In baseball, the best way to flush away a bad game in the field is to have a good game at the plate.
Brattleboro third baseman Jackson Emery made three errors, but the defensive miscues were wiped away when he cracked a two-out, two-run double in the fifth inning to give the Colonels a 6-5 win over the St. Johnsbury Hilltoppers on a gray and windy afternoon at Tenney Field.
The April 28 win, coupled with a 15-2 drubbing of Windsor on April 27, improved the Colonels record to 3-2 as they headed into this week with road games scheduled against Burr & Burton and Champlain Valley.
Jolie Glidden was the winning pitcher against the Hilltoppers. He struck out six and walked three while giving up six hits over five innings. Unfortunately, sloppy defense led to extra outs which led to extra pitches. He threw 101 pitches in all, and had to expend more effort than he should have.
Brattleboro looked like it was in control when they scored three runs in the first inning on a double by Jolie Glidden, an infield hit by Jayke Glidden, and a sacrifice fly by Emery. The Toppers got two of them back in the second inning on an RBI double by Patrick Hallett and a misplayed fly ball hit to deep left field by Will Eaton.
Derek Sage walked and later scored on a fielder's choice on the bottom of the second to give the Colonels a 4-2 lead, but an RBI double to left by St. Johnsbury's Jason Mitchell Jr. cut that lead to 4-3 in the fourth inning.
The Toppers took a 5-4 lead in the fifth inning when Cage Thompson reached on an infield single and ultimately scored the tying run on a throwing error. Nathan Cushing later drove in the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly. But the Colonels came back in the bottom of the fifth. The Glidden boys got on base as Jolie was hit by a pitch and Jayke reached on a fielder's choice to bring Emery to the plate. His drive to the left field fence got the Gliddens home and gave Brattleboro a 6-5 lead.
It was then up to reliever Evan Wright to preserve the lead for the Colonels. He retired the side in order in the sixth on two ground balls and a weak pop-up, then got two strikeouts in the seventh to earn the save.
In the Windsor game, the Colonels showed patience at the plate as they drew 11 walks over five innings against the winless Yellowjackets. Emery was the winning pitcher, allowing two runs on three hits with seven strikeouts. Jayke Glidden went 3 for 4 with two RBIs and John Satterfield had a pair of hits.
The wins over Windsor and St. Johnsbury eased the sting of a 10-0 loss to Mount Anthony in five innings on April 25. Tanner Bushee threw a two-hitter with 10 strikeouts to shut down the Colonels.
Softball
• The undefeated (5-0) Bellows Falls Terriers have the look of a team that will be going deep into the playoffs this season. They used a 15-run first inning to pound the Springfield Cosmos, 20-5, in a five-inning mercy rule-shortened game on April 27 in Westminster.
Springfield took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning, but it was all BF after that. The Terriers sent 20 batters to the plate in the bottom of the first as the Cosmos went through three pitchers who, combined, issued nine walks, hit two batters, and gave up four hits.
Winning pitcher Izzy Stoodley shook off the rough first inning and held the Cosmos to just one run the rest of the way, a home run in the third inning by Maddie Clark. Stoodley finished with nine strikeouts. Aliya Farmer pitched the fifth inning and gave up two runs.
Farmer (3-for-3, two RBIs, two runs scored), Natalie Noyes (2-for-3, three RBIs, four runs scored), and Jaelyn Fletcher (2-for-2, four RBIs, three runs scored) were the big hitters for the undefeated Terriers, while teammates Jenna Dolloph and Emma McCullough scored three runs each.
Two days earlier, BF beat Windsor, 6-3. That game unfolded like the Springfield game, with the Terriers giving up two runs in the first inning, and then shutting down the Yellowjackets the rest of the way.
Dolloph went 2-for-4 with three RBIs, and Kayli Aldrich and Emma Spaulding each had hits. Stoodley got the complete game victory, giving up two hits and striking out nine batters.
• Leland & Gray beat Springfield, 18-6, in five innings on April 22 as the visiting Rebels scored eight runs in the first, and five more in the second to take control early. Kristen Lowe was the winning pitcher and Ava LeCours went 3-for-4, driving in three runs and scoring three times. Savannah Cadrin also had 3 RBIs and scored three runs.
• Brattleboro is still searching for its first win after losing a 10-9 heartbreaker against Springfield on April 25 and coming up short in a 20-19 slugfest with Windsor on April 27.
• After falling way behind against Mill River in their season opener on April 27 in North Clarendon, Twin Valley decided to stop playing the game in the third inning and leave the field rather than continue.
Baseball
• Winning pitcher Jamison Nystrom held Springfield to two hits as Bellows Falls cruised to a 10-0 victory in five innings at Hadley Field on April 27. Nystrom struck out eight and walked no one, and helped his cause out with a 2-for-3 day at the plate. Walker James drove in two runs with a pair of hits.
Two days earlier in Windsor, the Terriers eked out a 6-5 win over the Yellowjackets. BF took a 3-0 lead on a two-run double by Trenton Fletcher and an RBI single by Eli Allbee. Jake Moore drove in another run in the third, and the Terriers picked up another two runs in the fourth thanks to walks and errors by the winless Jacks.
The back of the BF pitching rotation worked in this game as Jaxson Clark started and allowed one run while giving up no hits. Fletcher relieved Clark in the third and ran into trouble, giving up three runs. Allbee took over in the fourth and gave up a run and allowed one hit to earn the win, he walked three batters and hit two more. Nystrom got the save by pitching two shutout innings, striking out four. BF finished the week at 5-3.
