Strong pitching, solid defense, and clutch hitting helped Vernon win its second straight 11-12 tournament game, a 4-2 win over Manchester American on Tuesday night at Legion Field.
Jake Cichon struck out five batters over four innings of no-hit ball to earn the victory.
Dylan Andrews earned the save and held Manchester hitless until the bottom of the sixth, when Ryan Nesbit connected for a two-run homer.
Manchester's Edison Galan pitched well over four and two-thirds innings, while William Menasian paced the defense.
Two stellar defensive plays helped keep Vernon's no-hitter going until there were two out in the sixth.
In the third inning catcher Brian Gardiner made a diving grab of a bunt pop up. In the next inning John Ashmead made an over-the-shoulder catch in deep left field to rob Nesbit of another extra-base hit.
Igor Aliczi drove in Vernon's first run in the top of the second when he doubled down the left field line.
There was no further scoring until the top of the fifth. Leadoff hitter Zachary Sargeant led off with a walk, and was sacrificed to second by Gardiner. Isaac Bilmes followed with a line drive into center field that almost hit Sergeant at second base. Sargeant scampered home ahead of the throw and Bilmes slid into third on the play, just under the tag.
Max St. Germain executed a suicide squeeze to plate Bilmes with Vernon's third run.
Vernon's final run came in the top of the sixth inning. Matthew Hoover drew a leadoff walk. Aliczi sacrificed pinch-runner Jason Abrahamson to second and Sergeant lined a single to left center, and Abrahamson slid between the catcher's legs to just beat the tag.
Vernon plays host to Rockville today at 6 p.m. at Legion Field. Rockville lost to Windsor 13-3 on Tuesday. Kameryn Boone and Ian
Tourtelotte each had 2 hits for Rockville.
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