WEST RUTLAND- It isn’t often that a baseball game ends with a tie score, but that’s just what happened Friday afternoon in a game between the Twin Valley Wildcats and the host Golden Horde. Darkness forced the umpires to call the game after seven innings with the score knotted at seven. Twin Valley came from behind to tie the game in the top of the seventh inning. They turned a double play in the bottom of the inning to end the game and preserve the tie. Those were the highlights of the game, according to coach Jim Burke.

“There wasn’t much hitting,” said Burke. ‘We did just enough in the top of the seventh to tie the game up, but the kids really need to start putting the bat on the ball.”

One Twin Valley player who is getting plenty of contact with the ball is Jason Moore, who was hit by a pitch twice in the game, and has been plunked five times in three games this season.

“He’s like a ball magnet,” said Burke.

Burke said he hoped the two teams would be able to finish the game at their next meeting, but Marble Valley League rules allowed the umpires to call the game a draw.

MSJ 19, TV 5

RUTLAND- After playing to a seven-inning, darkness-shortened draw in its previous game, Twin Valley took part in a shortened baseball game on Monday. Unfortunately for the visiting Wildcats, the game was called due to the “mercy” rule that allows a game to be called after five innings. Mount Saint Joseph spanked the Wildcats 19-5.

“Things were going well early on,” said Twin Valley coach Jim Burke. “Then things came unraveled in the fourth inning.” MSJ plated 13 base runners to turn what had been a tied game into a rout.

“We had a lot of errors,” said Burke. “We had kept the game tight, but we dropped a couple of fly balls with two outs in the fourth, and it turned into a rough night. We’ve got to stop shooting ourselves in the foot”

The one bright spot was the Twin Valley hitting. “We’re starting to find the ball with the bat,” said Burke. Jason Moore had two hits. Eli Park, Dylan Johnson and Cade Nesbitt also contributed at the plate.

Mount Everett, 13 TV 7

SHEFFIELD, MA- Errors were the Twin Valley Wildcats undoing in a road loss to Mount Everett on Wednesday. The team committed eight errors in a 13-6 loss.

“That’s what we need to work on,” said Wildcat coach Jim Burke of the team’s fielding miscues. “They’re a young team. They need to relax and just play baseball, and not over-think what they’re doing out there.”

It was the second inning that was Twin Valley’s undoing. After trailing 3-0 through the first, the Wildcats gave up seven runs in the second, many of them unearned. The hosts added two more in the third, and the Wildcats found themselves down 12-0.

“We killed ourselves in the early innings,” said Burke.

But Twin Valley found their bats, scoring four runs in the fourth inning and two more in the seventh. The team also tightened up its defense, allowing only one more run through the last three innings.

Jason Moore took the loss for the Wildcats. Dylan Johnson came on in relief to close out the second and threw the final four innings, allowing only three runs.

At the plate, Twin Valley was led by Dal Nesbitt, who went 3-4 with an RBI. Moore added two hits, Johnson was 2-4, and Colin Lozito was 1-4 with a run batted in.

“The kids didn’t give up,” added Burke. “We finally found our bats, and had some good hits, and made some good plays later in the game.”

Next, the Wildcats will travel to Black River on Friday. They will be back on the bus on Monday for a road game at Green Mountain, the Wildcat’s seventh road game in 14 days.