CASTLETON, Vt. – The Spartans never trailed and used a four-run fourth inning to advance to the North Eastern Athletic Conference East Division Championship game with an 8-2 victory over Thomas on Saturday afternoon at Spartan Field

Castleton got an impressive performance from junior Patrick Riley (Strattford, Vt.), as he went the full nine innings while allowing two earned runs on just six hits. He also finished with three strikeouts as the Spartans improved to 28-14 with the victory. Thomas drops to 25-16 as their season comes to a close with the loss.

Offensively, the Spartans pounded out 14 hits including a 3-for-3 performance from senior Peter Wagner (Brattleboro, Vt.) at the five-spot in the lineup. He also walked twice in reaching base all five times he came to the plate. Three other players recorded a pair of hits.

David Brandt (Contoocook, N.H.) got the offense going with a bunt single to lead off the bottom of the first. The senior then stole second and third, and came home on a sacrifice fly to right field by Ryan Zielinski (Schenectady, N.Y.). Joe Borowski (Schenectady, N.Y.), Zak Mayo (Avon, Conn.) and Wagner followed with singles to load the bases for Cameron Curler (Vergennes, Vt.). Curler hit a grounder and the infield got the force at home for the second out, before a flyout ended the frame.

Thomas responded in the top of the second as Cody Vigue (Skowhegan, Maine) jacked a solo shot over the left field fence to tie the scored 1-1.

In the top of the sixth, Jeff Richardson (Rochester, N.H.) reached on a fielding error with one out to give the Terriers life. Ethan Hurley (Hudson, N.H.) followed with a single, however, Riley induced a grounder to Curler at short that started the 6-4-3 double play to end the inning.

Wagner led off the bottom of the frame with a walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Curler followed with a bunt down the third-base line that was fielded by starter James McLamb (Livermore Falls, Maine). McLamb's throw would have been late, but sailed over the first baseman's head and Wagner came around from second to score.

That was the end of the day for McLamb and he was replaced by Jake Chamblee (So. Berwick, Maine). Macyn Clifford (Brookline, N.H.) laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance Curler and Greenlese was hit on the first pitch he saw to put runners on first and second. They advanced to second and third on a wild pitch with two down and Brandt at the plate. He hit a chopper just to the right of second base and beat out the throw as Curler scored from first for the 3-1 lead. Zielinski kept the rally going with a single up the middle, scoring both runners on base.

An inning later, Mayo and Wagner led off with back-to-back walks, setting the table for Curler. He laid down the sacrifice bunt, moving them to second and third. Clifford then came through with a bloop single, scoring pinch runner DJ Detweiler (Starksboro, Vt.) from third. After a failed squeeze bunt play at home, Mat Pause (Hartford, Vt.) walked to load the bases for Brandt. He grounded out, but Clifford scored on a wild pitch during the at bat to give the Spartans a 7-1 advantage.

Castleton added another run in the eighth as Zielinski led off with a single to center. He was forced out on a fielder's choice by Detweiler, however with two down, the senior stole second and then came home on a single by Wagner to make it 8-1.

Thomas added a single run in the ninth for the 8-2 final. McLamb took the loss, going 5.0 innings and giving up three runs, two of them earned. He also struck out two batters while walking one.

Castleton now face Colby-Sawyer Sunday morning at 10 a.m. for the NEAC East Division Championship. Should the Spartans will they will be forced to beat the Chargers a second time, with the game scheduled for 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first game.