It's an old baseball adage that hitting is contagious. It's certainly true for the Leland & Gray Rebels, according to coach Eric Durocher.
“We've gotten off to some slow starts, but all it takes is one player to get a hit, and then it starts waterfalling from there,” he said last Saturday after his team's 22-4 win over Twin Valley in a six-inning game cut short by the 15-run rule.
The Rebels got 13 hits off of Twin Valley's three pitchers, and were helped by several fielding errors, walks, and hit batsmen.
“We missed a lot of fielding opportunities,” said Twin Valley head coach Jim Burke. “We had a lot of ninth-graders on the field today, and all we could do is just go out and see what would happen.'
What happened was a lot of runs scored by the Rebels. They took a 7-0 lead in the second inning as they got their runs on four hits, one walk, two hit batsmen and three errors. They added another run in the third, four more in the fifth, and 10 runs in the sixth.
John Peloso, Jeremy Bovat, Josh Donna, Owen Beattie, and Ryan Borgeson all scored three runs each. Donna had three of the Rebels' hits, while Bovat and Corey Nystrom each had two hits.
This sort of run barrage hasn't been unusual for the Rebels, as they have scored 15 or more runs in six of their first seven wins this season.
Twin Valley scored twice in the third and got runs in the fourth and the fifth innings. Justin Hicks, Sam Molner, Brett Swanson, Kyle Murdock, and James McGovern each hit safely for the Wildcats.
Donna gave up three runs on five hits in 4 2/3 innings to get the win for the 7-2 Rebels. Murdock was the losing pitcher for the 1-5 Wildcats as he gave up eight runs in 3 2/3 innings.
The Rebels warmed up for the Twin Valley game with a 15-0 win over Woodstock in Townshend last Thursday. Max Cramp pitched a one-hit shutout, with seven strikeouts and three walks over five innings. Donna and Patrick McDonald each went 3-for-4, while Nystrom and Bryce Karg each had two hits.
Baseball
• Burr & Burton pitcher Jon Iris held Brattleboro to just two hits and struck out nine batters over five innings as the Bulldogs shut down the Colonels, 8-2, on May 5 at Tenney Field.
The Bulldogs scored four runs in the second on RBI singles by Tyler Kraehling, Griff Stalcup, and Iris. Iris added an RBI triple in the third and Kraehling delivered a run-scoring double in the fourth.
Brattleboro cut the lead to 6-2 in the fifth when Sam Ongenoff drove in one run with a single and another run scored on an infield error. Burr & Burton then got those runs back in the seventh, as Sam Cottrell and Jackson Rawson each hit an RBI single.
Softball
• Brattleboro had an up-and-down week. On May 5, Springfield scored all its runs in the fourth inning and defeated the Colonels, 5-4, at Riverside Park. Cosmos pitcher Jade Twombly went the distance for the victory, striking out eight, walking two, and giving up six hits. Brooke Willey went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and Lina Geyer added a pair of RBIs.
Devin Millerick, Samantha Harrison, and Maddy Derosia all had two hits for the Colonels, who trailed 5-1 going into the seventh before their rally fell one run short. Derosia tripled and Harrison hit a homer and drove in three runs. Hannah Wilson took the loss. She scattered six hits with four strikeouts and one walk.
The Colonels then lost to Mount Anthony, 8-5, in Bennington last Friday. The Patriots got off to a fast start, scoring five runs in the first inning. Brattleboro never recovered, as MAU pitcher Baylee Ports struck out 13 and scattered seven hits to get the win. Wilson took the loss, she struck out three while walking five batters. Derosia had two hits and drove in one of the Brattleboro runs.
Brattleboro bounced back the next day with an 11-4 win at Rutland to improve their record to 4-5.
• Chelsea Wilder did it all for Bellows Falls in their 16-6 win over Twin Valley in Whitingham on May 5. As starting pitcher, Wilder held the Wildcats to five hits and struck five batters for the win. At the plate, she went 3-for-6 and got some help from Ally Bashaw, who also had three hits, drove in three runs, and scored four runs.
The day before, the Terriers scored seven runs in the seventh inning in a 13-3 rout of Proctor. Bashaw, Steph Green, Mackenzie Crawford, and Alanna Shaw all two hits each, while Shaw drove in a team-high four runs. Murphy Hicks was the winning pitcher, with five strikeouts in a complete game four-hitter.
• Twin Valley recovered from that loss to BF with a 16-1 drubbing of Leland & Gray in a five-inning game last Saturday in Whitingham. Natalie Herrick went 2-for-4, including a pair of three-run doubles, to lead the Wildcats, while Karlee Walkoviak went 3-for-4 with a home run.
