The Brattleboro Colonels baseball team lost to Burr & Burton, 4-2, last Thursday for their sixth straight loss of the season.
Brattleboro scored twice in the first inning, but shut down the rest of the way. Jimmy Mills gave up just five hits in a complete-game loss. Ross Meyer had a pair of hits for the Colonels, who got one hit each from Chris McAuliffe, Evan Parro, and Elliot Gragen.
On a chilly day at Tenney Field on April 23, the Colonels lost to Mount Anthony, 15-5, in a five-inning game cut short by the 10-run mercy rule. MAU took a 3-0 lead after the first inning, but Brattleboro tied it up in the third, thanks to a two-run double by Parro. After that, the Patriots started pounding Colonel relief pitchers Kassidi Ramirez and Kevin Tao to break the game open.
On April 20, the Colonels got swept in a doubleheader in Rutland County. In the morning, Brattleboro lost to Fair Haven, 11-6. The Slaters took a 5-0 lead off starting pitcher Mills in the first inning. The Colonels battled back to trail 7-4 in the fifth inning, but Fair Haven got four more runs in the sixth to clinch the win. Jeff Kerylow, Ramirez, McAuliffe, and Rob Heilman all had hits for Brattleboro.
In the afternoon contest in North Clarendon, the Colonels got shut out by Mill River, 10-0. Danny Richardson was the losing pitcher; Brattleboro was held to just three harmless hits by Tao, Kerylow, and Jeff Kahler.
Brattleboro is now 1-7 and needs to string some wins together - fast - to make the playoffs.
Baseball
• Bellows Falls pitcher Mike LaBeau picked up his third win of the season last Thursday as the Terriers shut out Springfield, 11-0. LaBeau struck out 12 and walked one in holding the Cosmos to just two hits over six innings. Chris Armstrong then pitched a scoreless seventh.
Unfortunately, those three games that LaBeau started are the only three games that BF has won. In the Terriers' other two games, they've lost.
Bellows Falls was held to just three hits as Otter Valley pitcher Justin Owen dominated in a 7-3 win on April 23. Owen struck out 10 and walked two. Zac Streeter and Armstrong split the pitching duties for BF, and gave up 10 hits between them.
On April 20, Bellows Falls collected 13 hits against South Royalton, but failed to cash in on several scoring chances. The result was a 6-5 loss in nine innings to the Royals. Carson Fullam, Kyle O'Rourke, and Austin Stack spilt the pitching duties for the Terriers. Fullam, the starter, had four of his team's 13 total hits.
• Twin Valley won its first game of the season on April 23 with a 7-6 victory over Arlington. Sam Molner scored the winning run in the sixth inning on a sacrifice fly by Kyle Murdock. Jason Moore went two for four with two runs and an RBI, while Molner went three for four with two RBIs, Murdock had a pair of hits, and Hunter Therrien singled.
• Leland & Gray rallied from a 5-0 deficit to beat Windsor, 9-7, on April 24. Robbie Litchfield threw five innings to get the win, while reliever Zac Wilkins pitched the last two innings and escaped a bases-loaded jam in the seventh to get the save. Corey Nystrom went four for five to lead the Rebels, while Riley Kenney, Chris Wilson and Wilkins added two hits apiece.
Softball
• The Colonels won a close one against Mount Anthony, 4-3, at Sawyer Field on April 23. Alyssa Bezanson scored the winning run in the bottom of the seventh when she reached on an infield hit, took second on a sacrifice bunt by Kayla Wood, got to third on a passed ball, and came home on a wild pitch to end the game.
Wood, the winning pitcher, struggled through a cold afternoon. She gave up nine hits in striking out 10 batters and walking just two. MAU reliever Jenna Crowley took the loss.
Against Springfield last Thursday, Wood battled through back pain to strike out 10 and walk no one in a 10-3 win. She allowed just five hits, and got lots of help from her offense. During an eight-run first inning, the Colonels got RBIs from Daisy Giroux, Haley Struthers, Rissa Smith, and Lou Lou Terwilliger. Maddy Derosia added a run-scoring single in the second, and Sam Harrison singled and scored in the seventh as the Colonels stayed undefeated at 4-0.
