Drury Sweeps Hoosac to Clinch WMass. Berth
CHESHIRE, Mass. -- The offense of the Drury baseball team was efficient and methodical on Thursday, scoring two runs in each of
the first four innings on its way to a 9-5 win over rival Hoosac Valley. With the victory, the Blue Devils sweep the season series with the Hurricanes and improve their record to 10-4. A 10th win in just 14 games means Drury now clinches a spot in the Division 2 Western Mass. tournament. The Devils can thanks their potent offense for their latest win, an offense that showed no signs of a five-day layoff in pounding out 16 hits on the day. Six different Drury batters collected at least two hits on the day, while Chase Preite, Peter Dassatti and Alex Bush each came up with three hits and an RBI apiece in the win. Senior Tyler Benoit went 2 for 4 with three runs batted in and also closed out the victory by pitching a scoreless seventh inning.
Benoit relieved junior starter Robert Jutras, who picked up his third win of the season by throwing six solid innings. Jutras allowed two earned runs with six strikeouts and four walks.
Senior Collin Kilne took the loss for Hoosac, allowing five earned runs with one strikeout and one walk through just two and one-third innings of work.
"It was a great win against a good Hoosac team," Blue Devils head coach Al Marceau said. "Robert did an excellent job on the mound. He struggled with his delivery early, which caused him to get the ball up in the zone. He gave up some hits but was able to work through it and give us six strong innings. He gave up the one big hit to [Slayter] Aubin but really settled in after that. Tyler then gave us a nice inning to close it out."
Although it scored consistently throughout the game, Drury was unable to shake free of the Hurricanes (9-6) until Jutras and Benoit combined to throw three scoreless frames in innings 5-7. Before that, Hoosac hung around by plating two runs each in the second and third innings before scoring again in the fourth to cut the Devils' lead down to 8-5. Senior Zach Larabee was the 'Canes biggest hitter on the day, going 3 for 4 with a run scored.
"Offensively, we really hit the ball well from the top of the lineup right to the No. 9 hitter," Marceau said. "We will enjoy this win for the next 24 hours and then we'll try to get a win against Monument [Mountain] on Saturday."
The Devils will square off against the Spartans at 11 a.m. in a game which could go a long way in determining the North Division champion.