinnipiac righty also recorded a season‑high six strikeouts. LaBuda allowed four runs (three earned) on ten hits but did not issue a walk, facing 24 batters and keeping Valley within reach even as Vermont produced traffic in every inning. His 73‑pitch outing included four flyouts and four groundouts, despite the Mountaineers’ contact.

Valley finished with five hits with two from Wolfe, singles from Myers, Cavazzoni and Tirado, and Myers’ double. The Blue Sox did not commit an error and left six runners on base. Vermont totaled ten hits, led by Alvarez’s three and Jackson’s two.

While it will never be known how the game would’ve shaped up if nature didn’t have its way, Valley returns to Mackenzie Stadium to face the North Adams Steeplecats on Wednesday, July 1. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m., and all of the action can be streamed on NECBL+.