• Bellows Falls came up short in a 26-11 slugfest with Mill River on April 23. Chelsea Wilder and Casada Pencek had two hits each and Emily Perry drove in a pair of runs. Emily Stoddard was the losing pitcher.
Two days later against Green Mountain, the Terriers ended up in another wild one and lost to the Chieftains, 26-12. It started out as a close game, and BF led 10-7 after three innings, until GM scored a combined 16 runs in the fourth and fifth innings. BF kept battling, though, and got 12 hits off winning pitcher Stephanie Knockenhauer.
• Leland & Gray pitcher Elizabeth Symanski threw her best game of this young season in a 16-1 drubbing of Twin Valley in Townshend on Friday in a five-inning game cut short by the mercy rule.
Twin Valley's lone run came in the fourth, when Lexi Reinertson sent Veronika Vernon home with an RBI single.
On April 24, a seventh-inning rally fell short as the Rebels lost at Windsor, 6-5. Ashley Goddard's solo homer, and an RBI single from Chelby Nystrom, keyed the late surge. Emily Stockwell and Elizabeth Symanski both had a pair of hits for the 1-2 Rebels, who'll host rival Twin Valley on Friday.
• Heading into the game with Leland & Gray, Twin Valley won their first three games of the season by lopsided margins: The Wildcats beat Mount St. Joseph, 22-16; Long Trail School, 31-15; and Arlington, 21-5.
Lacrosse
• The Brattleboro boys prevailed in a hard-fought 7-5 win over Mount Anthony at Natowich Field on April 23.
The Colonels led 4-1 at the half, but MAU rallied to tie late in the second half. With the game knotted at 5-5, Galen Finnerty found Brennen Zolnoski for the winning goal with 19 seconds remaining. Sam Siegel then got his second goal of the night with two seconds left to seal the win. Zolnoski and Nik Rancourt each scored twice, and Connor Elliott-Knaggs got a first-half goal.
At Amherst, Mass., last Thursday, the Colonels came up short, 16-9. Rancourt racked up three goals and three assists, while Devon Avery and Tanner Freeman each scored twice. Avery also claimed two assists, with Conner Elliott-Knaggs and Jordan Wong each scoring once.
The boys finished the week with a 10-6 win over Spaulding in Barre last Saturday. Rancourt, Greg Disilva and Elliott-Knaggs each scored twice, while Jesse Brown, Finnerty, Bryce Fletcher, and Sam Siegel tallied lone goals for the 4-1 Colonels. Goalie Romello Lindsay made seven saves.
• The Brattleboro girls cruised to a 17-3 win over Spaulding at Natowich Field last Saturday.
Maddie Rollins broke the 100-point mark for her career by scoring seven goals and assisting on another. Hannah Lynde scored three goals; Meghan Siggins and Lizzy Clarke added two goals apiece; and Alex Fellows and Cassidy Stebbins also scored as the Colonels dominated from start to finish.
The easy win helped ease the sting of a 13-12 overtime loss to Mount Anthony on Tuesday in the Burr & Burton Tournament in Manchester, and an 8-7 loss to Woodstock on Thursday. Brattleboro finished the week two up, two down.
Tennis
• On April 23, the Colonel girls got by Otter Valley, 5-2, in Brandon. Aidan Earley beat Louisa Jerome in No. 1 singles, 6-1, 6-2; while No. 2 Libby Annis defeated Hannah Lones, 6-1, 6-2; and Katie Tsukamoto beat Kayla Zido in No. 3 singles.
Brattleboro was perfect in doubles play as No. 1 Aliza Racine and Jiada Henry beat Caitlyn Curtis and Dana Rose-Weaver, 4-6, 6-3, 10-3. No. 2 Sophia Finnerty and Grace Willingham defeated Sarah Young and Sam Collette, 6-1, 6-0.