• Green Mountain kept its unbeaten season going with a 7-6 win over Leland & Gray in Townshend on April 29. GM's Tanner Swisher threw a complete game one-hitter to get the win as he struck out 13 batters and walked five. Cody Hescock took the loss for the Rebels, who got a pair of RBIs from Chip Winkler and another RBI from Parker Richardson.
Track & Field
• As the calendar turns over to May, it looks like the Brattleboro boys and the Bellows Falls girls are pointed toward strong showings in their respective state meets in June.
On April 26, the BF girls won the Springfield Invitational, finishing ahead of Brattleboro, Springfield, and Windsor, while the Brattleboro boys defeated Springfield by just four points.
Laura Kamel won the discus (32.66 meters) and javelin (29.34 meters) and came in second in the high jump (1.3 meters) to lead the BF girls. Tela Harty was first in the shot put (21.2 meters), 100 meter dash (13.82 seconds), and 100 meter hurdles (18.73 seconds), and finished third in discus. Nola Sciacca was second in discus and fourth in javelin, and Eryn Ross was third in the javelin and high jump.
On the track, BF's Hadley Gleim was first in the long jump (4.11 meters), second in the triple jump (8.72 meters), and second in the 100 (13.82 seconds). The 4x100 relay team of Gleim, Maxfield, Ava LaRoss, and Harty were winners in 55.64 seconds.
The Brattleboro girls were led by Genevieve Redmond, who was first in the high jump (1.35 meters) and triple jump (9.6 meters); Ava Whitney, who won the 400 and 800 meter runs; and Katherine Normandeau, who won the 1,500 and 3,000 meter runs. The 4x400 relay team of Ava Whitney, Redmond, Elliana Galdamez, and Normandeau took first, while the 4x100 relay foursome of Galdamez, Priya Kitzmiller, Teagan Thurber, and Carly Lonardo was second.
In the boys' meet, Brattleboro fared well as the 4x100 relay team of David Berkson-Harvey, Jack Cady, Jacob Girard, and Sean von Ranson were winners, while Wayland Walsh, von Ranson, Trevor Gray, and Cady teamed up to take the 4x400. Willow Sharma was first in the triple jump, while Girard was second in the discus and javelin.
The BF boys were led by Gavin Joy, who won the 800 (2:22.52), while Brandon Keller won the 110-meter hurdles (17.44) and Ben Perry won the discus (32.91 meters). Riley Tuttle was second in the shot put (10.94 meters), Christopher Leary took third in the 300-meter hurdles (51.23), and Colby Dearborn was third in the long jump (5.68 meters).
Boys' lacrosse
• Brattleboro picked up its second win of the season with a 12-1 victory over winless Otter Valley in Brandon on April 29.
A day earlier, the Colonels lost a 5-4 decision against Stratton Mountain School. With the score tied 4-4 heading into the final quarter, Quinn Torre scored with 4:01 left in the game to give SMS the win.
Brattleboro had the edge in shots and possession for much of the game, but SMS goalie Oliver Kosinski kept the Colonels' offense scoreless in the second. Brattleboro got all its goals in the first half as Will Mishovich scored in the first quarter, Alex Baker scored twice in the second quarter, and James Fegley added another goal.
Girls' lacrosse
• Brattleboro fell to Mount Anthony, 18-3, on April 26 in Bennington. Sophie Albright got the Colonels' lone goal in the first half as the Patriots took an 8-1 lead into halftime. She also scored a goal in the second half.
Tennis
• The Brattleboro boys lost to Burr & Burton, 6-1, in Manchester on April 25, The lone win for the Colonels came in No. 3 singles when Thomas Hyde rallied from a first set loss to take the second set 7-5, and win the tiebreaker, 10-4. No. 1 singles player Nate Kim lost his match on a 10-7 super breaker, while the No. 1 doubles team of Javi Hernandez and Dorian Paquette lost their match on a 10-8 super breaker.
• The Brattleboro girls lost their season opener to Burr & Burton, 7-0, on April 25 on the BUHS courts.
• The BF girls were also skunked by Rutland, 6-0, on April 27
Senior bowling roundup
• The winter/spring season of the Brattleboro Senior Bowling League at Brattleboro Bowl concluded with The Markers (48-27) having a 5-0 week to overtake Slo Movers (45.5-29.5) and Fab Four (45-30) to win the season title. Split Happens (36.5-38.5) finished fourth, followed by The A-1's (33-42), 10 Pins and The Strikers (both 32-40), and Trash-O-Matic (28-47).
Carol Gloski had the women's high handicap game (236), while Debbie Kolpa had the high handicap series (639). Duane Schillemat had the men's high handicap game (261), while Ronald Cargill had the high handicap series (684). Slo Movers had the high team handicap game (863) and The Markers had the high handicap series (2,460).
Chuck Adams again led the men's scratch scoring with a 640 series with games of 222, 213, and 205. Robert Rigby had a 596 series that featured games of 226 and 202, while Schillemat had a 554 series with a 232 game. John Walker had a 514 series with a 224 game and Marty Adams had a 513 series with a 188 game. Gary Montgomery had a 195 game, while Skip Shine rolled a 192 and Jerry Dunham had a 198 game.
Gloski had the women's high scratch series (486) that featured a 199 game. Pam Greenblott had a 160 game.