This is the point of the summer where the youth baseball programs play for state titles. From Little League to Legion, the local teams have been in the thick of it over the past couple of weeks, but sadly, all came up short.
Legion playoffs
• Brattleboro Post 5 got off to a rough start in the Vermont American Legion Baseball Tournament on Friday with a 7-2 loss to S.D. Ireland, a Chittenden County-based team.
While Post 5 got 12 hits off winning pitcher Sam Fuller - including a 3-for-5 day for Soren Pelz-Walsh, and 2 hits each for Jamie Martell, Evan Parro, Gerard Roberge, and Sawyer Olson - all those hits did not add up to a lot of runs. Fuller struck out 12 batters over 8 innings to earn the victory.
Olson was the losing pitcher, and Drew Barnum finished up in relief.
Brattleboro then faced Rutland on Saturday, and Post 5 got knocked out of the tournament with a 13-6 loss. Pitcher Tommy Heydinger took the loss after giving up 8 runs in the first 2 innings. Barnum and Olson finished up the game.
Post 5 finished the season with a 13-5 record.
Babe Ruth playoffs
• The Brattleboro Babe Ruth 15-year-old All-Stars made it to the state final in Waterbury on Saturday, and were within one out of winning the state title.
But Essex rallied to win the first game, 10-9, and beat Brattleboro in the second game, 6-2, to claim the championship.
Brattleboro had the upper hand in the tournament. They were undefeated and got to the finals with wins over Lyndonville and Champlain Valley. Essex needed to beat Brattleboro twice to win it all, and did just that.
In the first game, Essex came back from 5-1 and 8-3 deficits. Trailing 9-7 in the seventh, Essex scored three runs to force the second, and deciding, game.
Little League playoffs
• The Brattleboro Little League All-Stars faced Bennington in the District 2 12-year-old tournament, and Bennington eventually prevailed in the best-of-seven series, 4-1.
Bennington won the first two games, 13-3 and 18-6. Brattleboro won the third game, 4-1, but Bennington took control of the series with a 7-0 shutout, and clinched the district title with a 16-6 win.
Bennington joins South Burlington, Essex Town and Barre in the state tournament, which takes place this week in St. Johnsbury. The winner advances into the New England regional tournament in Bristol, Conn.
The members of this year's Brattleboro All-Star team were Tanner Bell, Leif Bigelow, Chayse Cunniff, Ian Fulton-Black, Dillon Green, Conor Hiner, Calvin Lafland, Will LaPorte, Zeb Lesure, Eli Lombardi, Tony Martinez, Taylor Patno, Dan Petrie, and Alex Tyson. Peter Masari was the manager, and Jim Waters, Steve Clark and Tom Murphy were the coaches.
BOC hosts tennis tourney
• The Brattleboro Outing Club held its annual singles tournament over the weekend on their clay courts on Cedar Street. Over the past nine years that this tournament has been held, it has attracted competitors of many levels, including some of the top players in New England.
Reilly Hay from Keene, N.H., was the 3.5 division champion, with Sehoon Ahn from Brattleboro, runner-up. In the open division, Stephen Monk from Charlotte (by way of New York City), was champion, while Jonathan Kraiger from Rockingham was runner-up.
CRVBL roundup
• The Chester Pirates (8-3) and the Claremont Cardinals (9-4) are tied for first place in the Connecticut River Valley Baseball League after Sunday's games.
Claremont beat the Saxtons River Pirates, 2-1, in an old-fashioned pitchers duel. Claremont's Mike Wells and Saxtons River's Chris Lundberg both had shutouts going through the first 6 innings, before the Cardinals put their first run on the board in the seventh. The Pirates tied the game in the bottom half of the inning, but Claremont scored the winning run in the eighth on a sacrifice fly by John Centonze.
Chester kept pace with a 17-4 win over the Putney Fossils. Claremont travels to Chester this Sunday at 10 a.m. for a game that will decide who will get the top seed in the playoffs.
In Sunday's other game, the Brattleboro River Rats beat the Keene Black Dawgs, 8-2.
Pop Warner program gets a boost
• The Brattleboro Pop Warner Football League recently received a $2,500 donation from Auto Mall of Brattleboro for the upcoming 2011 season.
Beyond the financial donation, the GMC division of General Motors donated the proceeds of 3,000 coupon tickets that the league can sell, offering a chance to win a new 2012 GMC Terrain. Second prize is a deluxe tailgate package. Anyone buying a ticket will get free service work and $100 off a new vehicle at the Auto Mall.
Pop Warner in Brattleboro consists of four divisional football teams and one cheerleading squad for children ages 5-13. Practice for the 2011 season begins Aug. 1 at Brattleboro Union High School.