The Brattleboro Union High School Unified basketball team opened the 2023 playoffs on May 11 with a stress-free 72-39 win over the Otter Valley Otters.
Despite it being an 11 a.m. start, and despite having to play the game in the Brattleboro Area Middle School gym, the BUHS players rolled with the changes and led from start to finish.
Head coach Tyler Boone was beaming at the end of the game, not just because his team set a season-high for points scored or that every Brattleboro player scored at least one basket, but that his players were doing the little things that don't always make the headlines.
“Silvia Galdamez played defense. Tyler Bolduc had a steal and a fast break opportunity. These are things that didn't happen last year and it's because everybody is so into Unified basketball that they are working so hard on things that I've never seen before. I've never seen Ashley [Cleveland] go for her own rebound or Tyler go for a steal and fast break opportunity. These are things that we didn't have. So, all of those little things really matter.”
Brattleboro's top four scorers this season - Ben Stauffer and Ashley Cleveland (14 points each) and Thomas Bell and Austin Pinette (six points each) - got help from Galdamez, Bobby Petrie, and Mario Day, all of whom also scored six points each. Jaymeson Crochetiere and Jeff White added four points each, Bolduc scored a basket, and Devon Rabideau got her first two baskets of her career.
Despite it being a playoff game, both teams went out of their way to give everyone a chance to shine. It's this spirit of kindness and compassion that makes Unifed basketball so much fun to watch.
Brattleboro, the top seed in the South with an 8-0 record, will now face fourth-seeded Springfield in a second-round game on May 17 at 2:15 p.m. at the BUHS gym. Springfield advanced with a 32-22 win over Mill River on May 11.
Boone said his biggest worry is that his team might be feeling a little too good about its chances of winning a second Unified basketball title. While Brattleboro beat Springfield by 10 points in their regular season game, Boone wants his players to forget about that and “come out strong and not be overconfident” against the Cosmos in their playoff game.
Baseball
• Cody Hescock threw a one-hitter as Leland & Gray shut out West Rutland, 10-0, on May 9 in a five-inning game in Townshend. Hescock needed just 65 pitches to get the win and struck out nine batters.
Leland & Gray then rode the emotions that came with the annual “Dingers for Dylan” game in Townshend on May 14, a fundraiser that honors the memory of Dylan Landers, who died in a motor vehicle crash in 2021. The Rebels rallied for an 8-7 win over Mill River on a walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the seventh by Spencer Claussen to score Garrett Cutts for the victory.
Landers, an outfielder for the Rebels, would have graduated with the Class of 2023 next month. Since his untimely death, his classmates have carried him in their hearts for the past two years, and his No. 12 jersey has been given a place of honor at all the Rebels' games.
His memory will live on through this game, which was a fundraiser for the Dylan Landers Forever a Rebel Award, which will be given annually to a graduating senior, as well as to help pay for a new backstop for the baseball field.
• Bellows Falls opened a week of three road games with a 9-5 win over Windsor on May 8 and losses to Rutland (5-1 on May 11) and Hartford (2-0 on May 12), leaving the Terriers with a 6-6 record heading into the final two weeks of the season.
Against Windsor, Jamison Nystrom went 2-for-4 with a double, scored three runs, and stole three bases, while Cole Moore went 3-for-4 and drove in two runs. Jesse Darrell, Eli Allbee, and Jaxson Clark shared the pitching chores.
• Brattleboro improved to 5-2 with a 12-6 road win over Fair Haven on May 11.
• Twin Valley lost to Proctor, 14-4, in a six-inning game on May 9. The next day, the Wildcats lost a 44-4 game in five innings to Mount St. Joseph at Baker Field in Wilmington.
Softball
• It's been a tough season for BUHS softball. While this year will be only the second losing season for Brattleboro since 2009, the 11-time state champions will avoid the ignominy of a winless season after they defeated the Fair Haven Slaters, 18-5, in six innings on May 12.
Coach Erin Cooke and her assistant Hailey Derosia had only nine players for this game, Even with no available substitutes, Brattleboro had one of its best offensive performances of the season as they rapped out 14 hits, including a 4-for-5 day by Kayli Speno.
Brattleboro pitcher Marina Wilson struck out seven batters and held the Slaters without a hit, but walked six batters. Jasmine Thibault threw an inning of relief after Wilson was hurt and had to leave the game, leaving BUHS with only eight players in the field for an inning.
The victory gave Brattleboro a 1-9 record, and it was a nice rebound from a wild and ultimately disappointing 29-17 loss in six innings to Burr & Burton on May 8. Brattleboro was in contention for most of the game before giving up 10 runs in the final inning.
• Leland & Gray had a pair of tough losses last week. On May 8, the Rebels lost a 16-14 slugfest to West Rutland in an eight inning game in Townshend. The Rebels pounded out 13 hits, but losing pitcher Kristen Lowe gave up 16 hits. Lowe walked six and struck out eight batters. She also had three hits and scored two runs. Makaila Morse, Molly Bingham, and Ainsley Meyer each had two hits and Savannah Cadrin drove in three runs.
