Colby Nixon, 29, of Northampton, Mass., and Delaney Bullock, 19, of Newfane were the overall winners at the 42nd Bill Powers Memorial Firecracker 4-Miler on July 4 in Brattleboro.
Nixon finished 22 minutes, 44 seconds, nearly a minute ahead of defending champion Colin Costa-Walsh, 20, of Putney (23:40). Soren Pelz-Walsh, 25, of Dummerston, was third in 24:16, while Nate Antaya, 39, of West Chesterfield, N.H., was fourth in 24:53.
Bullock placed fifth overall in 25:18, with Paige Warren-Shriner, 27, of Cambridge, Mass., close behind in 25:32 to finish sixth overall. Emily Sylvia, 30, of Malden, Mass., was the third woman across the line in 26:50, good for eighth place overall.
There were 112 runners in all in this year's race, a big field for a very hot morning. They ranged in age from 7 (Miles and Max Horowitz of Landerberg, Pa.) to 75 (Bob Welsh of Buckland, Mass., and Joel Doerfler of Dummerston). Full results are available at redcloverrovers.com.
Legion roundup
• Two teams going in opposite directions faced each other at Tenney Field on July 3.
Brattleboro Post 5 is locked in a three-way battle for first place in the Southern Division with Rutland Post 31 and Lakes Region. Bellows Falls is in last place and nearly out of contention for a playoff spot.
Against that backdrop, Brattleboro took care of business with an 8-3 win.
Post 37 pitcher Ty Merrill got into early trouble, giving up four runs in the first inning. Dan Petrie hit an RBI triple and Adam Newton and Hunter Beebe both scored on wild pitches.
Bellows Falls gave up four more runs in the third. Two of them scored on a triple to right field by Newton, who later scored on a passed ball. Jack Price drove in another run on a sacrifice fly.
Meanwhile, Post 5's starting pitcher Christian Thomsen pitched four strong innings. He allowed three hits and one walk, and struck out five batters. Joe Rafus and Evan Finnell finished up in relief.
Post 37 broke up the shutout when Andrew Peloso drew a bases-loaded walk off Rafus in the fifth inning. They later added two more runs in the sixth.
• Bellows Falls started their week with a 10-4 road loss to Randolph Post 9 on July 1 and a doubleheader loss to Lakes Region at Hadley Field on July 2.
Post 37 lost Game 1, 14-2, in a six-inning game truncated by the mercy rule. Aubrey Ramey was the winning pitcher for Lakes Region. He allowed three hits as he struck out 10 and walked one batter in his 5 2/3 innings.
Darwin Holcombe, Rex Hill, and Grady Lockerby had the only hits for Post 37. Lockerby was the losing pitcher, but Post 37 was trailing 4-2 when he had to leave the game because he had reached his pitch count limit. Lakes Region then teed off on Post 37's relievers.
Lakes Region won the second game, 12-2, which was stopped after five innings. They scored six runs in the first inning and cruised from there.
Post 37 was to have played Rutland on July 6, but did not have enough players and had to forfeit. They ended the week in the basement of the Southern Division at 2-10.
• Brattleboro opened its week with a doubleheader split with White River Junction Post 84 on July 2. Post 5 won the first game, 10-0, in five innings. Forrester Avard got the start for Post 5 and pitched four innings for the win. Avard gave up one hit, one walk, and three strikeouts. Evan Finnell pitched an inning allowing only one walk.
On offense, Post 5 had seven hits as Jack Price, Adam Newton, and Tyler Millerick each had a triple. Avard, Joe Rafus, Jack Pattison, and Dan Petrie all had base hits, while Chris Frost, Dan Petrie and Adam Newton all had stolen bases.
Post 84 rallied to win the second game, 4-3. Jeremy Rounds was the losing pitcher for Post 5, allowing five hits, four runs (one earned), four walks, and one strikeout over four innings. Christian Thomsen pitched two innings. Post 5 had two errors.
At the plate, Post 5 had six hits. Milllerick, Dan Petrie, Thomsen, Price, Pattison, and Newton all had base hits. Dan Petrie stole two bases, while Frost, Price, and Newton each stole one base.
On July 6, Post 5 journeyed north and swept a doubleheader against Randolph Post 9.
Game 1 was a 14-3 win in five innings. Alex Kendall was the winning pitcher, he gave up three hits, one earned run, two walks and six strikeouts. Evan Finnell pitched the fifth.