Winning pitcher Colton Butler struck out five and walked no one, as she held the Rebels to just two hits. Twin Valley improved to 4-2.
• The week wasn't a total loss for Leland & Gray, as they beat Hartford, 10-5, in a May 4 road game.
The Rebels broke a 5-5 tie with five runs in the top of the seventh. Emily Stockwell, Jordan Gouger, Jessie Stockwell, MacKenzie Boyle, and Keltsey Rushton all had a hit during the rally, highlighted by Gouger's game-winning RBI double.
Rushton threw a five-hitter to get the win, she struck out five and walked five.
Lacrosse
• The Brattleboro boys won two of their three games at Natowich Field this week to improve to 8-2.
On May 4, Brennen Zolnoski and Jack Gagnon scored six goals each in an 18-7 win over Keene, N.H. The Colonels led 13-7 near the end of the third quarter, then their defense held the Blackbirds scoreless the rest of the way.
Tanner Freeman and Zeb Lesure each scored twice for the Colonels, while Johnny Curtis and Liam Perra also scored. Noah Lachman-McCartie had three goals to lead the Blackbirds.
Wahconah was next up for the Colonels on May 6, and Brattleboro never trailed in a solid 12-3 win.
Gagnon led the way with four goals and an assist, while Freeman scored three goals and set up four others. Robyn Avery had a pair of goals and three assists, Lesure added a goal and an assist, and Perra and Zolnoski each scored a goal. Goalies Kolton Ravenna and Ian Cebek combined to make eight saves for the Colonels.
The Colonels ended the home stand with an 8-7 loss to Northampton, Mass., last Friday. The Blue Devils controlled the first half, taking a 7-3 lead. Brattleboro came back strong in the second half, and cut Northampton's lead to one with three minutes to play, but could not get the tying goal to force overtime.
Gagnon had another four-goal game and added an assist, and Evan Perkins, Avery, and Perra also scored.
Tennis
• The Brattleboro boys struggled last week, dropping four straight matches.
With the match deadlocked at 3-3 on May 5, the MAU tandem of Baha Hamadneh-Zeke Zelman defeated the Brattleboro duo of Derrick Harnish-Brian McCarthy 6-2, 1-6, 1-0 (10-5) at second doubles to decide it.
The Colonels got singles victories from freshman Martin Sipowicz at No. 2 and Jack Spanierman at No. 5. Brattleboro's first doubles team of Carter Falk and Tom Szpila also prevailed.
The next day at the BUHS courts, the Colonels got thumped by Bellows Falls. Jason Chartier, Gonzalo Borque, Simon Bupp-Chickering, Anthony Mueller and Lucas Clark swept the singles matches in a 6-1 BF victory.
The teams split the doubles matches. BF's No. 1 team of Chris Doucet and Jon Skrocki of Bellows Falls rallied for a 4-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-3), and Brattleboro's Nick Ahlgren-Brian McCarthy took the second doubles match, 6-2, 6-1.
“We have a lot of bad habits that we need to break,” said Colonels coach Charlie La Rosa after the BF match. “Their footwork needs to be faster, and they need to hit their shots deeper.”
The Colonels ended the week by getting swept in a home-and-home series with Woodstock. Brattleboro lost at Woodstock, 5-2, last Friday, and dropped a close 4-3 decision to the Wasps at the BUHS courts the next day.
In singles play in the Friday match, La Rosa said Sipowicz played a spectacular match against Ray Kurek, Woodstock's No. 1 player, while Falk, another freshman, scored a 6-3, 6-4 win over David Reed.
Szpila, yet another freshman, was forced to play at No. 4 in his first singles match due to an injury to Alex Shuey, and stepped up in fine fashion, ultimately losing to Chris Townley, 7-5, 6-2. Ahlgren and Derrick Harnish won their No. 2 doubles match 6-2, 6-3.
On Saturday, the Colonels won one singles match by forfeit along with Shuey's 6-2, 6-3 victory over David Reed and Falk's 7-5, 6-3 win over Bryan Kopf.
The decisive match came at No. 1 doubles, as Woodstock's Riley Powers and Kevan O'Connell defeated Brattleboro's Spencer Butter and Nick Hallock 6-4, 4-6, 10-8 to clinch the team victory.
• The Brattleboro girls won every match on May 6 and shut out Springfield, 7-0.
In singles play, Taylor Bird defeated Lexi Bellows 6-1, 6-2; Alicia Loyola defeated Alex Fourer 6-2, 7-6 (7-2); Haley Marcil defeated Sadie Rice 4-6, 7-5 (11-9); Aliza Racine defeated Jenn Anders 6-3, 6-0; and Jazmin Smith defeated Candace Hadwin 6-4, 6-1.
