Brattleboro played host to a dozen schools last Friday for the annual Fenn Relays, a meet made up of relay events at various distances. It offers the opportunity for athletes to try some different distance races, or do things out of the normal routine, like the hurdles.
Keene was the boys' A division winner with 42 points, followed by Lebanon with 41 and Brattleboro with 35. Bellows Falls came in fifth with 22 points. Monadnock won the girls' A division with 56 points, followed by Lebanon (42), Keene (29), Brattleboro (24) and Bellows Falls (20).
The Brattleboro boys' and girls' were both winners in the B division. Bellows Falls was fifth in the boys' events, and fourth in the girls' events.
In the boys' A Division, Brattleboro's Tyler Clement, Liam Reynolds, Orion Stone, and Jasper Reed placed second in the 4 x 100 in 46.55 seconds. Jonah Goldenbird replaced Reynolds on the 4 x 200, and joined Reynolds, Stone, and Reed for a sixth place finish in 1 minute, 42.10 seconds.
Dan Burdo, Spencer Loggia, Issac Freitas-Eagen, and Jonah Koch came in second in the 4 x 800 in 8:46.89. Burdo, Reed, Stone and Josh Meachen finished third in the medley relay in 3:55.82.
BF's Cameron Joy, Chris McKeen, Sawyer Reis and DJ Snide came in fourth in the 4 x 100 in 47.57. Shane Clark subbed for Reis in the 4 x 200, and the result was another fourth in 1:41.58.
Nate Fairbrother, Clark, McKeen, and Snide were second in the 4 x 100 shuttle hurdles in 1:08.21, while Keenan Lowe, Nicolas Potter, Reis, and Cody Tallent came in sixth in the 4 x 800 in 9:23.17.
In the girls' A Division, Brattleboro's Dory Abdallah, Evy Williams, Danielle Wood, and Kharisma Boyd finished fourth in the 4 x 200 in 2:00.31, while Liz Morse, Catey Yost, Isabella Thurber, and Sarah Galagher were fourth in the 4 x 800 in 11:18.72. Honnee McManus and Liz Morse joined Wood and Boyd to finish fourth in the relay medley in 4:51.80.
Bellows Falls got a third place finish from Reaghan Baldasaro, Jasmine Boucher, Michelle Marchica, and Leia Robertson in the 4 x 400 relay in 4:38.17. Baldasaro joined Megan Banik, Alice Salter-Roy, and Fallon Vancor in the 4 x 800 for a fifth place finish in 11:20.38.
In the B division, the BF boys' team of Devon Carrier, Teagan Bacon, Caleb Lisai, and Noah Wilkinson came in first in the 4 x200 in 1:49.24.
Brattleboro's David Pierce, Ty Allembert, Mike Anderson, and Colin Costa-Walsh won the 4 x 400 in 4:06.19. while the 4 x 800 team of Trevor Kipp, Joseph Meima, Alden Murphy, and Pierce was second in 9:49.21.
The Brattleboro girls' team of Kai Boyd, Abdallah, and Makayla and Kaitlin Ching got second place in the 4 x 100 in 58.66, while The Ching sisters joined Grace Frost and Olivia Ortlieb to finish second in the 4 x 200 in 2:07.09.
Brattleboro's Holden Hiler, was joined by Yost, Gallagher, and Ellery Loggia to win the 4 x 400 in 4:52.04. BF's Faith Byfield, Baylee Davis, Sophia Hyslop, and Alice Salter-Roy were fourth in that event in 5:02.33.
BF's Sophia Hyslop, Faith Byfield, Lucy Lawlor, and Arianna Morton were second in the 4 x 800 in 12:09.77, while Brattleboro's Laura Freeman, Francesca Carasi-Schwartz, Emila Dick-Fiora Del Fabro, and Loggia were third in the event in 12:11.00.
Kai Boyd and Del Fabro joined Emma Allen and Kira Boucher to finish third in the medley in 5:22.61, while BF's Morton and Davis joined Tess Kinney and Hailey Covillion to finish fourth in 5:26.35.
• In the warm up to the Fenn Relays, the Brattleboro and Bellows Falls boys placed first and second, respectively, in the Weiser/Howard Weight Relays on April 27 at Hadley Field.