Dan Petrie went 4-for-4 with one RBI, while Hunter Beebe and Millerick both had two hits and both drove in two runs. Jack Pattison and Jeremy Rounds both hit triples, and Frost, Newton, Joe Rafus, Thomsen, and Price each had a base hit.
Brattleboro took the nightcap, 13-4. Avard pitched the first three innings, allowing one hit, three earned runs, seven walks, and three strikeouts. Thomsen relieved Avard and got the win, and Newton and Rounds finished up.
Millerick drew three walks, had a base hit, and drove in two runs. Rafus walked twice and hit a three-run homer. Also chipping in with hits were Newton (one hit, two RBIs), Pattison (two hits, one RBI), and Rounds, Frost, and Dan Petrie (each has a hit and drove in a run).
Post 5 ended the week with a 10-4 record in division play, 14-6 overall.
Little League roundup
• With wins over Rutland and Brattleboro, Bennington improved to 3-0 in round robin play and clinched the top seed for the second round of the District 2 12-year-old tournament.
Brattleboro lost to Bennington for the second time in the tournament with a 9-4 defeat on July 5 in Bennington. The difference in this game was timely hitting. Bennington had it, and Brattleboro did not.
In the first inning, Brattleboro loaded the bases against Bennington pitcher Steven Collette, but only got one run via an Evan Wright fielder's choice.
Wright, the losing pitcher, immediately got into trouble as the first three Bennington hitters all walked to load the bases. Dreland Carey drove in a run with a single, Ryan Maroney drove another on a fielder's choice, and Collette hit a two-run double for a 4-1 lead.
Bennington added three more runs in the second inning as Vance Kobelia hit an RBI double. Wright lasted only two innings, while Collette threw just 75 pitches in his six innings of work to get the win. Sam Bogart finished up the game for Brattleboro.
Brattleboro tried to rally in the top of the fifth, scoring up three runs. Asher Jackson and John Satterfield had back-to-back hits and Alex McClelland walked to load the bases. Harper Cutler then hit a two-run double to left and Wright added another run with an RBI groundout.
With the win, Bennington will host the first game of the final best-of-three series on July 11 against the winner of the single-elimination game between No. 2 Brattleboro and No. 3 Rutland, scheduled for July 9 at South Main Street Field. Brattleboro won the right to host that game after defeating Rutland, 9-8, on July 7.
• The Brattleboro 11-year-old All-Stars won their best-of-five District 2 playoff series against Rutland, 3-1. Brattleboro shut out Rutland, 10-0, in Game 3 on July 7 at South Main Street Field, and clinched the title with a 15-4 win in Rutland on July 8.
Brattleboro now plays in the state tournament in Stowe, starting July 13.
• The Brattleboro 10-year-old All-Stars lost their first two games against Bennington in their best-of-five District 2 playoff series.
On July 6 in Bennington, Brattleboro lost 10-1. The next day at South Main Street Field, Bennington won, 11-0. Bennington can wrap up the series with a Game 3 win at home on July 10.
Rec Dept. offers softball camp
• The Brattleboro Recreation & Parks Department host the B3 Softball Camp, which will be held Monday through Friday, July 15-19, from 9 a.m. to noon, on Living Memorial Park's lower softball field.
The fee for Brattleboro residents is $120, and $135 for non-residents. This camp is for ages 6 to 13 and will focus on fundamentals to help participants develop good habits and proper techniques that they will be able to use on the softball field.
For more information, visit www.brattleboro.org, “Like” themon Facebook, call 802-254-5808, or stop by the Recreation & Parks Office at 207 Main St., Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to noon or 1 to 5 p.m.
Senior bowling roundup
• Week 10 of the spring/summer season of the Brattleboro Senior Bowling League at Brattleboro saw The Great Lakes (36-14) still in first place, and BDR (33-17) still in second.
DDL (32-18) remains in third, followed by JKL (27-23), Team 5 (26-24), 3 Stooges and MNR (both 25-25), Tres Amigos (23-27), Stayin' Alive (22-28), Stars & Strikes (20-30), The Dentists (18-32), and Tornadoes (13-37).
Dolly Stone had the women's high handicap game (242) and series (645). Fred Bump (238) had the men's high handicap game, while Michael Hurd (640) had the high handicap series. MNR (663) had the high team handicap game and series (1,856).
In scratch scoring, Warren Corriveau Sr. had a 201 game as part of his 531 series, while Marty Adams had a 180 as part of his 502 series. Jerry Dunham had a 194, and Bump rolled a 189.
Shirley Aiken rolled a 177 as part of her 460 series that led the women. Stone had a 172 game and Carole Frizzell rolled a 171.