The Rebels then fell to Proctor, 13-9, on May 10. Proctor scored five runs in the first inning and never trailed after that as they got 13 hits off Lowe. The Rebels made it interesting by scoring five runs in the seventh inning, but were held to just three hits by winning pitcher Cadence Goodwin.
However, the outlook improved for the Rebels in the “Dingers for Dylan” game in Townshend on May 13 as they rolled to a 16-2 win over Mill River in five innings to improve their record to 5-3. Hannah Greenwood hit a grand slam home run in the victory.
• Bellows Falls lost to Green Mountain, 12-4, on May 9. Losing pitcher Izzy Stoodley had a rough game, as she allowed 12 runs with 12 hits, eight walks, and seven strikeouts.
• On May 12, West Rutland cruised to a 22-10 win in five innings over Twin Valley.
Girls' tennis
• Brattleboro broke a losing streak that stretched back to 2019 with a pair of wins against Bellows Falls at the BUHS courts on May 8. BF had to play a doubleheader against Brattleboro because their courts are unplayable this season.
In the first match, Brattleboro got singles wins from No. 1 Elena Hannigan, No. 2 Ava Rosenzweig-Davidovits, No. 4 Lily Bingham and No. 5 Anna Cummings, and doubles wins from the No. 1 tandem of Amelia Lafland and Ava Bark and the No. 2 duo of Emma Lafayette and Amelia Newton. BF's only win came from Mary Wallace, who defeated Evie Kiehl at No. 3 singles.
The second match was equally one-sided as Hannigan, Cummings, and Kiehl won their singles matches and Brattleboro swept the doubles matches. Wallace and Avery Dole had singles victories for the Terriers.
Those wins were followed by a pair of road losses as Brattleboro lost 6-1 to Hartford on May 9 and got swept 7-0 by Burr & Burton on May 11.
Girls' lacrosse
• Brattleboro shut out Lyndon Institute, 13-0, at Natowich Field on May 9 for their second win of the season. Willow Romo led BUHS with five goals, while Mallory Newton and Abby Henry scored two goals each. Ally Foard, Ava Ferencz, Charlie Miller, Sophie Albright and Rosalie Smith each contributed one goal, and goalie Maren Sawyer made two saves to earn the win.
Two nights later, Mount Anthony rolled to an 18-1 win over Brattleboro at Natowich Field to drop the BUHS girls to 2-7 on the season.
Boys' lacrosse
• Brattleboro was on the road last week for three games. The laxmen defeated Lyndon Institute, 9-4, on May 9, but lost a 10-5 match to Keene on May 11, and fell to Woodstock, 11-5, on May 13, to bring their season record to 3-7.
Track & Field
• The Connecticut Valley Championships were held at Keene High School on May 13. In the boys' meet, Bellows Falls finished eighth and Brattleboro finished 10th, while in the girls' meet, Bellows Falls finished fifth and Brattleboro was ninth. Hanover, New Hampshire won the boys' meet, while Thetford edged Hanover by a single point to finish as the girls' winner.
The next big meet for Bellows Falls and Brattleboro is the Southern Vermont League Championships in Fair Haven on May 23, which will be the regular season finale for the Terriers. Brattleboro finishes the regular season with the Essex Invitational on May 27, the last tune-up before the state championship meet on June 3.
Senior bowling roundup
• Week 2 of the spring/summer season of the Brattleboro Senior Bowling League at Brattleboro Bowl on May 11 saw Five Pins (10-0) have a 5-0 to move into sole possession of first place. Turkeys and No Splits (both 9-1) are tied for second, followed by Stayin' Alive (5.5-4.5), The Bowlers (5-5), High Rollers and Slo Movers (both 4-6), Wrecking Crew (both 2-8), and Skippers (1.5-8.5).
Sally Perry again had the women's high handicap game (241), while Vikki Butynski had the high handicap series (672). Wayne Randall had the men's high handicap game (251), while Bill Uccello had the high handicap series (675). Five Pins had the high team handicap game (861) and series (2,548).
Chuck Adams again led the men's scratch scoring with a 639 series with games of 237, 203, and 199. Robert Rigby had a 574 series with a 214 game, Gary Montgomery had a 557 series with games of 210 and 194, Warren Corriveau Sr. had a 536 series with a 221 game, Skip Shine had a 523 series with a 190 game, and Randall rolled a 198 game.
Carol Gloski had the women's high scratch series (496) and game (194). Diane Cooke had a 176 game.
Popping the Colonels
• For the first time since I started writing about the BUHS sports teams in 1989, I have not used the word “Colonels” in a story. That moniker was officially consigned to the dustbin of history by the Windham Southeast District School Board last week, and students will be voting later this month for a replacement mascot.
I'll leave the discussion about this development to the news section and the Voices section of this newspaper, but I do hope the Brattleboro students come up with a suitable substitute that will fit neatly into a headline.