This has been a great year for lacrosse in Brattleboro, as both the girls' and boys' teams are piling up the milestones.
Logan George had 12 saves in goal as the Brattleboro boys shut out Otter Valley, 16-0, at Natowich Field on May 23. The win gave the Colonels a 7-0 record in the Marble Valley League and their first MVL championship since 2000.
Travis Elliott-Knaggs, Colin Campbell, and Nate Forrett each had 3 goals. Galen Finnerty had 2 goals, and Jesse Brown, Conner Elliott-Knaggs, Andy Harris, Aaron Prue, and Nik Rancourt each added a goal. Alex Phomnath had 3 assists.
The following day, the Brattleboro girls made some history of their own by beating the No. 1 team in the state, the Rutland Raiders, 6-4, at Natowich Field. It was the first time in the 11-year history of the girls lacrosse program that Brattleboro has beat Rutland.
Brattleboro got out to an early 3-0 lead, but Rutland rallied to tie the game before Carli Gossard scored what ended up being the deciding goal as time wound down in the first half. Shelby DavisLane scored 2 goals, and Becca Bird and Ava Myette also scored. Goalie Kali Roberts had 11 saves.
The girls closed out the regular season with a 16-7 win at Hartford on Wednesday, their fourth straight victory. Mariah Lesure scored 7 goals, while DavisLane added 4, and Bird and Myette each got 2. Maddie Rollins chipped in with a goal and an assist and Roberts had 7 saves in goal as the Colonel girls finished 7-9.
The Colonel boys lost regular season finale Friday at Mount Anthony, 9-5. Travis Elliott-Knaggs had four goals and one assist, while Phomnath had the other Brattleboro goal. They head into the playoffs with a 12-4 record.
Tennis
• The Brattleboro boys finished the regular season with a 10-0 record, the only undefeated team in Division I. They will likely be the top seed when the playoffs begin later this week.
In the regular season finale last Wednesday, the Colonels drubbed Woodstock, 6-2. No. 1 Chris Brewer beat Lorenz Vogel, 6-0, 6-0, while Isiah Ungerleider had a win forfeited to him in No. 2 singles. No. 3 Cesar Moore defeated Nyan Oliver, 6-1, 6-1, while No. 4 Jordan Davie-Stefanick defeated Owen Hartman, 6-0, 6-2, and Jose-Diego Silva beat Jordan Sokol, 3-6, 6-7, 9-7.
The No. 1 doubles team of Kai-Ming Pu and Seth Marcil won their match 6-2, 6-2, while No. 2 Cuyler Cunningham and Senou Lynn won their match, 6-0, 6-0.
The Colonels edged Rutland, 4-3, on May 23, and followed that up with a 4-1 win at Mount Anthony the next day.
• The Colonel girls completed the regular season with a 5-7 record with a 5-2 loss to Amherst, Mass., on Friday. Freshman Katie Tsukamoto won her first-ever match in varsity singles play, and Hayley Ryan also won her singles match.
• Woodstock beat the Bellows Falls girls, 6-1, on May 23, with BF's only win coming by forfeit.
Baseball
• Leland & Gray and Twin Valley split a doubleheader in Wilmington on May 21. The Rebels won the first game, 17-7, as Robbie Litchfield had a grand slam and Drew Barnum hit a pair of doubles. In the second game, the Wildcats romped to 20-6 victory by scoring 6 runs in the second inning and 7 runs in the third. Tony Bernard had 3 hits and Ian Murdock had 2 hits for the victors, while Dal Nesbitt, Ryan Bernard, and George Molner each drove in 2 runs.
The Rebels then hung on for a 5-4 decision over Bellows Falls in Townshend on May 23. Leland & Gray took an early lead on a two-run single by Wade Battie in the second inning. In the third, a RBI triple by Brandon Reilly, an RBI single by Litchfield, and a perfectly executed squeeze bunt by Zach Wilkins gave the Rebels a 5-3 lead. BF rallied with two runs in the sixth, and had the tying run on third base in the seventh, but could not break through.
Barnum got a complete game victory for the 9-3 Rebels; he scattered 6 hits with 2 walks and 7 strikeouts. Matt Marchica and Cooper Long split time on the mound for the 10-4 Terriers.
The Rebels topped Poultney, 7-1, last Wednesday. Colin Nystrom got the win with 4 innings of solid relief pitching and a 3-for-4 day at the plate.