Reed won the long jump and triple jump to lead the Colonels, who ended up with 60 points. Shane Clark won the pole vault for Bellows Falls, which finished with 55 points in the 10-school event.
In the girls' Weight Relays on April 28, Bellows Falls won with 42 points, while Brattleboro finished fifth with 23 points. Kharisma Boyd was the Colonel girls' lone winner, with a victory in the triple jump.
Baseball
• In Vermont varsity high school baseball, there are rules limiting the amount of pitches that can be thrown by a pitcher.
If a pitcher throws between 51 and 75 pitches in an outing, two calendar days of rest is required before the next start. Throw between 76 and 120, the maximum number allowed for a pitcher, and the rest period is extended to three calendar days.
Teams keep written logs of the number of pitches thrown each outing, which are signed by both the pitcher's coach and the opposing coach after every game. This is done to make sure no one is cheating and young pitchers are not getting overworked.
Coaches have to be judicious in how they use their pitchers, and sometimes, it can mean some difficult choices.
Against Mount Anthony on April 27 at Hadley Field, Bellows Falls starting pitcher Jacob Metcalf started for Bellows Falls and held the Mount Anthony Patriots to one hit. BF was trailing, 1-0, but coach Bob Lockerby took Metcalf out with one out in the fourth inning so he would not reach 75 pitches and be available on Saturday against Hartford.
Alex Groenewold finished up for the Terriers, but MAU got five more hits and took advantage of several errors to go on to win, 7-2. Ryan O'Neill went the distance to get win for the Patriots, despite giving up eight hits and three walks. He struck out seven.
• Twin Valley had a long layoff due to weather and spring break. They were back in action on April 25 against Mount St. Joseph in Rutland, and lost 9-2 in a game stopped after six innings due to darkness. The Mounties broke a 2-2 tie with six runs in the fifth, and another in the sixth.
On April 27, Springfield erupted for five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning and went on to defeat Twin Valley, 15-9. Travis Betit and Baylee Crawford each hit an RBI single in the fourth for the 1-3 Wildcats, while Justin Hicks and Haydeen Reed added a base hit each in the sixth.
Softball
• Teams in the Marble Valley League have had a hard time getting hits off Springfield's Jade Twombly this season. Not Brattleboro, who pounded the Cosmos, 15-1, on April 27 at Sawyer Field.
Twombly didn't have her best stuff, and the Cosmos trailed, 3-0, going into the fifth inning. That's when the Colonels exploded for eight runs on six hits and two walks to put the game out of reach.
Brattleboro pitcher Hannah Wilson took a no-hitter into the sixth inning, before giving up a single to Hannah Crosby. Cassidy Otis spoiled the shutout bid with a solo home run in the seventh.
The hits kept on coming the next day, as the Colonels rolled to a 13-4 win over Fair Haven at Sawyer Field.
Hailey Derosia went 3-for-4, while Lauren McKenney drove in six runs on a grand slam in the first inning and a two-run single in the second inning. The two ninth-graders led a 15-hit attack.
Wilson had a great day at the plate as well as inside the pitching circle. The senior hit a single and three doubles, and held off the Slaters by walking just one batter and striking out eight while scattering nine hits. Devin Millerick also had three hits as the Colonels improved to 5-1.
• Bellows Falls lost to their cross-river rivals Fall Mountain, 6-1, in Langdon, N.H. on April 27. Emily Stoddard hit a solo home run in the seventh inning for BF's only run. Murphy Hicks struck out five batters.
The next day, against Leland & Gray, the Terriers lost, 18-1, in a five-inning game cut short by the mercy rule. The Rebels pounded out 18 hits, including eight doubles and one home run, while winning pitcher Keltsey Rushton gave up one unearned run in her five innings of work, scattering five hits, walking one, and striking out six.
Rachel Borgesen and Jordan Gouger each went 3-for-4 and combined for six runs batted in to lead the winners offensively, highlighted by Gouger's two-run homer. Erin Cutts, Gabby Donna, Olivia Brown and Rushton all finished with two hits.
Boys' lacrosse
• The Burr & Burton Bulldogs outscored Brattleboro, 10-1, in the second half on the way to a 20-8 win over the Colonels at Natowich Field on April 27.
