A fast-moving spring high school sports season filled with extreme weather and extremely crowded schedules ended last week in Vermont. Now, the playoffs begin for baseball, softball, tennis, and lacrosse, and the state track meets are set for this Saturday, June 2.
Baseball
• The 15-1 Brattleboro Colonels finished the regular season undefeated against Vermont teams, with the lone loss coming at the hands of Keene, N.H, on May 16. That earned them the No. 2 seed in Division I and a first-round home game against 15th-seeded Lyndon Institute (6-9), scheduled for May 29 at Tenney Field.
Brattleboro ended the regular season sweeping an home-and-home series against Burr & Burton with an 8-4 win at Tenney Field on May 22 and a 7-4 win in Manchester on May 23.
• Bellows Falls had a chance to move up in the Division II standings, but a 1-3 final week left them with a 5-11 record and the No. 11 seed in the playoffs. They are scheduled to head north to Lake Region Union High School, which got the sixth-seed with a 9-4 record.
Road losses to Otter Valley (18-8 on May 21), Rutland (12-2 on May 24), and Windsor (11-0 on May 25) ended their chance at a earning a higher seed and getting a home game in the first round. The lone win of the week was at Hadley Field on May 23, a 14-4 victory over Springfield.
• Leland & Gray was hot for most of May, winning six of their previous seven games going into last week's action. However, a 1-2 final week dropped the Rebels into fifth place in the Division III standings with a 10-6 record.
The Rebels will still have a first-round game at home, as they will face No. 12 Hazen (3-12) on May 30.
After beating Twin Valley, 10-6, in Townshend on May 21, the Rebels lost at home to Woodstock, 14-11, on May 23, and to Green Mountain, 5-3, in Chester on May 25.
• Twin Valley wrapped up the regular season with a 1-13 record. Their only win of the season came on May 7, an 8-6 victory over Woodstock at Baker Field.
The Wildcats are the No. 13 seed in Division III. They will head north to play No. 4 Peoples Academy (9-6) in a first-round game on May 29.
Softball
• Brattleboro secured the No. 6 seed in Division I with a 13-3 record. Mount Anthony, the defending state champions, are the only Vermont team to beat the Colonels as the Patriots swept the season series. Brattleboro's only other loss was to Keene, N.H.
The Colonels will host No. 11 Spaulding (7-8) in a first-round game on May 31.
The Colonels finished strong in the final week of the regular season with a 12-0 home win over Rutland on May 25, and a tense 1-0 win over Burr & Burton on May 26.
• Bellows Falls never quite got it together and ended the regular season with a 1-15 record to finish with the No. 16 seed in Division II. Their only win of the season came against Twin Valley, a 20-5 victory on April 24.
They have chosen to play in the Division II tournament, so BF heads north to Bristol on May 29 to face top-seeded Mount Abraham (14-2).
• Leland & Gray reeled off six straight wins to jump up in the Division III standings, and didn't lose much ground losing two of their last three regular season games.
The Rebels began last week with a 20-5 loss to Black River on May 21, bounced back with a 23-4 home win over Proctor, and then dropped a close 6-5 decision to Green Mountain.
Since only 11 schools in Division III elected to play in the postseason, the Rebels, who are the No. 4 seed with a 11-5 record, are spared from playing in a first-round game. They advance to the quarterfinals, where they will take on fifth-seeded BFA-Fairfax (7-8), which also received a first-round bye, on Saturday, June 2, at 4:30 p.m.
• Twin Valley ended the regular season without a win.
Lacrosse
• The Brattleboro girls finished the regular season at 13-3 and nailed down the No. 2 seed in the Division I playoffs.
Brattleboro gets a bye into the quarterfinal round, where they will face the winner of a first-round game between No. 7 Rutland (7-8) and No. 10 Rice Memorial (7-8) on Saturday, June 2, at 11 a.m.
After dropping a 13-11 decision at Natowich Field to first-place Champlain Valley on May 21, the Colonel girls picked up two big road wins. On May 23, they beat Mount Anthony, 13-5. and on May 26, they downed Rutland, 17-9.
• It's been a streaky year for the Brattleboro boys. After opening with three straight wins, the Colonel boys lost five in a row, won a pair, then lost six in a row to finish the regular season at 5-11 for the No. 11 seed in the Division I playoffs.
The Colonels are traveling to Burlington on May 29 to face the sixth-seeded Seahorses (10-4) in a first-round game on May 29.
Last week, Brattleboro lost to Woodstock, 17-5, on May 23, and fell 11-6 to Hartford on May 25.
Tennis
• The Brattleboro girls finished 6-8 and were ranked No. 12 in Division I. They are to face No. 5 Spaulding (8-4) in Barre on May 29.
The Colonels finished the regular season with a 6-1 win over Bellows Falls and a 5-2 loss to Burr & Burton.
• The Bellows Falls girls were 6-6 in the regular season, and finished fifth in the eight-team Division II standings. They advanced directly to the quarterfinals to play fourth-seeded Burr & Burton (6-5) in Manchester on May 29.
The Terriers are entering the postseason with four straight losses, including a 7-0 shutout at the hands of Mount Anthony in the regular season finale.
• The Brattleboro boys recovered from a slow start to win eight matches in May and finish 9-4, which was good enough for eighth place in Division I. The Colonels are to host ninth-seeded Champlain Valley (8-6) for a first round match on May 29.
Brattleboro ended the regular season with a 5-2 win over Mount Anthony.
• Bellows Falls went 0-9 in boys' tennis this season, and won't be in the postseason.
Senior bowling roundup
• Team 1 (17-3) had an undefeated week to maintain its hold on first place after Week 4 of the spring-summer season of the Brattleboro Senior Bowling League. Team 2 (16-4) was also undefeated and moved into sole possession of second place. Team 7 (13-7) is now in third place, while Team 3 and Team 5 (both 11-9) are tied for fourth. Team 9 (8-12) is fifth, followed by Team 6 (6-14), and Team 4 (4-16).
Carole Frizzell had the women's high handicap game (267) and series (698). Peter Gilbert had the men's high handicap game (294), while Gary Montgomery had the high handicap series (718). Team 3 had the high team handicap game (449) and Team 4 had the high handicap series (2,602).
In scratch scoring, Montgomery (628), Duane Schillemat (615), and Warren Corriveau Sr. (613) all had 600-plus series. Correiveau had a 246 game, while Montgomery rolled a 229.
Frizzell was the lone woman with a 500-plus series; she also had a high game of 212. For the men, Marty Adams (591), Fred Ashworth (563), Gilbert (521), and Jack Carlson (546) were all the 500 club; Gilbert had a high game of 240.