Brattleboro lost at Woodstock last Friday, 5-2. The Colonels got swept in singles play, but won both doubles matches as the No. 1 team of Kara Piergentili and Linnea Jahn teamed up to beat Katie Miller and Emma McCuraty 7-5, 6-2; No. 2 Grace Willingham and Aliza Racine defeated Emma King and Morgan Hartman 6-3, 6-4.
• On April 22, the Brattleboro boys got skunked by Hanover, N.H., 9-0, in a road match on Monday. After four straight losses to start the season, the Colonels were happy to see Bellows Falls last Thursday, as they swept the Terriers, 7-0.
The boys ended their week with a 4-3 win over Woodstock last Friday at the BUHS courts. The top three singles players - Isaiah Ungerleider, Asa Lane, and Benson May - all won in straight sets and the No. 2 doubles team of Luke Cionci and Jake Gartenstein battled for a 6-1, 4-6, 10-7 decision.
• The Bellows Falls girls defeated Mount St. Joseph, 4-3, last Friday for their first win of the season.
At No. 1 singles, Bridget Johnson lost to Jessica Bruso, 3-2, 2-6; Emma Moyna fell to Alex Reedy, 1-6, 1-6 at No. 2 singles; BF's Alex Harris defeated Lilly Yakunzich, 6-3, 6-1 at No. 3 singles. No. 4 Quinn Lawrence was defeated by MSJ's Sherry Yhang, 2-6, 4-6; McKenzie Brandon handled Nicole Bruso, 6-2, 7-6 at No. 5 singles.
In doubles play, No. 1 Antonio Dufort and Faith Ramos beat Grace Giancola and Samantha Lynch, 6-0, 6-1; No. 2 Taylor Westfall and Kayla Gilcrest won by forfeit.
Twin State Basketball Classic to return in July
Vermont and New Hampshire will renew their high school basketball rivalry with the Twin State Basketball Classic this summer.
The Valley News of Lebanon, N.H., reported last week that the senior all-star games will be played at Essex High School on July 13, with the girls' contest set for 6 p.m. and the boys following at 8 p.m.
The Twin State basketball series had a 30-year run before being discontinued in 2010, reportedly over lack of interest by Granite State coaches and rising costs that scared away sponsors.
However, a group of Vermont high school coaches wanted to revive the game and got their New Hampshire counterparts to agree to a scaled-down version of what once was called the Alhambra Basketball Classic.
Instead of multiple days of practices and festivities, this will be a one-day affair. Instead of holding it at a college campus - the game was played at Plymouth State College (now University) for most of its existence and finished up at the University of Vermont - organizers say that playing the game at a high school would cut expenses to about $5,000 to $6,000 for the day.
Details regarding picking coaches and players are being worked out, organizers say. They also tentatively plan to rotate the site of the games between Vermont and New Hampshire. The Granite State was enjoying 18-12 lead in the series when it stopped.
Fun Run Series returns
• The Red Clover Rovers Running Club has announced the dates for this year's Fun Run Series : May 1, 15, and 29; June 12 and 26; July 7 and 24; Aug. 7 and 21; and Sept. 4. That final run is an Australian Pursuit, and two people will win gift certificates for new shoes.
This free, 10-race series takes place Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m. on Upper Dummerston Road in Brattleboro, across from the Brattleboro Country Club. Runners can choose the one-, two-, or three-mile race, with each run on an out-and-back course. All ages and abilities are welcome. Homemade cookies and water will be available after every race.
Fishing derby in Saxtons River
• The fish will be biting at the Saxtons River Recreation Area on Saturday, May 4, when the annual fishing derby gets under way at 9 a.m. Free registration for children 4-14 begins at 8:30 a.m. The pond is 1.3 miles north of the rec area on Pleasant Valley Road.
Participation in the derby is free, but the rec area will be conducting a 50/50 raffle and a bake sale to benefit its activities. Volunteers to help with the derby or provide baked goods are needed. For more information, contact Samantha Perry Fletcher at 802-869-1407 or srrecreationarea@live.com.