-Last week was spring vacation week for Vermont schools. Most high school sports teams took the week off given the difficulty of having enough players due to field trips, family vacations, and other commitments.
For the teams that decided to play last week, the payoff was a chance to stay sharp and keep working on their skills. For the other teams, we’ll see if the time off from competition does them good.
Softball
• Bellows Falls made it to the Division III finals in 2025 for the second straight year and the Terriers are determined to make a third trip this season. The 3-1 Terriers flexed their muscles with a 12-0 win over the visiting Springfield Cosmos on April 21 in a five-inning game cut short by the 12-run mercy rule.
BF has a new starting pitcher in sophomore Brielle Mulverhill, who has taken the baton from Izzy Stoodley, who graduated last June. She allowed just four hits and struck out five, and when the Cosmos made contact with the ball, her defense did the rest. Ryleigh Taylor had two hits for the Cosmos.
The Terriers gave Mulverhill plenty of run support as they roughed up Cosmos pitcher Charlee Keefe for seven hits. Keefe also gave up seven walks and hit one batter. Junior Delaney Stoodley led the way, going 2-for-3 with three RBIs and two runs scored. Mulverhill went 2-for-4 with three runs scored and two RBIs. Junior Grace Hayes went 3-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI, and seniors Aly Streeter and Cadence James each had two runs scored as well.
“I think, from the first game until now, it just took us that long to actually start swinging the bat well, and not loop our bat and have nice level swings,” said Bellows Falls head coach Don Laurendeau after the game. “We got to a point where we started doing what we’ve been training to do since the season started.”
BF scored five runs in the second inning and five more in the third inning to take control of the game. Besides some solid performances at the plate, the Terriers ran the bases well as they scored four times off wild pitches.“I think our baserunning is really good,” said Laurendeau, “it’s just we hadn’t had a chance to display that in our first couple of games.”
• The West Rutland Golden Horde, the defending champs in Division IV, went to Townshend on April 23 to face the team they defeated in the title game, the Leland & Gray Rebels.The cast of characters changed a lot for the Horde, with six of last year’s starters lost to graduation. The outcome was the same as the Horde defeated the Rebels, 13-4.
West Rutland pitcher Emma Lee struck out seven, walked only one batter and scattered eight hits to pick up the win. On offense, the Horde took advantage of seven walks by losing pitcher McKinley Bertram. She gave up 11 hits, including a two-run double by Teigan Williams in the sixth inning and a Hayley Raiche two-run home run over the fence in the seventh inning.
This was a close game for the first two innings, but the Horde scored four runs in the third and five runs in the sixth to keep the Rebels at bay. Annabelle Brookes scored for the Rebels on a wild pitch in the first inning and Gemma Durocher drove in another run with an infield hit in the third. Molly Bingham had an RBI double in the fifth inning and Brookes drove in another run with a base hit in the seventh.
Rebels head coach Mike Bingham was encouraged by the good at-bats by his played but admitted it wasn’t the sharpest performance by his team. As this was only the team’s second game, he said “I think they learned a lot today, that we have to grind out plays and play better defense. This will definitely make us stronger.”
Baseball
• Bellows Falls was to have played Springfield at Hadley Field on April 21, but the game got postponed due to Springfield not having enough available players.
The Terriers’ only game of the week came on April 25 with a trip north to Lyndon Center to face the Vikings. The result was a 4-1 loss for BF. The Terriers out hit Lyndon, 7-4, but were hurt by a pair of errors. Jake Tostrup went 2 for 4 with a double and an RBI, the game’s only extra base hit for Bellows Falls.
• Leland & Gray rallied to beat West Rutland, 13-3, in six innings on April 23 in Townshend. After giving up two runs to open the game, the Rebels responded with four runs in their half of the first inning and stayed in control the rest of the way.
