Two Bellows Falls graduates, plus 12 others, were inducted into the Vermont Principals' Association Hall of Fame on May 1 in Montpelier - longtime sports editor and reporter Lawrence “Poody” Walsh and three-sport standout Regan Coffey Torney.
Walsh, a native of North Walpole, N.H., graduated with the Class of 1959 at Bellows Falls High School. After a stint in the Army, he started at the Claremont, N.H. Daily Eagle (now the Eagle Times) in the mid-1960s. He is among the last of the “job-trained” journalists, having never gone to college.
Poody spent nearly four decades at the Eagle before retiring in 2001. He continues to write part-time for the Rutland Herald and the Valley News. He has been and continues to be a mentor and loyal friend of many in the business, including this journalist.
Honest and insightful in covering high school sports in Vermont and New Hampshire, he was one of the pioneers in giving the girls' teams as much coverage as the boys and was tireless and thorough in making sure all the teams he covered got in the paper.
Coffey Torney, BFUHS Class of 1997, was good at soccer and basketball and phenomenal at track. During her high school track career, she was a 10-time state champion, dominating the sprints and hurdles in her sophomore, junior, and senior years.
In her senior year, she won the 100 and 200 meter sprints, and 100 meter hurdles, to lead the Terriers to a state championship in 1997. She won those same three events against statewide competition at the Vermont Meet of Champions. At the 1997 New England Championships, she finished first in the 200, second place in the 100, and third in the 100 hurdles.
Her track prowess at Bellows Falls earned Coffey Torney an athletic scholarship at the University of Vermont, where she helped the Catamounts win two league championships and two America East Championships. At the time of her graduation in 2001, she held four individual records, and was part of three record-setting relay teams. She was inducted into the UVM Athletic Hall of Fame during her first year of eligibility.
Softball
• Brattleboro had 14 hits during an 11-4 victory at Hartford on April 28.
Maddy Derosia went 3-for-5 with three RBIs, including a two-run homer. Casey Manning, Jamie Mahoney, Devin Millerick, Bridget Duff, and Jocelyn Aither all finished with two hits, and Emily Whitworth doubled. Manning, Millerick, and Duff each drove in a run.
The pitching and defense were much improved too for the Colonels. Winning pitcher Hannah Wilson walked three, struck out four and gave up six hits. Only two errors were committed behind her.
The Colonels then evened their record at 3-3 with an 11-10 win at Rutland last Friday. Aither's two-out RBI single to left in the top of the seventh broke the tie and Wilson kept the Raiders from scoring in the bottom half of the inning. Wilson gave up 10 hits and hit four batters, but was good when it mattered to get the win.
Sam Harrison went 3-for-3, including two home runs, driving in five runs. Maddy Derosia added a two-run homer, Aither went 3-for-4 with a triple, and Emily Waite had two hits. Wilson went the distance for the win.
• Leland & Gray Keltsey Rushton likes pitching against Mill River. In two games against the Minutemen, she struck out 10 and gave up five hits as the Rebels beat them 7-4 on April 24 and 23-2 in a five-inning game cut short by the mercy rule on April 27.
Rachel Borgesen and Emily Stockwell each had three hits in the April 27 blowout, while Jessie Stockwell and Emily Thibault added two hits apiece and Mackenzie Boyle delivered a two-run double. Emily Stockwell and Thibault each drove in four runs, while Borgesen had three RBIs.
Bates and Rushton each had a couple of hits in the April 24 game, and Jordan Gouger contributed a two-run double.
The Rebels then lost a 17-16 slugfest with Otter Valley on April 30. There were 35 total hits and 21 walks in this 3 {1/2} hour marathon. Rushton threw 213 pitches in the loss with 13 strikeouts, 10 walks, and 16 hits. This game was back and forth and was ultimately decided by a sacrifice fly by Gabby Paolino that drove in the Otters' winning run in the eighth.
Erica Cutts went 4-for-7 and scored four runs to lead the 2-3 Rebels. Rushton helped her cause with three hits and two RBIs, while Gouger and Boyle added two hits each.
• Chelsea Wilder, Murphy Hicks and Madison Streeter all had three hits as Bellows Falls rolled over Proctor, 18-10, on April 25 in Westminster.
The Terriers broke open a 10-10 tie in the sixth inning, and winning pitcher Hicks held on to pick up her third victory of the season.
• Colton Butler went 4-for-4 at the plate, including two extra-base hits, and drove in three runs as Twin Valley romped past Burr & Burton, 11-3, on April 29 in Whitingham.
Butler also had a good day as the winning pitcher. She struck out 12 and walked four. Karlee Walkoviak and Brianna Rafus had two hits as the Wildcats improved to 2-1.
