Kyle Dussault hurls Eagles baseball into share of league title with Hopkins
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HADLEY - The longer the game went it looked like more than a Hampshire League title was on the line for the Hopkins Academy and Easthampton baseball teams Friday. As the scoreless innings mounted up for both teams, the pitching performances of Garrison Banas and Kyle Dussault looked more worthy of a sectional or even state title.
When the seventh inning passed without a run for either team, it became apparent the contest was going to be about who could hold out longest without cracking.
The Golden Hawks finally wilted in the top of the 11th inning as the Eagles earned a 5-0 win in both teams' final regular-season game. The teams, who split the regular season series, are officially co-Hampshire League champs with matching 13-3 league records. Hopkins (15-3) and Easthampton (15-5) will both be in the field when the Western Massachusetts Division 3 Tournament field is announced Tuesday.
"I'm glad the earliest we could play is Thursday," Eagles coach Ed Zuchowski said. "A game like this can certainly take a lot out of you, both physically and emotionally. It certainly gives us momentum going into the playoffs."
Easthampton finally broke the deadlock against the Golden Hawk bullpen in the 11th inning. Thomas Lucia drew a leadoff walk and stole second. After Aiden Barrett stuck out Jeff VanOudenhouve, Hopkins coach Pat Lemieux elected to intentionally walk No. 3 hitter Matt Robinson. Dussault punched a perfectly-placed soft liner over first base into right field as Lucia raced home from second to make it 1-0.
From there Eagles' bats exploded. After Dussault stole second, Casey White's single to right center scored two more runs. Easthampton loaded the bases with two outs and No. 9 hitter Anthony Szol provided insurance runs with a two-run single to right.
Dussault set Hopkins down in order in the bottom of the inning to preserve the win.
The Easthampton 11th was a rare pocket of offense in a game without much of it as Banas and Dussault were dominant.
Banas struck out 19 batters in nine innings as the Eagle hitters never looked comfortable against his array of breaking pitches. The senior lefthander, who will attend prep school next year, retired the last 16 batters he faced after giving up his only hit in the fourth. He walked two batters and threw 110 pitches.
"It's tough when you're pitcher strikes out 19 and we can't get him a run," Hopkins coach Pat Lemieux said. "We were not prepared, which is my fault as a coach."
Dussault didn't have his counterpart's "K" collection, but he was equally effective as Hopkins rarely hit the ball hard against him. The senior righty, who struggled with his control in Easthampton's previous meeting with the Golden Hawks, was perfect through five innings. He struck out 11 and didn't walk anybody throwing 117 pitches.
"It was an exciting game to be part of. That's something I'll remember for a long time," Dussault said. "We played solid defense the whole game. I just tried to keep my composure and stay with it."
Zuchowski was impressed.
"He was able to minimize runners on base and really kept his walks down," Zuchowski said. "Garrison is a great pitcher. He gets a lot of well-deserved recognition. For Kyle to come out and match him was great. It was something he'll always remember and so will I."
The Eagles nearly scored in the third. Lucia drew a two-out walk, stole second and scooted into the third when Banas' third strike to VanOudenhove got by the catcher. As VanOudenhove beat the throw to first by catcher Sean Quill, Lucia took off for home, Barrett's throw beat him and Quill got the tag down to keep the game scoreless.
Andrew Bemben (two hits) broke up Dussault's bid for a gem in the sixth as he led off the inning with a double down the left-field line. But he got a late jump off of second on Nate Bombardier's sacrifice bunt attempt. First baseman Weston Clark fielded the ball cleanly and fired a perfect throw to third to cut down Bemben.
With Banas off the mound, Easthampton got back-to-back walks off Barrett with one out in the 10th, but the junior pitcher got a fly out and a bounce out to end the inning before the Eagles broke through in the 11th.
"Easthampton did everything right today. You have to tip your hat to them," Lemieux said. "They gutted it out and got the runs when they needed to and played a great baseball game."
After the game, most of the sizeable crowd, stayed for senior day ceremonies as Hopkins honored Banas, Bombardier, Jamie Garand and T.J. Judge.
Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com.
