Is Brattleboro still a baseball town? The answer is still an emphatic yes.
All three Little League All-Star teams reached their respective state tournaments last week, while Brattleboro Post 5 finished their American Legion Baseball season in first place and earned the top seed in this week's state tournament.
That is a record of accomplishment to be proud of, and proof that baseball is thriving in Brattleboro. And that story of this great summer has not yet ended for two of these four teams.
10-U team tops Rutland to reach state finals
• Brattleboro punched its ticket to the state finals on July 19 with a 16-5 win over Rutland in the District 2 championship game at South Main Street Field.
A 10-run first inning put Brattleboro in control right away, and Rutland could not close the gap, as the game ended after four innings due to the mercy rule.
Elde Coplan was the winning pitcher. He struck out five batters and walked three over three innings of work, limiting Rutland to four hits. Eli Dupue finished up in relief.
Dupue, Bentley Sparks, Gavin Carpenter, and Vinny Doell had two hits each for Brattleboro, while Coplan, Oliver Baker, Owen Houghton, and Gavin Robinson each had a base hit.
Rutland is also experiencing a baseball renaissance. This was their first team to advance into a district final, and their Little League program gets better and better with each passing year.
Brattleboro faced Essex Town in the first game of the state tournament at Schifilliti Park in Burlington on July 23, and lost, 12-6. The next day, Brattleboro's season ended with a 10-0 loss to Colchester. Carpenter and Brayson George each had a base hit in the loss.
Other members of the 10-U team, which was coached by Justin LaRock, Travis Carpenter, and Jimmy Doell, included reserves Louie Renault and Nikko Papadamitrio.
11-U team falls in state finals to Addison County
• They had the easiest way into the state finals, and the hardest way out. Brattleboro won the 11-U District 2 title by default, as Bennington and Rutland did not field teams. They were also the host team for the state championship series.
But the journey got much harder when Brattleboro lost the opening game, 17-7, on July 16 to Lyndon. That put Brattleboro in the elimination bracket, which meant they had to win all of their remaining games to reach the finals of the double-elimination tourney.
Brattleboro kept its hopes alive with a 9-8 win over Champlain Valley on July 17, and avenged their first defeat with a 7-4 win over Lyndon on July 22.
Winning pitcher Axton Crowley held Lyndon to three hits, with eight strikeouts and three walks over five innings, while Shaun Emery pitched in the sixth to get the save.
Spencer Jones went 4-for-4 to lead the Brattleboro offense. Crowley helped his cause by going 2-for-3, including a two-run double in the first inning. Emery reached base three times and scored three runs.
The win over Lyndon meant Brattleboro had to beat undefeated Addison County twice to take the state title, and they came close to pulling off that difficult feat.
Under clear afternoon skies and searing 90-degree heat on July 23, Brattleboro jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning as Azyi Crews and Emery both singled and scored on a two-run double by Crowley. Nolan Domanski then scored Crowley with a base hit.
Domanski, Brattleboro's starting pitcher, labored in the hot sun, but held Addison County to just one run over the first four innings - an RBI double by Ezra Bliven in the second inning.
But the dream of forcing a second game the next day vanished in the bottom of the fifth inning when Addison County scored five runs on a pair of errors, a wild pitch, a two-run double by Greyson Conrad, and an RBI groundout by Thatcher Leggett to take a 6-3 lead.
Brattleboro had one last chance in the top of the sixth when Crowley singled and Domanski doubled. Both moved up on stolen bases to put themselves into scoring position with no outs. Relief pitcher Colby Phelps came in to end the rally by striking out all three batters he faced to give Addison County a 6-3 win for the title.
“I'm so proud of them,” said Brattleboro coach Jay Cudworth, whose team finished the tourney with a 2-2 record. “We came up a little short at the end, but we proved we belonged in this tournament.”
Also on the 11-U team were Dominic McKay, Pasture Leavy, Brody Page, Cooper Christiansen, Braydon Fostyck, and Nate Bloom.
12-U team stays unbeaten, reaches state finals
• Brattleboro entered the state tournament at Cioffi Park in St. Albans undefeated in district play and opened on July 23 with a 5-1 win over Connecticut Valley North.
The boys from Bradford had their hands full with Brattleboro ace Senji Kimura, who pitched a complete game one-hitter with 15 strikeouts and one walk for the win. He also went 3-for-3 at the plate.
