TURNER – Andy Valley rides in the same rocky boat as just about every other Zone 3 American Legion team, juggling jobs, family vacations and other baseball commitments while trying to concoct a winning combination with whatever’s left.
Thursday night’s winning formula: Two pitchers who haven’t toed the rubber too often since Little League and a soon-to-be college sophomore who hasn’t enjoyed many live swings since leaving high school.
Tyler Cote and Zane Armandi hooked up for a three-hit shutout, and Mike Chamard ripped two home runs to the deepest part of the Leavitt Area High School diamond to fuel Andy Valley’s 10-0 blanking of Gray Post 86.
“Early in the season,” said Andy Valley coach Jeff Gilbert, “you’re just trying to figure out what you have.”
Facing its third game in four nights, Andy Valley (4-2) dug deeply into its pitching staff and plucked a gem. Cote steered clear of Gray’s most dangerous hitters and threw strikes to everyone else. He walked six but permitted only two singles by Tim DeLuca and another by Ryan Welch.
Cote struck out three, while Armandi fanned one in his hitless inning of relief.
Chamard entered the summer less a mystery and more a forgotten man. The Livermore Falls product rarely gets cheated at the plate.
Even when Welch struck out Chamard to end the fourth inning, it wasn’t before the shortstop belted one 360 feet to trigger a five-run uprising in that frame and tagged a loud line drive that barely fell in foul territory for his encore.
His three-run salvo in the sixth sent everyone home early by virtue of the 10-run rule.
“I felt pretty good tonight. I’ve felt pretty good the whole season,” Chamard said. “I like going after that first pitch when it’s right down the middle.”
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