My recipe for a great July afternoon? Sitting in the shade of a maple tree on a warm and sunny day, with hot dogs and hamburgers sizzling on a nearby grill, watching a doubleheader between two good American Legion Baseball teams.
Brattleboro Post 5 and Bellows Falls Post 37 played their traditional July 4 holiday doubleheader on July 2 at Tenney Field and they delivered a great day of baseball. Brattleboro came away with a sweep of the doubleheader, winning the first game, 8-6, and the second game, 3-1.
In the first game, the teams traded runs in the early innings as Brattleboro starter and winning pitcher Jolie Glidden and Bellows Falls starter Sam Presch both struggled a bit with their control.
Post 37 scored first in the first inning when Jamison Nystrom walked, stole second, and scored on a single by Cam Boardman. Glidden then prevented a big inning by picking off Boardman at first base.
In the bottom of the first, Post 5's Jeremy Graves let off with a double down the left field line and scored on a base hit to right by Turner Clews. But a strong throw by right fielder Tanner Swisher cut down Clews at third base as he tried to stretch out his double into a triple, and defused a potential big inning.
Brattleboro took the lead in the second when Glidden drew a walk and his courtesy runner Harper Cutler ultimately scored on a sacrifice fly by Brandon Weeks.
Post 37 tied the game in the top of the fourth when Tanner Swisher singled and scored a base hit to left by Chase Swisher to make it 2-2, but Post 5 took a 3-2 lead when Aidan Davis doubled and scored on a single to left by Weeks in the bottom half of the inning.
Bellows Falls again tied the game in the fifth when Nystrom singled and eventually scored on a groundout by Elliott Graham, but Post 5 took the lead for good in the bottom half of the inning when Parker Richardson singled and later scored on a RBI double by Caden Wood.
In the sixth inning, Wood took over for Glidden on the mound, while Ty Merrill succeeded Presch. Post 37 failed to score in their half of the sixth, while Post 5 broke open the game on a three-run triple to deep left-center field by Willem Thurber and a RBI single by Wood.
But Post 37 was not going to go away easily. In the seventh, Wood loaded up the bases with three straight walks and scored a run on a failed pickoff attempt at first. Thurber came in to close out the game, but gave up two more runs on a sacrifice fly by Graham and an RBI single by Grady Lockerby before Thurber retired the side to nail down the win,
Lockerby got the start on the mound for Post 37 in the second game, with Aidan Davis as the Post 5 starter. The two dueled through the early innings, with Brattleboro getting its first run in the first inning on a leadoff single by Graves followed by an RBI single by Clews.
Post 37's hitters made contact with Davis's offerings, but were held to just two hits in the first four innings. The rest of the swings resulted in mostly fly balls, with Zinabu McNeice getting six putouts in center field in that span.
Brattleboro got two big insurance runs in the fifth when Graves smacked a two-run home run off Lockerby over the left field fence.
The only run for Bellows Falls came in the sixth inning when Presch scored Boardman on a groundout to second base off reliever Evan Wright.
Davis got the win, lasting 5 1/3 innings in holding Post 37 to four hits. Lockerby was the losing pitcher, lasting five innings and giving up six hits.
• Post 37 started last week with a doubleheader sweep over Bennington Post 13 on June 26 at Hadley Field.
The first game was a pitching duel won by Post 37, 2-1. Presch threw four innings and held Post 13 to three hits, but walked six batters. The only Bennington run of the game came on a bases-loaded walk with one out in the top of the second. Post 37 turned to Merrill and Boardman in relief, who combined to hold the Bennington bats hitless over the final three innings.
Matt Wasieleuski went the distance for Post 13 in the loss, allowing six hits and two runs (one earned) while walking two and striking out two over six innings.
Game two of the doubleheader had little drama as Post 37's offense erupted on the way to an easy 12-2 win. Along with a 6-4 win over White River Junction Post 84 on June 28, Bellows Falls finished the week with a 4-3 record and the fourth spot in the Southern Division standings.
• After playing against the top Legion teams in New England in the annual Gubby Underwood Tournament in Keene, N.H., Post 5 got back into league play on June 30 with a 6-3 loss to Manchester Union Underground on June 30 at Tenney Field. Sammy Steinman went 3-for-4 and drove in three runs to lead Manchester to victory in a closely contested game.
Wood singled for Post 5 and eventually scored after Turner Clews hit into a double play to tie the game at 1-1 in the third inning. Manchester got three runs in the top of the fifth, but Post 5 got two of them back on RBI singles by McNeice in the fifth and Graves in the sixth to cut Manchester's lead to 4-3.
Post 5 got no closer as Manchester added a pair of runs in the seventh. Weeks, the starting pitcher, and reliever Glidden combined on a five-hitter in a losing effort. Trevor Greene was the winning pitcher. Post 5 finished the week 5-2 and the second spot in the Southern Division standings.
Brattleboro, GM stars shine in North-South Classic
• The top graduated high school seniors battled over the weekend in the North-South Softball Classic at Castleton University, with the North All-Stars winning two of the three games.
