July means lots of miles logged on the interstate following Brattleboro youth baseball teams in their respective tournaments.
This won't be the case for the Brattleboro 11-12 Little League All-Stars. Brattleboro's South Main Street Field is the site for the state tournament, so the District 2 champions got to enjoy the comforts of home while their rivals had to hit the highway.
The winner of this double-elimination tournament moves on to Bristol, Conn., to represent Vermont in the New England Little League tournament and vie for a trip to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa.
In Saturday's games, Brattleboro rolled over Connecticut Valley North (CVN), the District 4 champs from the Bradford area, 22-4, in a four-inning game cut short by the mercy rule, while District 3 champ Essex Junction beat District 1 champ Colchester, 6-4.
Against CVN, Brattleboro wasted no time establishing a lead. They sent 17 batters to the plate and took a 12-0 lead. Against starting pitcher John Dennis, they drew six walks and scored three times without benefit of a hit.
With two outs, Dennis gave way to Nelson Eaton, who got torched with a two-run double by Jack Pattison, a two-run single by Caden Wood, an RBI double by Zinabu McNeice, and a two-run single by Huxley Holcombe, who later scored on a wild pitch. CVN's third pitcher of the inning, Bryce Isley, finally ended the first inning when Elias Gradinger swung at his first pitch and popped up.
How much damage did Brattleboro do in the first? Despite only getting five hits, every hitter in the lineup scored at least one run; Wood, McNeice, Holcombe all scored two runs each. Brattleboro drew seven walks. One batter was hit by a pitch. To CVN's credit, there were no errors in the inning.
Staked to a big lead, McNeice, Brattleboro's starting pitcher, set down CVN in order in the second, and then got a three-run homer from Wood in the bottom half of the innning.
Brattleboro had its only wobbly inning in the third, when CVN scored four runs. Camden Davidson walked, advanced on an error, and stole home when the Brattleboro defense was not paying attention. Dennis then hit a two-run homer.
That got Brattleboro's attention. They got the runs back, and then some, with a seven-run third. Alex Carpenter hit an RBI single, Pattison hit a three-run homer, and Holcombe had a two-run double.
McNeice then ended the game with a flourish in the fourth, striking out the side. He allowed only two hits, with eight strikeouts and one walk.
On Sunday, Brattleboro advanced to the championship game by outlasting Essex Junction in an absolutely wild 20-18 slugfest.
Essex has been a nemesis of Brattleboro for years, and it looked like they had Bratteboro's number again as they took an 11-2 lead after three innings. But Brattleboro tied the game in the bottom half of the third as they batted around as Bingham, McNeice, Holcombe, Aaron Petrie, and Carpenter all hit safely.
A three-run homer by Andrew Goodrich put Essex back in front, but Brattleboro responded with a three-run homer by McNeice and a two-run homer by Pattison.
Wood drew five walks, but scored four runs. McNeice, Petrie, and Holcombe had three hits each.
Brattleboro is scheduled to play the winner of this Friday's game between Colchester and Essex Junction on Saturday at 1 p.m. If Brattleboro wins, they are state champs. If they lose, a deciding game will be played Sunday at 1 p.m.
• The Vermont 10-11-year-old Little League Tournament began last Saturday at Schifilliti Field in Burlington.
Brattleboro was supposed to take on Barre in Saturday's opening game, but got rained out. On Sunday, Barre beat Brattleboro, 14-3, in four innings. Brattleboro had a 3-2 lead going into the bottom of the third, but costly throwing errors and superb base running by Barre put the game out of reach.
Alex Palomba hit an RBI single, scoring Brock Longe; Devon Speno drew a walk to score Jett Emery; and Waylund Walsh scored on a fielder's choice for Brattleboro. At press time, Brattleboro was scheduled to play St. Albans on July 26 at 6 p.m.
Legion roundup
• The Vermont American Legion Baseball Tournament also kicked off last Saturday at Castleton University, and Bellows Falls Post 37, the No 4 seed in the Southern Division, made a statement in the opening game when they beat the O.E.C. Kings, the Northern Division No. 1 seed, 6-4.
Zac Streeter, the ace of the Post 37 staff, was the winning pitcher. Streeter allowed just one earned run on seven hits in 8 1/3 innings of work and helped his cause at the plate with two hits and three runs scored. Brady Illingworth and Josh Woods contributed two hits apiece. Woods relieved Streeter in the ninth to get the save.
Brattleboro Post 5, the second seed in the Southern Division, drew Essex Post 91 in their tourney opener and came away with a 6-2 victory. Winning pitcher Leif Bigelow scattered 10 hits over nine innings, while striking out three batters and walking no one.
