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Friday afternoon in Montpelier a king will be crowned. For the third time in six years, Northeast Kingdom neighbors Danville and Blue Mountain will go toe-to-toe in the Division IV baseball final.

The past two championship meetings have been kind to the Indians, who came away with back-to-back title victories with 4-1 and 6-5 wins over the Bucks in ’06 and ’07. In fact, the last playoff victory for Blue Mountain over their neighboring rivals came with a 7-1 win in the 2004 semi-finals.

At the start of this season the tables had turned dramatically in favor of the Bucks. Coming off two straight championships, the boys from Blue Mountain had been heavily favored to reach the finals again since the first pitch of the year. On opening day, in their first of two meetings, the two-time defending champs slipped past Danville 5-4 on their home field.

But perhaps no D-IV team has performed better in one-run games this year than the Indians. They bounced back in the second meeting between the two finalists during the course of the season with a 6-5 win at home, going 4-2 in one-run ballgames in the regular season. Senior leadership has been key from players such as Ian Sackett, who had three hits in that 6-5 win, but solid pitching support from freshmen Brett Elliott and Kyle Johnson has been important as well.

Danville finished the regular season as the #3 seed with a 10-5 record, while the #1 Bucks ended on a tear at 13-2. The only other loss for Blue Mountain came at the hands of Woodsville, 4-3, in their first meeting. The Bucks repaid the favor though, upending the former victors with a 5-1 win in their next bout.

Both teams cruised over their playoff runs into the semis. Blue Mountain started with the benefit of a first round bye and then an 8-0 quarter-final victory over Rivendell. Danville had to win one more game, but did so convincingly with a 14-0 win over Arlington followed by a 20-2 win over Canaan.

It was the semi-final matchups that called for the heroics. Blue Mountain took down Williamstown for the second straight year to earn a pass to the finals in well-fought 3-1 win. Kyle Farquharson and Brandon Flood combined on the mound to four-hit the Blue Devils, with Flood striking out seven in just four innings.

For Danville, it took a bit more magic over South Royalton to get a shot in the title game. Down 4-1 and with three outs remaining in their season, the Indians staged a four-run comeback to take the 5-4 lead an eventual win. They got the bat on the ball when they needed to, and spurred by three defensive errors and a Scott Remick RBI the Indians proved once again how dangerous they can be in close ballgames.  

At 4:30 pm Friday in Montpelier all talk of past meetings and performances will go out the window, with both teams focused on just one thing – winning. Can the Bucks get that third straight title, matching Danville’s streak from ’05 to ’07? Or is Danville in line for the upset?

Prediction: Either way, this game is going to be close. I’m casting my vote for Danville to end the Bucks’ reign in a 4-3 nail biter.

Tune in right here on NSN tomorrow at 4:20 p.m. to watch all of the action live from Montpelier.