In doubles, Kimberly Bau and Grace Willingham prevailed 6-4, 6-1, while Camille Gunzburg and Tana Bhanti rolled to a 6-0, 6-0 win.
• The BF girls defeated Otter Valley, 6-1, in a road match on May 5. McKenzie Brandon, Taylor Westfall, Quinn Lawrence and Sarah Scarlett all won a singles match for the Terriers on May 5.
The Bellows Falls duos of Tessa Bynorth-Keisha Wilcox and Ellie Guyon-Reagan Lapinski each won in doubles competition.
Track
• The Bellows Falls boys won an eight-team home meet on May 5. Chris Doucet (pole vault, high jump), Brian McAnuff (100 and 300 hurdles) and Willie Moore (1,600, and 3,200) were all winners for the Terriers, as were DJ Snide (200) and Kyle Record (javelin).
The BF girls were fourth behind Fall Mountain, Woodstock and Windsor. The Terriers took the 4 X 100 relay race and also got a victory from Cassidy Santorelli in the pole vault.
In the Junior/Senior Meet at Fall Mountain last Friday, Moore won the 1,600 in 4:28 and Brian McAnuff won the 300 hurdles in 43.90 to help the BF boys finish third,.McAnuff also came in second in the 110 hurdles and pole vault.
The BF girls placed sixth as Santorelli won again in the pole vault. Anna Clark was second in the 400, and sprinter Sarah Wells was third in the 100 and 200.
In the Freshman/Sophomore Meet last Saturday, the BF boys won the 4 X 100, DJ Snide was second in the 100, 200 and triple jump, and Teagan Bacon finished third in the high jump. Dani Marchica placed fifth in the triple jump to lead the BF girls.
Powers, Caldwell honored by USSA
• The skiers and boarders of Stratton Mountain School had an excellent 2014-15 winter season.
Madison Barrett won the halfpipe at Junior Worlds and placed third at the Seven Springs Rev Tour, while Kiersten Edwards placed third in snowboardcross at the Rev Tour, and the entire SMS team has earned many wins and podiums at USSA events, the Red Bull All Snow, and the Vermont Open.
The SMS nordic team and SMS T2 Team scored four top-10s at World Championships (including one silver medal), two top-10s at the U-23 World Championships, a sixth-place finish at World Juniors, and 14 of 21 team members qualified for Junior Nationals, and eight of these 14 earned All American status (top-10 or top-3 relay). At Junior Nationals, the SMS Nordic Team extended its streak of winning at least one gold medal for 19 straight years.
The coaches behind this successful run - snowboarding program director Ross Powers and nordic program director Sverre Caldwell - have both been honored by the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA) as Domestic Coach of the Year in their respective specialties.
This is the country's highest coaching honor, and one that Caldwell has won three other times - in 2009, 2003, and 2001. Caldwell, of the famed Putney nordic skiing dynasty, has been an SMS coach since 1980 and is known nationally as the top U.S. coach at the development level in nordic skiing.
For Powers, a Londonderry native, it is his first USSA Coach of the Year award. A 1997 SMS graduate, he has led the SMS Snowboard Program since 2010 and is a two-time Olympian and Olympic medal winner, taking gold in the halfpipe in 2002 and bronze in Nagano in 1998. Last month, Ross was inducted into the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame, only the fourth snowboarder to earn this honor.
Wood earns All-NAC honors
• Kayla Wood of Dummerston, who pitched the Brattleboro Colonels to three state softball titles, has come into her own as a sophomore at Castleton State this season.
Wood had a phenomenal season for the Spartans as one of their starting pitchers. She is leading the North Atlantic Conference (NAC) in earned run average (0.63), strikeouts (67) and strikeouts per seven innings (8.5). She finished the season with a 13-2 record overall, with one save.
That performance landed Wood on the all-NAC team for the first time. While Castleton lost in the NAC finals to Thomas College, Wood has two more chances to help bring a conference title to Castleton.
Siegel, Rancourt lead Spartans to NAC title
• BUHS alums Sam Siegel and Nik Rancourt played key roles in helping Castleton State win the NAC men's lacrosse championship.
Siegel, a freshman attacker, scored 21 goals and 11 assists, while Rancourt, a sophomore midfielder, had 11 goals and two assists. Another BUHS alum, senior defender Andrew Worden, played in a dozen games this season.
While the Spartans lost to Amherst College in the opening round of the NCAA Division III playoffs last week, expect another playoff run next year with Siegel and Rancourt leading the way.