09/13/2026
It was another good day for the Upper Valley Rauders, as the Underclass team swept its two pool play games in Niantic, CT and the 18u squad split a doubleheader against a pair of highly-talented teams at the WWBA Northeast Qualifier in Elizabeth, NJ.
As if often the case in victories, pitching dominated for the Underclass, as they rode the arms of starting pitchers Duke Kelley (game 1) and Bryson Morgan (game 2) to a 7-3 win over Tucci Elite and a 3-0 shutout vs thr CT Mayhem.
In the opener, UV jumped out to a 4-1 lead after two innings, scoring a pair in the first when Carter Glines doubled home Max Smith (ROE) and later crossed home on a wild pitch. In the second, two more crossed thanks to Will Ricci's RBI single and Kelley's RBI groundout. Tucci scratched across another to cut the lead to 4-2 before the Rauders exploded for eight runs in the fourth to put the game away.
In the fourth, a walk to Ethan Belchamber and RBI single from Owen McCarthy started the scoring and, following a Ricci double, Kelley walked with the bases loaded, Smith singled home Ricci and Corbin Hough, Owen Daley delivered an RBI single while a fielder's choice, bases loaded walk to Belchamber and wild pitch rounded out the scoring. The Souhegan boys led the way as Glines was 3-for-3 with a pair of doubles and Ricci 2-for-3 with a double.
In the second game, Bryson Morgan dominated, firing five innings of one-hit shutout baseball, striking out 10, while the offense did just enough to secure the win. A single run in the second on Collin Miller's RBI single followed a double from Sebastian Garro and two more scored in the fourth, thanks to another single from Garro, pair of walks and run-scoring double play. Smith was 2-for-3 from the leadoff spot and Garro finished 2-for-2.
The 18u team struggled to generate any offense in its opening game, wasting a strong start from Will Myers (3.2 IP, 2H, 1ER, 7K) and stellar relief work from Will Shlomm (2.1IP, 1H, 0R, 3K), falling 3-1 to Complete Performance Baseball Academy. After five relatively quiet innings, the offense woke up late, as Brayden Bull and Ryan Peloso strung together two-out singles in the sixth and Miles Desrosiers led off the seventh with a triple, scoring on Jack Fiengo's sac fly for the game's lone run.
In the nightcap, facing a Diamond Jacks Super17 squad with 13 Division I commitments, the Rauders played their most complete game of the fall, rallying for an impressive 6-3 win. Rauders starter Braden White (St. Bonaventure) gave a solid start in his season debut and a pair of late rallies, backed by the stong relief pitching of Avery Powers, fueled the win.
Trailing 3-0 in the fourth, the offense came alive and scored a pair, as Desrosiers opened the inning with a double the fence in left, moved to third on Myers's single and scored on Fiengo's double to right center. After the first out of the inning, Abe Ready executed a perfect safety squeeze, scoring Myers to close the gap to 3-2 and, an inning later, Ryan Peloso walked, moved to second and scored on Desrosier's second hit of the game to knot the score.
After a 1-2-3 bottom of the fifth from Powers and two quick outs in the top of the sixth, the Rauders used some two-out magic to claim the lead. Ready worked a walk to get things going and Powers ripped a line-drive single to left to bring up the top of the order. Bull got ahead 3-0, looked at strike one and then jumped all over the 3-1 offering, blistering a line-drive in the left-center gap, easily scoring Ready and Powers, while using his own speed to race around with an inside-the-park home run to give UV a 6-3 lead. In the bottom of the innings, Powers got two quick outs on a popup and strikeout before allowing a harmless solo HR and regrouping to induce a flyball to end the game and secure the win.