Bigelow added two hits for Post 5, while Chris Lasch had two RBIs and scored one run, and Stephen Kerylow scored twice. Brattleboro rallied back from a 1-0 deficit with two runs in the fourth and three more in the sixth.
Post 5 stayed undefeated in the tournament with a 9-4 win on Sunday over White River Junction Post 84.
Chayse Cunniff led Brattleboro on the mound as well as the plate. He drove in five runs with three hits, all singles. He also threw the three final innings of the game, holding Post 84 to one unearned run on just two hits, with one strikeout and no walks.
Post 5 starting pitcher Kassidi Ramirez gave up two runs on four hits in four innings of work. He was relieved by Sam Ognenoff, who pitched the fifth and sixth innings to get the win. Ognenoff gave up one unearned run on one hit, with two walks and no strikeouts.
Brattleboro trailed 2-1 until they broke the game open with six runs in the seventh and two more in the eighth.
Also on Sunday, Rutland Post 31 beat Post 37, 9-3. Bellows Falls took an early 3-0 lead, but from the third inning on, it was all Rutland.
Bellows Falls was then knocked out of the tournament on Monday with a 15-9 loss to Essex. Post 37 took an early 3-0 lead, but Essex stormed back with seven runs to take control of the game. Bellows Falls trimmed Essex's lead down to 8-6 after four innings, but Essex got five more runs in the next two innings to squelch the rally.
Brattleboro faced Rutland on Monday afternoon and stayed undefeated with a 9-6 win. At press time, Brattleboro was scheduled to play White River Junction on July 26. A Post 5 victory eliminates White River Junction and puts Brattleboro into the championship game.
Babe Ruth roundup
• Brattleboro, the winners of the Vermont 13-15 Babe Ruth Tourney, played in the New England regional tournament at Fraser Field in Lynn, Mass., over the weekend,
In the opening game last Friday, Brattleboro lost to Trumbull, Conn., 7-3. Trumbull led this game throughout.
Brattleboro bounced back with a 16-5 win over Somerworth, N.H., last Saturday. Brattleboro took control by scoring seven runs in the third inning, then added four more runs in the fifth and five more in the sixth.
North Smithfield/Providence, R.I. (NPS) was Brattleboro's next opponent on Sunday, and NPS knocked Brattleboro out of the double-elimination tourney with a 2-0 victory.
Senior bowling roundup
• Team 10 (43-17) is still out front after Week 12 of the Brattleboro Senior Bowling League. Team 6 (36.5-22.5) moved into second place, while there is a three-way tie for third between Team 4 (36-24), Team 3 (36-24), and Team 8 (36-24), Team 9 (28.5-31.5) is in fourth, followed by Team 2 (26.5-33.5), Team 5 (25-35), Team 1 (22-38), and Team 11 (18.5-41.5).
Team 11 had the high handicap game (678), while Team 6 had the high handicap series (1,844). Shirley Aiken had the women's high handicap game (250) and series (624), while Warren Corriveau Sr. rolled the men's high handicap game (209) and Peter Gilbert had the high handicap series (652).
Aiken was the only woman who rolled a 200-plus game, while Corriveau (209) and Jerry Dunham (201) were the only men to crack 200.
The only 500-series belonged to the men as Fred Ashworth (520), Corriveau (520), Peter Cross (510), and Dunham (549) were tops.
High averages for the women last week were Sonya Shippee (155), Shirley Aiken (154), and Lorraine Taylor (146). Top men's averages belonged to Ashworth (177), Dunham (173), and Marty Adams (172).
New soccer camp in Hinsdale
• A new soccer camp is being offered Aug. 1-5 at the Hinsdale High School soccer fields. The Upper 90 Soccer Camp will be directed by Jay Cudworth and Steve Fecto, the current varsity coaches at Hinsdale High School. They are supported by a staff of former and current varsity players.
The morning session which runs from 10 a.m. to noon is for girls and boys entering the second through fifth grades. This session will focus on basic motor skill development, dribbling, passing, shooting, basic goalkeeping, and basic defensive skills. Time will also be set aside to introduce team skills in game situations.
The afternoon session which runs from 1 to 3 p.m. will be for boys and girls entering grades 6-8. This session will focus on the next level of motor skill development, dribbling, passing, shooting, goalkeeping, and defensive skills. They will devote more time to using these skills in game situations.
The cost of this camp is $80. This camp is in association with the Hinsdale Recreation Department. Contact Jay Cudworth at 802-275-7735 for more information.