You might have thought the crowd for the recent Blue Mountain-Oxbow softball game would have been mammoth.
It was not, Oxbow Union High Athletic Director Heidi Wright said.
She said that it was a normal size crowd and she was surprised that more Blue Mountain fans did not make the short trip over from Wells River.
It turned out that the clash between defending state champions was a great game, Oxbow remaining unbeaten with a 5-3 win.
“I wonder what the crowd would have been like if the game were on a Saturday,” Wright said.
Well, the West Rutland at Proctor softball game is on Saturday and the crowd will be huge. Maybe 600 to 800 fans?
The Phantoms’ riveting 14-12 victory over West Rutland on May 10 only sparks more excitement in Saturday’s game.
The Vermont Principals’ Association’s index ranking has Proctor at No. 1, West Rutland at No. 2 and Blue Mountain at No. 3.
This week’s Rutland Herald/Times Argus power rankings place Blue Mountain at No. 1, West Rutland at No. 2 and Proctor at No. 3.
Division IV is crazy and next to impossible to figure out. Richford, which owns a 6-4 win over Blue Mountain, is ranked right after Proctor in the Rutland Herald/Times Argus power rankings. There is a case for placing the Rockets higher.
Blue Mountain and Division III Oxbow are both good bets to be at Vermont State University Castleton for state championship weekend.
Many BMU fans who did not make the 15-to-18 minute drive over to Oxbow will make the far longer drive to Castleton.
Blue Mountain appears a cinch to make the trip to Castleton and is the favorite, but West Rutland, Proctor and Richford are all capable of winning it all in D-IV.
Here are this week’s Rutland Herald/Times Argus power rankings. They were compiled prior to any games played on Wednesday. Last week’s ranking is in parentheses.
1. BFA-St. Albans 12-0 (1) The defending Division I state champions won last week’s three games by a combined score of 43-3. That included a 6-1 win over D-I contender Missisquoi.
2. Colchester 8-2 (4) The Lakers lost to BFA-St. Albans 5-4, playing the Comets as tough as anyone. A big one approaching: The rematch with BFA-St. Albans on Thursday.
3. Mount Anthony 12-1 (2) The Patriots are still unbeaten against Vermont teams but had a scare against D-II Otter Valley in a 4-3 win. The Pats took care of business against Brattleboro on Tuesday, 23-1.
4. Missisquoi 8-4 The Thunderbirds lost two of three last week.
5. Oxbow 12-0 (5) The Olympians thumped a pretty good Bellows Falls team 26-0 and then got by a very good Blue Mountain team 5-3. Tuesday, the O’s trimmed a strong Division II Lyndon team, 6-1.
6. Enosburg Falls 10-1 (6) The Hornets stood up to the iron of Division II in a three-game stretch last week, beating Mount Abraham, Milton and Rice by a combined score of 22-3. They have branded themselves as the D-II favorite.
7. St. Johnsbury 7-3 (8) The Hilltoppers won two straight last week by shutouts. The most impressive was a 2-0 win over Missisquoi.
8. Blue Mountain 11-2 (10) Making even more of an impression than their 7-0 win over West Rutland, was the way the Bucks played Oxbow so tough, bowing 5-3 in a game that pitted the D-IV state champion Bucks against the D-III state champion O’s. With that impressive showing, the Bucks solidified their hold on the No. 1 spot in the Division IV Rutland Herald/Times Argus power rankings.
9. Lyndon 11-4 (UR) The Vikings reeled off five straight wins before losing to Oxbow on Tuesday and are one of the contenders in a D-II field crowded with them.
10. Middlebury 7-3 (UR) The Tigers’ late-season surge includes five straight wins and they have come against good teams like Rice, Mount Abe and Milton.
TOP FIVES
Division I — 1. BFA-St. Albans 2. Colchester 3. Mount Anthony 4. Missisquoi 5. St. Johnsbury.
NOTES: BFA has the pitching and packs so much punch at the plate with home run threats like Cora Thomas, Ruby Dasaro, Marah McGinn and others. ... It was evident when St. Johnsbury opened the season in Rutland that the Hilltoppers were very young and had a high ceiling. They appear to be reaching their potential.
Division II — 1. Enosburg 2. Lyndon 3. Middlebury 4. Mount Abraham 5. Rice.
NOTES: Enosburg’s Makenna Lovelette could be a tough pitcher to solve in the playoffs. She shut out a very good Rice team (7-0) by pitching a one-hitter with eight strikeouts against just one walk. ... Can there be a more enigmatic team than Otter Valley? The Otters are easily one of the best five teams in the division when playing well. They came within a run of D-I Mount Anthony, one of the top two or three teams in the state, and then fell to Springfield 23-21 in the next game. Who are these Otters?
Division III — 1. Oxbow 2. Bellows Falls 3. Fair Haven 4. Windsor 5. Thetford.
NOTES: Oxbow’s lopsided win over Bellows Falls shows just how much distance there is between the powerful Olympians and the rest of the division. ... Fair Haven played a murderous schedule and could secure a home playoff game with a sub. 500 record. When the Slater pitchers are throwing strikes with that stellar defense behind them, they can be one tough out.
Division IV — 1. Blue Mountain 2. West Rutland 3. Proctor 4. Richford 5. Poultney.
NOTES: Poultney, like Fair Haven, is a team far better than their record indicates, which is why they are ranked ahead of teams with far better records. They lost one-run games to good teams like Proctor and Fair Haven. The Blue Devils will likely have to hit the road for the first playoff game but could surprise someone. ... The strategy will be interesting in the showdown in Proctor on Saturday. Proctor coach Tom Lubaszewski had great success with implementing position changes, putting top athletes in the outfield to counter Westside’s power hitting lineup. If he does it again, will West Rutland coach Laurie Serrani try to counter with a higher percentage of small ball? It should be fun.
