Laurent throws no-hitter Monday; Bellmont stopped Monday by Norwell
Saturday was a memorable day for Bellmont Senior Eli Laurent as he pitched a no-hitter against Maconaquah, but the Class 3A Sectional 23 Championship would go to the Norwell Knights on Monday.
Saturday’s sectional semifinal was a low-scoring affair throughout, but with the way Laurent was pitching, Bellmont (10-12, 4-3 Northeast Eight, 1-1 IHSAA) would not need much offensively.
Laurent recorded the first two of his ten strikeouts in the first inning.
Maconaquah (11-16, 3-6 Three Rivers Conference, 0-1 IHSAA) hung in the game and kept it scoreless until the third inning when it was Laurent who helped his own cause by finding the breakthrough.
In the bottom of the third, Gavin Krull was hit by a pitch, then moved up to second base on a fielder’s choice. Laurent then found a pitch to his liking and drove it to center field for a base hit. Krull raced around third and proceeded home to give Bellmont the opening run of the contest.
Working with a lead, Laurent went right back to work in the fourth, inducing three ground outs, all to Second Baseman Andrew Zimmerman.
Bellmont added to the lead in the fourth in spite of not putting a ball in play.
Dylan Velez, Keagan Martin and Austin Christner drew back-to-back-to-back walks to load the bases with no outs. Velez scored on a wild pitch. It looked as though another run would score when another pitch got to the backstop, but Martin was caught in a rundown and tagged out.
Undeterred by the missed opportunity, Laurent kept tearing through the Maconaquah order.
He would issue a walk in the fourth, but that would be inconsequential.
Bellmont would add another insurance run in the fifth inning that saw Andrew James hit a double, then score when Jack Scheumann- who drew a walk- stole second and the throw got away.
Maconaquah’s half of the sixth ended after only three batters, and Laurent kept his no-hit bid going to the seventh.
In the seventh inning, Maconaquah’s Brandon
Smitley flew out to left field. Trace Armstrong followed with a line drive that was gloved in center field by Scheumann.
One out from a postseason no-hitter, Laurent closed the game in a fitting way: with a strikeout.
When the game ended, the excitement and the emotion of the accomplishment were etched on the face of Laurent as he stepped off the mound for the final time.
Laurent achieved a rare feat and in the state tournament no less. Bellmont won 3-0 and advanced to the sectional championship game to face the Norwell Knights.
Both teams had Sunday off before Monday’s sectional decider, and it was clear early on that Bellmont had run up against a juggernaut.
The Knights jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning, before consecutive five-run innings for Norwell in the second and third.
Norwell (22-7, 6-1 Northeast Eight, 2-0 IHSAA) started to pull away from the Braves in the second when Luke Graft hit a two-run double in the second.
Bellmont threatened in the third, but left the bases loaded.
The game was put out of reach when Brody Bolyn turned on a pitch in the fourth and cleared the left field wall for a grand slam, making the score 12-0.
Norwell would add two more runs in the fourth and Bellmont was unable to respond in the fifth, bringing the ten-run rule into effect and ending the game.
Bellmont won three straight games prior to Monday. The Braves finished the regular season third in the Northeast Eight conference.