Against Williston on July 24, Brattleboro came away with a 4-2 win. Ryan Peloso was the winning pitcher, giving up just one hit over four shutout innings, with 10 strikeouts and six walks. Kason Gundry threw the final two innings to pick up a save.
Brattleboro scored three runs in the third to break a scoreless tie as Peloso helped his cause with a two-run home run. Briar Cutting was 2-for-4 with a double.
Brendan Hill was the losing pitcher for Williston. He gave up three runs on three hits and one walk over four innings, and struck out four batters.
Undefeated Brattleboro now advances into the championship round of the double-elimination tournament on July 30, where they will face the winner of the elimination bracket at 11 a.m.
A Brattleboro win sends the team into the Little League New England Regional Tournament in Bristol, Conn. If Brattleboro should lose on July 30, a second game to decide the champion will be played on July 31 at 11 a.m.
Brattleboro, Bellows Falls clinch spots in state Legion tourney
• Brattleboro Post 5 took control of its playoff destiny and won its last five games of the regular seaon to capture first place in the Southern Division.
They started the final week of the season with a 9-6 win over Rutland Post 31 at Tenney Field on July 19, and kept the momentum going with an 11-8 victory over Bellows Falls Post 37 on July 21 at Hadley Field.
On July 23, Post 5 went north and swept a doubleheader with White River Junction Post 84. Jolie Glidden and Aidan Davis were the winning pitchers.
The first game, a 15-4 win, saw Alex Bingham get three hits, Willem Thurber drive in three runs, and Davis finish with two hits and three RBIs. In the nightcap, Zinabu McNeice and Jeremy Graves each had three hits and drove in three runs in a 16-6 victory.
Post 5 then wrapped up the regular season on July 24 with a 21-7 win in five innings over Lakes Region to finish with a 14-4 record and edge out Manchester Union Underground for sole possession of first place in the Southern Division.
Brattleboro sent 13 batters to the plate in the first inning, scoring seven runs, and sent 15 batters to the plate in the fifth inning, scoring 10 runs. It was the third time this season that Brattleboro had more than 20 runs in a game, and they have scored 10 or more runs in 10 of its 18 regular season games.
If there was a sour note in the win, it was that Post 5 made four errors in the field, but it is easy to lose concentration in the field when you're mashing the ball at the plate. Post 5 manager Eric Libardoni, who has twice led Brattleboro to state titles, will make sure his players stay on task in the state tournament.
• Post 5 did Bellows Falls a huge favor by sweeping White River Junction. That left both teams with identical 11-7 records, but Bellows Falls finished third on a tiebreaker and got the last available playoff berth, with Lakes Region getting an automatic spot for hosting the state tournament.
Post 37 returned Brattleboro's favor on July 23 by splitting a doubleheader with Manchester, winning the first game, 3-2, while losing the nightcap, 5-4. The split dropped Manchester into second place in the standings at 13-5.
The day before losing to Brattleboro, Bellows Falls beat Lake Region, 13-3. Despite having only nine players and no reserves, Post 37 pounded out 15 hits. Tanner Swisher had four of those hits and Grady Lockerby hit a three-run homer. Sam Presch and Cam Boardman split the pitching duties.
• The state Legion tournament starts July 27, and will be played at Castleton University and St. Peter's Field in Rutland. It is a double-elimination format.
Senior bowling roundup
• Week 8 of the Brattleboro Senior Summer Bowling League on July 21 at Brattleboro Bowl saw Good Times (29-11) have a 1-4 week, but still stay in first place. Angus & Company (26-14) remained in second place, followed by The Keglers and The Strikers (both 21-19), the Number 1's (20-20), The Anythings (18-22), Trash-O-Matic (13-27), and Stayin' Alive (12-28).
Doris Lake had the women's high handicap game (234), while Debbie Kolpa had the high handicap series (614). Eric Brown had the men's high handicap game (261) and series (725). The Strikers had the high team handicap game (887) and Stayin' Alive had the high team handicap series (2,500).
In scratch scoring, Warren Corriveau Sr. led the men with a 607 series that featured games of 220 and 210, while Robert Rigby had a 525 series that featured a 213 game. Jerry Dunham had a 525 series with a 192 game, Marty Adams had 518 series with a 192 game, and Gary Montgomery rolled a 210 game.
Carol Gloski had the women's high scratch series (473) and game (185), while Pamela Greenblott had a 170 game.