Winning pitcher Ryder Butynski settled down after his rough first inning, finishing with eight strikeouts. Shortstop Spencer Claussen went 3-for-3 at the plate and anchored the Rebels’ infield defense, while aggressiveness on the bases allowed the Rebels to take advantage of shaky fielding by the visitors.
The 1-1 Rebels will be on the road for the next three games, but they certainly gave their fans something to remember them by before their next home game on May 6 against Mount St. Joseph.
Brattleboro Little League season begins
• The Brattleboro Little League baseball season began this week. Weeknight games start at 5:30 p.m. at South Main Street Field. Saturday games will be played at 9 and 11 a.m. The regular season wraps up on June 6.
The league is still looking for volunteers who want to be umpires. Community service credit is available for local high school students who umpire. You can find out more information at brattleborolittleleague.org/umpires.
The league also asks fans to “always remember that umpiring is very difficult and the people doing it are volunteers. Mistakes will be made, and abuse of umpires at the Brattleboro Little League Field is strictly forbidden. Anyone abusing an umpire will be asked to leave the premises.”
New pickleball courts added at Living Memorial Park
• The Brattleboro Recreation & Parks Department announces the addition of six new pickleball courts at Living Memorial Park, expanding recreational opportunities for residents of all ages.
To celebrate, the department will host an opening event and ribbon cutting ceremony Saturday, May 2, at 11 a.m. The celebration will feature food, demonstration games, and opportunities for attendees to try pickleball firsthand.
Pickleball, currently the fastest-growing sport in the United States, has seen a surge in popularity in Brattleboro as well. Known for its accessibility and social nature, the sport offers a unique combination of fun, fitness, and community engagement. While it initially gained popularity among older adults, increasing numbers of young adults, youth, and children are embracing pickleball as a preferred activity. It is also gaining recognition in school athletic programs across the country.
Easy to learn and enjoyable at all skill levels, pickleball allows new players to quickly develop the ability to sustain rallies and participate in engaging gameplay. Less physically demanding than tennis, it provides an ideal balance of exercise and recreation, making it appealing to a wide range of participants. For more information, contact the Recreation & Parks Department at 802-254-5808.
Grace Cottage hosts Spring into Health 5K
• The 17th annual Grace Cottage Family Health & Hospital’s Spring into Health 5K will be held Saturday, May 9. The event begins with an 8:30 a.m. shotgun start on the Townshend Common. You can run, walk, roll, stroll, or push your baby carriage in this fun, family-friendly event.
Pre-registration is $20 per participant, and day-of-registration is $30 per participant (children under age 18 admitted free with signed parent/guardian permission). Registration is open now at gracecottage.org/events. A virtual option is also available. Register at the same link. For more information, contact Grace Cottage Foundation at info@gracecottage.org or call 802-365-9109.
Legion baseball prepares for 2026 season
• It’s not too soon to be thinking about the start of the 2026 American Legion Baseball season in Vermont in June. One of the big changes is that Manchester Union Underground will not be playing this season, but Bennington Post 13 will return.
According to the Rutland Herald, Manchester doesn’t have enough players to fill out a roster, but there is hope that a large cohort of younger players will be eligible to play in 2027.
As for Post 13, the team sat out the 2025 season but will take Manchester’s place in the Southern Division when it returns to the field this season. Derrick Tienken will be Bennington’s coach this year.
Bennington’s return keeps the number of teams playing Legion baseball in Vermont at 14 — seven in the Southern Division and seven in the Northern Division. No big changes seem to be on the horizon for Brattleboro Post 5 and Bellows Falls Post 37.
The site for the 2026 state tournament will be Fair Haven, but now that the renovations to Tenney Field are complete, the possibility of the Legion tourney coming to Brattleboro will grow.
Randolph T. Holhut, deputy editor of this newspaper, has written this column since 2010 and has covered sports in Windham County since the 1980s. Readers can send him sports information at news@commonsnews.org.
This Sports column by Randolph T. Holhut was written for The Commons.