Carter Vickers scored five goals, and Will Baker added four more to lead the Bulldogs. Evan Perkins and Jack Gagnon each scored twice in the first half as the Colonels got within two goals, 8-6, with five minutes left.
That was a close as Brattleboro would get as the half ended with the Bulldogs in front, 10-7. The 1-4 Colonels also got goals from Matt Gaboriault and Alex Fitch.
Boys' tennis
• Brattleboro cruised to a 6-1 win over Hartford at the BUHS courts on April 25. Coach Charlie LaRosa said the most exciting match was No. 1 singles as Hartford's Danny Nguyen defeated Brattleboro's Oliver Goodman 6-1, 6-4.
“It was a very intense match of power tennis and tactical give and take,” La Rosa wrote to The Commons. “After a slow start in the first match, Goodman, like last week, bore down and fought his way back in the second, frustrating Nguyen with strong, deep, cross court shorts, excellent ground strokes, and some kickers to Nguyen's backhand. All eyes were on court 1 and the coaches' huddle was definitely impressed. On the verge of going to 5-all, Nguyen pulled it out for the win.”
LaRosa said the rest of the Colonels' singles players won their matches. Martin Sipowicz, at No. 2, beat Chris Miller 6-1, 6-1, while co-captain Gideon May won his No. 3 match over Spencer Rugg 6-2, 6-1. No. 4 Alex Shuey won over Naomi Hematillake 6-1, 6-0, while No. 5 Tom Szpila defeated Riley Kehoe 6-2, 6-0.
In doubles play, Brattleboro's No. 1 team of Ari Essunfeld and Josh Nordheim defeated Ashazi Shakur and Ethan Sneddon 6-1, 6-0, while the No. 2 pairing of Zeb Hathaway and Cole Merkle won by default.
On April 27 at the BUHS courts, the Colonels kept the momentum going with a 5-2 win over Burr & Burton. After losing the first two singles matches, May pulled out a 6-4, 7-5 win over Justin Walla at No. 3.
Justin Tegen beat Sipowicz at No. 2, 7-5, 7-5, in the longest match of the day. No. 4 Shuey and No. 5 Szpila were winners in their respective matches.
In doubles play, Essunfeld and Nordheim defeated Mike Hollingshead and Aidan Shaw-Pigeon in a hard-fought 7-5, 6-2 match, while Hathaway and Merkle again won by default at No. 2.
Girls' tennis
• Brattleboro was shut out by Burr & Burton, 7-0, on April 27. The Colonels came close to winning two matches, as Jazmin Smith forced a third set at No. 3 singles and doubles tandem Rose Dumaine and Hannah Blake lost 7-5, 6-3.
Pelz-Walsh earns Castleton Coaches' Award
• Soren Pelz-Walsh of Brattleboro was the male recipient of the Castleton University Coaches Award in 2016.
Every year one male and one female are honored with the Coaches Award, given to a top player in one sport who shows leadership and a determination to succeed. The person also displays great sportsmanship while being very coachable and having a sense of responsibility to the team, coach and Castleton.
Pelz-Walsh has played three sports throughout his time at Castleton, highlighted by his efforts on the football field as arguably the top receiver in the conference. He led the ECFC in receptions (60) and yards (968) while hauling in seven touchdown passes. This fall, he will return to the team as a two-year captain who has helped the team to 14 wins over the past four seasons.
He was also a two-year member of the baseball team, playing in 80 games at shortstop and batting .218 with a .330 on-base percentage. He helped the team clinch the 2014 and 2015 NAC Championships.
This spring, Pelz-Walsh picked up tennis and has won NAC Rookie of the Week honors six times playing at the No. 3 spot. In addition to his athletic prowess he has been named to the President's List multiple times and owns a GPA above 3.90.
Saxtons River Rec hosts fishing derby May 7
• The fish will be biting at the Saxtons River Rec Area on Saturday, May 7, when the annual fishing derby begins at 8:30 a.m. Free registration for children 4 to 14 begins at 8 a.m.
The pond is located 1.3 miles north of the rec area on Pleasant Valley Road. Prizes for the event have been donated by J & H Sporting Goods, and trophies are being funded by private donations.
Participation in the derby is free, but the rec area will be conducting a 50/50 raffle and a bake sale to benefit its activities. This annual spring event is the kickoff of a series of events to celebrate the Rec's 50th anniversary year.