• Long and Jeremy Kilburn did another time share on the mound last Thursday as Bellows Falls edged Fair Haven, 3-2, at Hadley Field. Long gave up only 4 hits over 5 2/3 innings, while Kilburn got the final four outs to earn a save.
• Twin Valley edged Poultney, 3-2, at Baker Field on May 23. Tony Bernard was the winning pitcher. He gave up 5 walks and 6 hits in his 6 innings of work. Murdock pitched a scoreless seventh to earn a save.
The next day, the Wildcats closed out the regular season with a 21-18 slugfest over Arlington at Baker Field. Arlington had a 17-1 lead after two innings before Twin Valley pulled off an amazing comeback. Tony Bernard (4-for-4) had a grand slam and a solo homer, while Molner (3-for-4) hit a solo home run. Murdock struck out 5 batters in the final 2 innings to earn the win in relief and give the Wildcats a 9-6 record.
• Tommy Heydinger and Travis Beeman-Nesbitt combined for a three-hitter as the Colonels beat Springfield, 8-2, last Tuesday. Kevin Pacuilli and Heydinger each went 3-for-4 and Evan Parro drove in 3 runs.
The next day, the Colonels got a great pitching effort from Sawyer Olson, but didn't give him any support in a 2-1 loss at Windsor. Olson threw a four-hitter with 4 strikeouts. Paciulli went 3-for-4 to lead the Colonels offensively. Heydinger scored the tying run in the fourth, but Windsor would get the game winner in the seventh.
Softball
• Brattleboro cruised to a 14-0 win over Drury on May 23. The Colonels had 21 hits in the game as Ariel Kane and Taylor Kerylow both went 4-for-5 with a double and a triple, Cassie Rawson went 3-for-3 with 3 RBI, and McKenzie Bover, Kayla Wood, Kalee Graham, and Sydney Santor each had 2 hits. Wood threw a two-hitter, striking out 8 with just 1 walk.
The bats were quieter in Rutland, but the Colonels still came away with a 6-2 win last Wednesday. Kerylow got 3 of the Colonels' 6 hits on the day, while Rawson had a triple and Kalee Graham was 1-for-2.
The last week of the regular season ended in another shutout, a 11-0 decision over Springfield at Sawyer Field. Wood struck out 12 and walked 1 batter in throwing a one-hitter. Kerylow went 4-for-4 with a triple, while Graham was 2-for-4 with a triple and 4 RBIs. Santor and Landis Field each added two hits as Brattleboro finished with a 14-1 record.
• Poultney traveled south on May 23 to play a rare two-school, two-town doubleheader against Twin Valley and Leland & Gray. In Wilmington, Poultney beat up on the Wildcats, 17-7, as pitcher Kylie-blu Crawford struggled in the circle. She walked 6, and giving up 10 hits. Mykayla Pronovost had two hits for the 6-5 Wildcats.
The Blue Devils then rode over to Townshend, and were beaten by the Rebels in a taut 3-2 game. All of Leland & Gray's runs came in the third inning as Kiara Wilhite, Ashley Meyer and Kathleen McAllister all scored. Pitcher Nicole Sherman scattered 5 hits for the win; she walked a batter, hit a batter, and struck out 5 for the 12-1 Rebels.
• The rainy May we've had forced that odd doubleheader. It has been tough to get games in, and sometimes the rain has affected the outcome of games. Exhibit A came in Townshend last Tuesday, as Sherman and the Rebels waited out a half-hour rain delay at the start of their game against Mill River. The disruption played a role in Leland & Gray playing a uncharacteristically sloppy game in a 20-6 loss to the Minutemen.
The Rebels bounced back with a 16-0 win over Twin Valley last Wednesday. Sherman and Caitlyn Arellano combined on a two-hitter, while Jacqueline Hazard went 3-for-5 with a double, an RBI and 3 runs scored. Chelsea Cox also had 3 hits, including a double, to go along with her 3 RBI and 3 runs scored. Sherman had hits and 4 RBIs while Ashley Goddard had 2 hits and 1 RBI.
Rain interrupted Leland & Gray's last game, a 3-2 loss to Windsor that started on Friday and finished up on Saturday morning. They head into the playoffs with a 13-3 record.
