Kogut, 'Canes Top Monument Mountain

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires.com Sports
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CHESHIRE, Mass. -- Hoosac Valley senior Devin Kogut did his best Harry Houdini impression on Saturday, repeatedly pitching his way out of trouble to earn a 5-1 win over Monument Mountain.
 
The Spartans had runners on in every inning. They put the leadoff man on in five of seven frames. And Kogut stranded six in the complete-game effort as the Hurricanes won for the fifth time in six outings and improved to 7-5 this spring.
 
“That’s Devin,” Hoosac Valley coach Trevor Swistak said. “He’s a little quirky, but he gets the job done. We have all the confidence in the world in him.
 
“I let him go for the first time, and I think he threw a hundred pitches today. It was his first complete game in two years.”
 
Kogut lowered his earned run average to 1.58 this spring. He struck out five and walked just one, limiting the impact of the seven hits Monument earned.
 
Offensively, the Hurricanes gave Kogut some support right out of the gate.
 
Leadoff man Henry Sniezek worked a walk in the bottom of the first. He stole second and scored on No. 2 hitter Luc Trombley’s single to right.
 
Trombley advanced on a balk and scored when Sam Larabee hit a one-out double to make it 2-0.
 
Hoosac Valley added to its lead a little at a time, adding runs in the third and fourth to go ahead, 4-0.
 
In the third, John Krol doubled and eventually came home on a wild pitch and errant throw to third. In the fourth, Joe Degere hit a two-out double to center and eventually scored on a wild pitch.
 
The one time the Spartans got to Kogut came in the top of the fifth.
 
Max Joyner singled and exploited a bobble in the outfield to get to second. A wild pitch moved him over, and he scored on a two-out single by Kyle Gochey. Kogut got the next man to fly out to the outfield, making the one run allowed unearned.
 
Hoosac Valley got the run back in the bottom of the sixth.
 
Logan Keyes reached on a two-base error to start the inning, and No. 9 hitter David Lennon hit Hoosac Valley’s fourth double of the day deep to left to provide the final margin, 5-1.
 
“David just came back this year, and we’re trying to get him going in situations,” Swistak said. “He can hit, so we’re gonna get him going.”
 
Gochey and Cade Grober each had two hits for the Spartans, who got 5-⅓ innings with three earned runs from starting pitcher Jackson Smith.
 
Monument Mountain (3-6) goes to Pittsfield on Thursday.
 
Hoosac Valley looks to continue a two-game winning streak on Monday when it visits Mount Greylock for a rematch. On Thursday, the Hurricanes earned an 8-7 win over the Mounties.
 
“We have won these in every way possible,” Swistak said of Hoosac’s 5-1 month of May. “We battle. We don’t give up. That’s one thing about this team. We don’t give up no matter how we’re playing or who we’re playing.”
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