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Whip-Purs finally topple Rockets
| Andrew A. Nelles~For Sun-Times Media |
Updated: April 26, 2011 8:05PM
A third straight undefeated run through the Big Northern Conference East Division baseball season isn’t in the cards for Burlington Central.
Hampshire dealt the Rockets a rare 5-3 home loss Monday, ending Central’s run of 24 consecutive BNC East victories that dated to 2008. The outcome also marked the first setback at home for the Rockets in a stretch of 29 games dating to 2009.
The Whip-Purs got a strong pitching performance from junior lefty Luke Wians and a perfect 3-for-3 day at the plate from sophomore Tyler Crater. Junior Chase Lundry also chipped in by going 2-for-4 with an RBI for Hampshire (10-5, 3-1), which won its fifth in a row and beat Central (10-4, 3-1) for the first time in six tries going back to 2008.
“They had 24 in a row (in the conference), they beat us three times last year and in the regional to knock us out of the playoffs,” Crater said. “It was good to get this one.”
Hampshire’s win didn’t come without a little late-inning drama. The Rockets trailed 5-2 entering the bottom of the seventh, but they trimmed that deficit to two when Zach Ranney grounded into a fielder’s choice to drive in Bryan Leist from third.
Wians then issued a two-out walk to Ray Hunnicutt to put runners at first and second, prompting Hampshire coach Steve Ream to replace Wians on the mound with Crater. Things got even hairier when Crater fired a wild pitch to put both Central runners in scoring position, but the youngster battled back and got Sam Klein to strike out swinging to end the game.
“I remember a few times we’ve played here and lost the game in the last inning, so this was nice,” Ream said. “This win will help us as the season goes on.”
Wians (2-3) was effective during his 6 2/3 innings, allowing only a pair of earned runs on three hits while striking out four and walking four.
The southpaw was especially tough against the vaunted top four batters in the Rockets order. Leadoff man Hunnicutt, No. 2 batter Klein, No. 3 batter Tanner Scott and clean-up hitter Nick Hahn were a combined 0-for-11 against Wians before Hahn smacked a solo home run in the sixth.
“Luke is a battler,” Ream said. “He’s a competitor and he wants to be out there, so hats off to him.”
Klein came into the game with a streak of 13 straight pitching decisions without a loss, but that came to an end when the senior allowed four earned runs on eight hits while striking out six in six innings. The defeat was Klein’s first since his sophomore campaign.
Klein (4-1) particularly struggled with his command as he walked four batters and hit two others. Those problems proved especially vexing during Hampshire’s three-run third when he issued back-to-back walks to load the bases after Crater led off the inning with a single. All three runners eventually scored as the Whips grabbed a 4-1 lead.
For Central, the defeat was its first in BNC East action since a 4-3, eight-inning loss at Harvard on May 6, 2008. The last Rockets home loss came in a 10-5 defeat against Larkin on April 18, 2009.
Central will get a chance to avenge Monday’s defeat when it plays at Hampshire on May 12.
“We just didn’t put ourselves in good counts offensively or on the mound,” Central coach Kyle Nelson said. “It’s kind of been a theme for us where we think we’re going to win games just because we showed up. We’ve got to change that. We can’t come out and just expect to win ballgames.”
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