• Twin Valley doubled up Arlington, 10-5, last Tuesday. Savannah Nesbitt went 4-for-5 with 3 RBIs, Kylie-blu Crawford had 2 doubles and scored a run, Ashley Dix was 3-for-4 with 3 RBIs and 3 runs scored, Pronovost had a 3-for-4 day with 3 runs and Jeslynn Matyas was 3-for-4 with 2 doubles.
The Wildcats also split a doubleheader with Woodstock in Wilmington last Thursday, and did it with only eight players. Twin Valley won the first game, 2-1, and dropped the nightcap, 5-2.
Twin Valley ended their hectic final week with a 28-4 win over Bellows Falls. The Wildcats had 21 hits in this game, and ended the regular season at 8-8.
Track and field
• The Brattleboro boys' and girls' teams came up winners in their regular season finales at Hadley Field. The BUHS boys bested Bellows Falls, 185-131, while the BUHS girls eked out a 106-105.5 win over BF. Twin Valley also competed in the May 24 meet, the boys mustered only 1 point, while the girls compiled 34 points.
For the Colonel boys, Anthony Burdo won his 110 meter hurdles race in 18.1 seconds, and the 300 meter hurdles in 48.4 seconds.. John Asigbekye won the 200 in 23.9 seconds. Jacob Ellis won the 400 in 52.3 seconds, Paxton Reed won the long jump with a mark of 18 feet, 13 1/4 inches, and Allen Unaitis won the 3,000 run in 11 minutes, 2 seconds. The 4 X 400 relay team of Burdo, Pletcher, Ellis and Greg Reuter won their event with a time of 3:43.
Helen Manning won the high jump (4 feet, 6 inches). Analiz Jasmine Cancel won the long jump (14 feet, 8 inches), and Greta Pellerin won the javelin with a throw of 95 feet, 6 inches to lead the Colonel girls. The 4 X 100 relay team of Analiz Jasmine Cancel, Marines Cancel, Eliza Reynolds, and Nicole Momaney ran in 55 seconds flat for the win, while the 4 X 400-meter relay team of Reynolds, Bailey Paige, Linnea Jahn, and Halie Lange won their event in 4:41.1.
• BF's Ryan Hayward won the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.52, and was second in the 200 in 24.33. John Punger won the 1,500 (4:28) and 800 (2:12) and took second in the pole vault (10 feet, 6 inches). Joe Aslin won the javelin event with a throw of 139 feet, 3 inches, and the 4 X 100-meter relay team of Aslin, T.J. Bernier, Will Bourne, and Hayward won their event with a time of 45.83.
Brit Moyna led the BF girls with a first in the 100 hurdles (17.69) and seconds in the 300 hurdles (54.58 and the high jump (4 feet, 2 inches). Enny Mustapha finished second in the shotput (29 feet) and the javelin (84 feet), while Lauren Punger recorded a distance of 75 feet, 4 inches to come in third.
• The Twin Valley girls 4 X 100 relay team of Sammy Cunningham-Darrah, Jennifer Jones, Emily Furlon and Alex Kennedy came in third with a personal-record time of 57.11.
Cunningham-Darrah set a personal best in winning the 300 hurdles in 52.43. Jones also had a personal best in the 100 (13.96) for third place. Kennedy set a personal record in the 400 (66.07) for third.
• In the last meet before the state championships this weekend, the Essex Invitational, BF's John Punger qualified for the New England Championships with a sixth-place finish in a personal best time of 4:37 in the 1,600-meter run on Saturday. Fellow Terriers Jamie Moore (4:48 in the 1,600), Tim Jones (11:21 in the 3,200), Will Bourne (12.02 in the 100) and Kendrick Mills (36-8 1/2 in the triple jump) also set personal bests in their respective events.
Lauren Rowell (6:09 in the 1,600) and Brit Moyna (17.63 in the 100 hurdles and 53.71 in the 300 hurdles) achieved personal bests in their competitions for the BF girls. The 4 X 100 relay team of Cooper Reis, Enny Mustapha, Corina Stack and Darian James recorded a season best time of 56.02.
Spots still available for summer rec programs
The Brattleboro Recreation and Parks Department says that space is still available for its summer day camp programs.
The 2011 summer brochure is being distributed to the Brattleboro elementary schools, local banks, the Brattleboro Area Chamber of Commerce, and the Gibson-Aiken Center. You may also check out the summer schedule at www.brattleboro.org.
Stop by the Gibson-Aiken Center, 207 Main St., to register, or call 802-254-5808 for more information.