Colchester Little League stages late rally to claim 8-to-10-year-old state crown

The 8-to-10-year-old all-stars from Colchester Little League "grinded" all summer long.

They were rewarded for it Saturday.

Down to their last out with the bases empty, Colchester pulled off an incredible three-run rally to topple Brattleboro for a 5-4 victory in seven innings, claiming the Vermont state championship and notching another win during a wild five-week stretch of baseball for the District I champion.

Easton Pratt scored on a wild pitch for the walk-off run, sealing the title for Colchester, which advances to the East Region tournament. Colchester will head to Cranston, Rhode Island, and will play the Maine state champion at noon on Aug. 3 in the double-elimination tourney.

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"We've grinded through this entire process," Colchester coach Brennan Carney said when reached by phone. "They like to do it the hard way. They tend to crawl out of tough situations. They have done a really good job, they don’t hang their heads in those moments."

After finishing a weather-delayed, 13-3 triumph over Browns River at Burlington's Schifilliti Field on Thursday to stay alive, Colchester returned to Brattleboro, the state-tournament host, hoping to solve the District IV champions. Brattleboro had defeated Colchester 2-0 last weekend.

Brattleboro forced extras in Saturday's final on a two-out single, knotting the game at 2-2. In the top of the seventh, Brattleboro took a 4-2 advantage on a walk and fielder's choice.

That set the stage for Colchester's comeback.

After Brattleboro induced a pair of ground balls for the first two outs, Hayden Critchlow reached on an error. Boden Carney singled, with Critchlow racing home and Carney getting to second on a throwing error.

Pratt followed with a walk and Carney stole third before tying the game at 4-4 on a wild pitch. Toby Scheuch, Colchester's next batter, also walked before Pratt trotted home via a wild pitch to kick off Colchester's celebration.

"We had a lot of team chemistry and they are really resilient," Brennan Carney said.

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Colchester, 11-4 this summer, handed three teams — Camels Hump, Browns River and Brattleboro — their first losses of all-star season. Against Camels Hump, Colchester won 12-10 and 15-12 on back-to-back days to claim the District I crown two weeks ago. Colchester had lost to Camels Hump by scores of 21-8 and 10-4 earlier in district play.

"A lot of the teams hadn't faced the same adversity we had," Carney said. "The early losses set the tone, and then they started playing better."

Boden Carney led Colchester with a 2-for-3, two-RBI game. Grayson Carey also had two hits at the plate and Weston Ellingson earned the win in relief, going 2 1/3 innings and allowing four hits and two earned runs.

Contact Alex Abrami at aabrami@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter: @aabrami5.