The Brattleboro Colonels baseball team has suffered this season through all sorts of agonizing ways to lose ball games. But what happened last Friday against Bellows Falls at Hadley Field tops them all.
Brattleboro pitcher Danny Richardson had a perfect game going through 6{2/3} innings, not allowing a single Terrier to reach base.
The game was scoreless, and the Colonels had to like their chances.
Then it all fell apart.
Mike Labeau singled to end the perfect game bid. He stole second to get into scoring position and scored the winning run on a single by Stuart Shaughnessy.
Hits were definitely at a premium on a cold, damp, raw afternoon that felt more like late March than late May. Labeau, the winning pitcher for the 8-6 Terriers, struck out eight and walked one to get the complete game victory. He gave up only two hits - singles by Chris McAuliffe and Kevin Tao.
It's been that kind of a season for the 1-12 Colonels.
In the game that preceded the contest with BF, Brattleboro had a 5-0 lead on Mill River, but six errors in the fourth inning opened the door for the Minutemen. They tied the game, then added one run in the fifth and three more in the sixth to get a 9-5 win over the Colonels on May 18.
Jeff Kerylow and Evan Parro each had a pair of hits for the Colonels, while Elliot Gragen, Ansel Borofsky, Joey Barrows, and Hunter Smith each had a hit.
Baseball
• Drew Barnum got the win, and Zach Wilkins earned the save as Leland & Gray eked out a 3-2 win over Woodstock on May 21. Barnum struck out five over six innings before Wilkins came in to pitch the seventh. Together, they held the Wasps to just four hits.
The Rebels got all their runs in the second inning. After Josh Donna and Jeremy Bovat drew walks, Nick Bills hit a two-run double and Ryan Borgeson followed with an RBI single to erase a 2-0 deficit.
Leland & Gray got shut out by Otter Valley, 5-0, in Townshend last Friday. It cost the Rebels a chance to gain some ground in the Division III standings. They ended the week ranked sixth with a 10-3 record.
• Pitcher Dal Nesbitt scattered nine hits to earn a complete game victory as Twin Valley outlasted Arlington, 10-6, on May 22. Sam Molner and Jason Moore each had a pair of hits, Colin Lozito got on base three times, and Craig Green and Moore each scored three runs.
Twin Valley is 5-8, but they ended the week ranked sixth in Division IV.
Softball
• It looks like Brattleboro pitcher Kayla Wood has put her back problems behind her. Against Otter Valley last Friday, she struck out 15 in a complete game one-hitter as the Colonels coasted to a 7-0 win at Sawyer Field.
The Colonels only managed three hits off losing pitcher Taylor Aines, but the hits were all well-timed. McKinlie Carpenter legged out an infield hit in the first, and eventually scored. Bailey Paige hit a RBI double in the third, and Wood had a two-run single in the sixth.
It was the second straight one-hitter against the Otters. On May 18 in Brandon, Brattleboro shut out Otter Valley, 5-0, as Wood struck out 14 and walked only one batter. Maddie Derosia went two for three with an RBI to lead Brattleboro. Daisy Giroux doubled, while Mckinlie Carpenter, Paige, and Rissa Smith all singled.
Brattleboro was 10-2-1 at week's end, and was ranked second in Division I. One more win, and they will clinch home field through the playoffs.
• Everything went right for Leland & Gray, and nothing went right for Woodstock in a 25-0 demolition of the Wasps in a five-inning game in Townshend on May 21.
The Rebels scored 10 runs in the first inning on eight walks and three hit batters. Amazingly, Woodstock pitcher Brittany Sawyer did not give up a hit in the inning, despite facing 14 batters. Jordan Gouger homered in the third inning. In the fourth inning, the Rebels sent 15 batters to the plate and scored 11 runs.
Rebels pitcher Elizabeth Symanski barely broke a sweat to get the win. She struck out 12, walked two, and gave up just two hits.
• Bellows Falls rallied from a 9-1 deficit to beat Fall Mountain, 11-10, on May 21. Chelsea Wilder hit a two-run homer. Rachel Sylvester hit a two-run single during the big comeback.
Alanna Shaw went five innings in her varsity pitching debut before Wilder pitched the last three innings and picked up the win for the 4-7 Terriers.
Lacrosse
• The Brattleboro boys traveled to Manchester, N.H., on May 18, and took care of Manchester Central, 16-4. The Colonels got off to a fast start, taking a 9-0 lead after one quarter. Tanner Freeman had a hand in five of the first six goals, scoring four and assisting on another. He finished with five goals and a pair of assists.
Sam Siegel, Brennen Zolnoski, and Lane Drummey all scored two goals each, while Nik Rancourt, Galen Finnerty, Jesse Brown, Jordan Wong, and Conner Elliott-Knaggs each added a goal. Goalie Romello Lindsay made 16 saves.
Brattleboro then suffered its first loss to a Vermont team this season with a 8-6 defeat at Mount Anthony. It was a 4-4 game after three quarters, but the Patriots dominated the final quarter to win. Siegel had four goals and an assist, while Zolnoski had a goal and an assist, and Rancourt added one goal.
• The Brattleboro girls lost in overtime to Northampton, Mass., 9-8, at Natowich Field on May 20. The Colonels trailed 6-3 at the half, but rallied to force the extra period.
Maddie Rollins scored four goals; Rachel Hill, Hannah Lynde, and Alex Fellows each scored a goal. Kaitlyn Donovan had an assist for the Colonels. In goal, Melissa Semenovich had six saves and Gaia Uman had seven saves.
Track and field
• Jamie Moore won the 3,200 meters and was the runner-up in the 1,600 to lead the Bellows Falls boys in the Hanover (N.H.) Invitational on May 18.
TJ Bernier was second in both 110 and 300 hurdles events, Brian McAnuff took second in the long jump, and David Dunbar was third in the high jump.
Chapin Reis was third in the 200 and 400 to lead the BF girls. Brit Moyna was third in the pole vault and fourth in the 100.
Brattleboro was led by the 4x800 boys relay team that won its event in a time of 9:32.02. Paxton Reed (triple jump) and Miles Goldenbird (javelin) each finished second, and Sam Sherlock was third in the javelin.
Ursula Casey led the BUHS girls with a fourth in the triple jump.
Tennis
• The Brattleboro girls started their week with a 6-1 loss to Mount Anthony on May 20. The No. 2 doubles team of Aliza Racine and Anna Kerlin-Smith won their match 6-2, 6-2 for the team's only victory. Three other matches went to tiebreakers, but the Colonels could not get the decisive point in any of them.
• The Brattleboro boys swept Bellows Falls, 7-0, at the BUHS courts on May 20. Isaiah Ungerleider, Benson May, Tony Acevedo, Benson May, and Oliver Goodman all won their singles matches, while Lochlan Francis and Gideon May and Spencer Butter and Jake Gartenstein took their doubles matches.
Little League
• The Pirates have been unstoppable, as they are now 8-0 after four weeks of play in the Brattleboro Little League. The Cardinals moved into second place with a 4-3 record, followed by the Red Sox (3-4), the Athletics and Giants (both 2-4) and the Royals (2-6).