Coon Shuts Down Hornets in Mount Everett Win
SHEFFIELD, Mass. – Cameron Coon gave up two hits in five shutout innings Saturday as the Mount Everett baseball team beat McCann Tech, 10-0, to improve to 6-0 this spring.
Trevor Leonard went 2-for-3 with an RBI, and the Eagles made the most of their eight hits, exploding for eight runs in the bottom of the third to put the game away.
Trevor Leonard stole two bases, scored two runs and laid down a sacrifice bunt to drive in a run for a Mount Everett team that made the most of its opportunities.
“That’s kind of been our motto all year: pitching and defense,” first-year Mount Everett coach Brian Wade said. “We’ve been lights out on that. And then now what we do is wait for their defense to make a mistake and we capitalize on it.”
Appropriately, the winning run capitalized on a miscue in the bottom of the first inning.
Darius Taliaferro led off for the Eagles by reaching on an error and then stole second. Brodie Kinna’s groundout to the right side moved Taliaferro to third, and he came home when Brady Carpenter grounded out to first.
The Eagles tacked on a run in the third on an RBI single from Carpenter and then put the game away an inning later.
The eight-run rally started with an infield single by Leonard and included three straight hit batters and a bunt single by Johnny Ireland to make it 4-0.
Taliaferro hit an RBI single to left, and Leonard bunted in a run before the inning ended.
Meanwhile, Coon cruised through the first three innings, facing one batter over the minimum.
McCann Tech’s offense came alive in the fourth, though, using an Aidan Tremblay walk and singles from Jaydon Dimitropolis and Mason Rondeau to load the bases with two out.
But Coon got out of the jam, inducing a ground ball up the middle that went off his glove to second baseman Ireland, who threw on to first for the inning-ending out.
“He just comes back,” Wade said of Coon. “That’s the biggest thing, keeping him focused to attack the strike zone. And that’s what he did, and that’s what was successful for us.”
Other than giving up some free passes that led to the big inning for Mount Everett in the third, there were some success for both McCann Tech pitchers: Nolan Booth, who got an inning-ending strikeout with the bases loaded in the first, and Mason Rondeau, who threw 1 and two-thirds innings of shutout ball.
“I’ve got a brand new baseball team, and I’ve had limited practice time on a field,” McCann Tech coach Justin Howland said. “It’s still early in the season. I think we can turn it around.
“It is frustrating, but, on a positive note, the kids didn’t get too far down on themselves. They stayed positive. They didn’t give up. They tried every play, and when we made a mistake, we still rolled over to the next play to try to make the next play.”
The Eagles, meanwhile, are rolling through the schedule.
“I feel that coming out of the gym, we were ready,” Wade said. “I feel that this team has been practicing really hard. But we know that we have to take it one game at a time from here on out. And I’m happy with the performance of our boys so far.”
Mount Everett is home against Lee on Monday.
McCann Tech (2-2) hosts Springfield International Charter on Wednesday.
Photos from this game to come.