Baseball
• Triple plays are rare in baseball. Triple plays that end ball games are even rarer, but Twin Valley reliever George Molner pulled it off on April 30 at West Rutland in the Wildcats' first game of the season.
The Wildcats led 6-3 heading into the home half of the seventh. West Rutland then proceeded to load the bases with no outs. The next batter then hit a weak infield pop. The batter was automatically out due to the infield-fly rule, but the ball was dropped near third base.
Had the West Rutland baserunners stayed put on the pop up, the inning would have continued and they might have been able to complete the rally. Instead, West Rutland's baserunner at second took off for third base, and was tagged out by Molner trying to take the bag. The runner on third also tried to advance, and was tagged out too, completing the triple play and clinching a 6-3 win for the Wildcats.
Molner earned a save the hard way, while starter Kyle Murdock got the win for the Wildcats, scattering nine hits over six innings.
• If you appreciate pitching and defense, Leland & Gray's game against Mount St. Joseph on April 29 wasn't the game to watch. In a slugfest in Townshend, it all came down to Corey Nystrom's sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh inning that gave the Rebels a 17-16 win.
Trailing 16-14 going into the bottom of the seventh, the Rebels rallied for three runs. Patrick McDonald reached on an error, Owen Beattie singled, and Max Cramp walked to load the bases, before Bryce Karg's two-run single tied the game. Cramp then scored on Nystrom's sacrifice fly for the walkoff win.
Jeremy Bovat went 4-for-5 to lead the 4-1 Rebels, while Karg and Nystrom each finished with three hits and knocked in five runs between them.
A day earlier, the Rebels crushed West Rutland at home, 18-6. Nystrom had three hits and scored three runs. John Peloso and Owen Beattie contributed with two hits apiece. They also combined for seven runs scored.
Winning pitcher Josh Donna struck out seven in four innings of work. Ryan Borgesen and Nystrom finished up in relief.
• With several members of the varsity squad serving suspensions for off-the-field transgressions, Brattleboro coach Chris Groeger has had to raid the JV team for reinforcements. Not that this is a bad thing. There are a lot of talented young players on the JV team, it's just that they are getting thrown into the fire faster than planned.
Against Hartford on April 28, freshman Ben Nelson-Betz pitched six innings for the Colonels. He struck out no one, walked four, and allowed six hits in a 4-1 loss. Jacob Perkins and Jordy Allard combined on a no-hitter for the Hurricanes. Brattleboro's lone run came on Troy Wood's bases-loaded walk.
Tennis
• The Brattleboro girls started last week with a 5-2 loss to Woodstock at the BUHS courts on April 27. It was much closer than the final score indicated, as five of the matches went to a third-set tiebreaker. Alicia Loyola and Greta Larson each won a singles match for the Colonels.
They bounced back from that loss and took care of Mount St. Joseph, 6-1, at the BUHS courts on April 28. The Colonels got singles wins from Taylor Bird, Loyola, Jaida Henry and Larson, while the doubles tandems of Danielle Looman and Jazmin Smith and Grace Willingham and Kelsea McAuliffe were also victorious.
Brattleboro finished their weeklong homestand with a 6-1 loss to Burr & Burton last Friday. Larson defeated Daisy Sullivan 1-6, 6-3, 1-0 (12-10) at No. 5 singles for the lone win as the Colonels ended the week at 3-2.
• The Brattleboro boys got swept by Burr & Burton, 7-0, in Manchester last Friday, 7-0. The Bulldogs won all seven matches in straight sets.
Lacrosse
• The Brattleboro boys took care of the Burr & Burton Bulldogs, 13-9, last Friday night in Manchester. The first half was even as the teams traded goals and finished tied, 5-5. The Colonels then took control in the second half as Even Perkins scored 30 seconds into the third quarter, and Robin Avery and Jack Gagnon followed up with goals to give Brattleboro the lead to stay.
Gagnon and Brennen Zolnoski both finished with three goals each. Tanner Freeman and Avery each scored two goals, and Zeb Lesure and Owen Schneider also scored for the 6-1 Colonels. Kolton Ravenna made 20 stops in goal to get the win.
• The Brattleboro girls found themselves overmatched by Burr & Burton, and lost 17-2 in Manchester on April 29. The Bulldogs won 16 of the 20 draws in the game and controlled the ball for most of the game. Brattleboro trailed 14-0 at the half, and could not rally in the second half.
Nine different Bulldog players scored. Aggie Bisselle led the way with three goals and an assist. Brattleboro's Abbie Lesure broke up Bulldog goalie Lauren MacKenzie's shutout bid with a goal in the second half. Kira McCloskey scored the other goal in the final seconds of the game for the 1-3 Colonels. Colonel goalie Sara Gauthier stopped four shots in the loss. Burr & Burton improved to 4-1 with the win.