Essex Town Little League captures second straight 8-10-year-old title
Jacob RousseauESSEX - The climb to the top of the 8-to-10-year-old Vermont Little League baseball mountain is arduous.
Which makes never leaving the peak that much sweeter.
The Essex Town all-stars, who had eight 9-year-olds on last year’s roster, claimed their second straight championship Saturday, recording a 3-0 win over Brattleboro on their home field at Foster Road Park. The potent all-star squad heads back to Cranston, Rhode Island for the East Region tournament.
“This team has been together for a long time,” Essex coach Sven Eklof said. “The kids believe in each other, which has kind of been my whole story this year. Just believe and trust your defense. Good things will happen if you remain positive.”
Essex (9-0) struck for three runs in the top of the third inning when eight-hole batter Joe Taylor-Marsh skipped a ground ball off the third base bag and into left field for a single. Boden Stimson followed with a single to the left side to push the lineup back to the top of the order with one out.
“Some of my best hitters are actually at the bottom of the lineup, I do that on purpose,” Eklof said. “I like to spread it out a little, but if they're going our whole lineup is going.”
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David Bent, who was the winning pitcher in last year's finals, doubled to left-center field to drive in Taylor-Marsh before Brady Salvatori reached on a fielder’s choice to double the advantage. William Hadaway singled on a line drive back to the pitcher to push across the final run of the rally as five straight Essex batters reached safely.
Taylor-Marsh, the winning pitcher, went 4 2/3 innings on 75 pitches and surrendered just two hits and three walks with four strikeouts. Dylan Markey and Bent combined for the four-out save as Brattleboro was held to two hits.
“Joe was lights out for (almost) five innings,” Eklof said. “And then Markey came in and was great. A lot of big hits today, but credit to Brattleboro they're really good.”
Essex got out of a bases-loaded jam with two outs in the bottom of the fifth after surrendering a pair of walks and a single. Markey painted the outside corner on a 3-2 count to end the inning.
Bent went 3-for-3 and Stimson was 2-for-2 as Essex compiled nine hits on the day.
Essex started the double-elimination tournament with a 3-0 win over Champlain Valley, followed with a 7-4 triumph in eight innings against Brattleboro before taking the championship on Saturday.
“This is our second time winning states in a row. It’s a great group of kids, we're an older team this year, but it's 1-12. Everyone's hitting, everyone plays, a total team win,” Eklof said.
Contact Jacob Rousseau at JRousseau@gannett.com. Follow on Twitter: @ByJacobRousseau.
Essex Town's summer run
Districts
Essex Town 10, Essex Junction 0
Essex Town 7, Browns River 2
Essex Town 13, Milton 2
Essex Town 9, Northeast 3
Essex Town 14, Champlain 5
Essex Town 13, Northeast 1 (District III final)
State tournament
Essex Town 3, Champlain Valley 0
Essex Town 7, Brattleboro 4 (8)
Essex Town 3, Brattleboro 0 (state final)