Game 1 on July 1 saw the North roll to an 8-1 win. Green Mountain's Kim Cummings scored the South's only run in the third inning when she drew a walk and eventually scored on a wild pitch.
The teams played a doubleheader the following day. The South scored four runs in the sixth inning and won, 6-1. Cummings had an RBI single during that big inning, and Brattleboro pitcher Leah Madore got the save by pitching a shutout in the last three innings. She struck out four batters.
In the final game of the day, a nine-inning contest, the North cruised to a 9-3 victory. Brattleboro's Brittney Wright had a double in the seventh inning.
SVL all-star teams announced
• The Southern Vermont League recently announced their all-star teams for the spring 2022 season, and plenty of local high school athletes were honored in their respective varsity sports.
• In softball, Bellows Falls pitcher Izzy Stoodley and shortstop Grace Wilkinson were First Team selections in the C Division, and their coach Donald Laurendeau earned SVL Coach of the Year honors as the Terriers had one of the best seasons in years.
Brattleboro's Leah Madore, Brittney Wright, and Aliza Speno were all First Team selections in the A Division, while Leland & Gray's Ainsley Meyer, and Green Mountain's Riley Paul and Kim Cummings were also C Division First Teamers.
Twin Valley's Hailey Tine and Kaley Mola were selected to the D Division First Team, while honorable mentions went to Brattleboro's Logan Austin, Leland & Gray's Ruthie Wright and Ava LeCours, Bellows Falls's Hailee Henslee, Jenna Dolloph, and Savannah Sylvester-Neal, and Twin Valley's Samantha Duncan.
• Brattleboro's Alex Bingham and Turner Clews led the A Division All-Stars in baseball. Both were named to the First Team, while Jolie Glidden and Willem Thurber were Second Team selections.
Jamison Nystrom, Jack Cravinho, and Jeb Monier of Bellows Falls also made the B Division First Team, and coach Bob Lockerby earned B Division Coach of the Year honors. Pat Barbour was a Second Team selection.
Leland & Gray's Jeremy Graves and Parker Richardson and Green Mountain's Kagan Hance and Tanner Swisher were all First Team selections in the C Division, while Leland & Gray's Cody Hescock was selected to the Second Team.
• In track & field, Brattleboro's Ava Whitney, Isabella Lonardo, and Sylvie Normandeau all were named to the Division I girls' team.
Owen LaRoss and Max Hooke of Bellows Falls were named to the Division II boys' team, while BF's Stephanie Ager, Breanna Stockman, and Hadleyy Gleim were selected for the Division II girls' team.
In Division IV, Green Mountain's Everett Mosher, Eben Mosher, Ben Munukka, Noah Cherubini, Aiden Farrar, and Mitchell Rounds all made the boys' team, while teammates Grace Tyrell, Berkley Hutchins, and Kyra Burbela all made the girls' team.
• In boys' lacrosse, Brattleboro's Alex Baker and Thad Sawyer earned honorable mention.
• In Ultimate disc, Leland & Gray's Warren Roberts and Jackson Fillon were First Team selections, with teammate Andrew Tolbert earning honorable mention.
Einig honored for leading Junior Jumper program
• The Harris Hill Junior Jumpers had a great season this past winter and U.S. Ski and Snowboard, the national governing body for Olympic skiing and snowboarding, has taken notice by awarding ski jumping coach and program leader Todd Einig with their Nordic Combined/Ski Jumping Development Coach of the Year Award.
Einig, who has been the chief of competition for the annual Harris Hill tournament, has been instrumental in reviving the junior ski jumping program for ages 5-15 in Brattleboro. Ava Joyal, Max Becker, Miles Becker, Myles Billings, Spencer Jones and Amethyst Smith comprised the Junior Jumpers in the 2021-22 season and all did well in competitions around the Northeast.
Thanks to Einig and other volunteers, the Junior Jumpers now have 10-meter and 18-meter jumps at Living Memorial Park and a comprehensive training program to build the next generation of ski jumpers to compete at Harris Hill, and beyond.
Senior bowling roundup
• Week 5 of the Brattleboro Senior Summer Bowling League on June 30 at Brattleboro Bowl saw Angus & Company (21-4) remain in first place, with Good Times (19-6) still in second place, followed by The Keglers and The Anythings (both 12-13), The Strikers (11-14), the Number 1's (10-15), Trash-O-Matic (8-17), and Stayin' Alive (7-18).
Deb Kolpa had the women's high handicap game (236), while Roberta Parsons had the high handicap series (635). Warren Corriveau Sr. had the men's high handicap game (288), while Duane Schillemat had the high handicap series (690).The Anythings had the high team handicap game (872) and series (2,472).
In scratch scoring, Robert Rigby led the men with a 638 series with games of 227, 211, and 200, while Chuck Adams had a 610 series with games of 234 and 205. Corriveau had a 607 series with a 268 game. Schillemat had a 570 series with a 224 game, while Marty Adams had a 514 series.
Shirley Aiken had the women's high scratch series (441) while Kolpa had the high scratch game (177). Josie Rigby had a 158 game, Nancy Dalzell had a 155 game, Jeanne Czuy had games of 154 and 151, and Pat Bentrup rolled a 152 game.