The Southern Vermont League announced its all-star teams last week for high school baseball, softball, boys lacrosse, girls lacrosse, track & field, and Ultimate disc.
• In baseball, Brattleboro's Jackson Emery and Sam Bogart were honorable mentions in the A Division, while Jamison Nystrom of Bellows Falls was selected to the B Division first team with teammate Cole Moore earning honorable mention.
Green Mountain had three players on the C Division first team - Tanner Swisher, Kaiden McCarthy, and Liam O'Brien - while Leland & Gray's Parker Richardson and Cody Hescock joined them on the first team. Honorable mentions went to Green Mountain's Andrei Solzhenitsyn, Jack Hinkley, and Tate Pellerin, and Leland & Gray's Theo Kelloway.
• In softball, Brattleboro's Aliza Speno was selected to the SVL's A Division first team, with teammates Kayli Speno, Mariah Fellows, and Ericka Fletcher earning honorable mentions.
Izzy Stoodley of Bellows Falls, Leland & Gray's Cat Shine and Savannah Cadrin, and Green Mountain's Abby Williams and Riley Paul were all named to the C Division first team. Honorable mentions went to Jenna Dolloph and Emma Spaulding of Bellows Falls, Brie Howe-Lynch of Green Mountain, and Ainsley Meyer and Kristen Lowe, of Leland & Gray.
• Brattleboro's Jack Cady, Trevor Gray, Sean von Ranson, and Jacob Girard were selected to the SVL's Division I boys' track & field first team, while Brattleboro's Ava Whitney was named to the Division I girls' team with teammate Meredith Lewis earning honorable mention.
In Division III, Bellows Falls' Colby Dearborn and Brandon Keller were named to the boys' first team while Laura Kamel of Bellows Falls made the girls' first team. Honorable mentions went to Tela Harty, Hadley Gleim, Nola Sciacca, and Ava LaRoss of Bellows Falls.
Division IV boys' first team honors went to Green Mountain's Eben Mosher, Joachim Gibson, Ben Munukka, and Noah Cherubini, and Leland & Gray's John Parker-Jennings. Trevor Stillwagon of Leland & Gray earned honorable mention. Green Mountain's Kyra Burbela, Luna Burkland, Autumn Fales, and Colie Roby all made the girls' first team.
• In lacrosse, Brattleboro's Alex Baker and Thaddeus Sawyer were selected to the A Division boys' first team, with teammate Riley Dionne selected to the second team and Chris Sawyer earning Coach of the Year honors. Brattleboro's Willow Romo was named to the A Division girls' first team, while teammate Sophie Albright was a second team selection.
• Ultimate first-team selections included Brattleboro's Desmond Longsmith and Darien Wade, and Leland & Gray's Jackson Fillion, Trevor Hazelton, and Trevor Stillwagon.
BUHS track & field athletes take part in New England meet
• Brattleboro's record-breaking boys' 4x100 meter relay team topped themselves again at the New England Interscholastic Outdoor Track & Field Championship on June 10 in Bangor, Maine.
The quartet of David Berkson-Harvey, Jack Cady, Sean von Ranson, and Dylan Holmes broke a 30-year-old school record at the Essex Invitational on May 27 with a second place time of 44.68 seconds.
On June 3 at the Division I state championships, they set a new record with a time of 44.63 seconds that was good enough for another second place finish. At the New Englands, they finished 19th overall, but again set a new BUHS record with a time of 44.59 seconds.
Another BUHS record holder, Ava Whitney, completed her high school career with on a high note in the girls' 800 meters. Whitney set the school record on June 3 at the state meet - 2 minutes. 21.48 seconds - in finishing third. At the New Englands, she finished 18th in 2:22.24, very close to the school- and personal-best time she had set the week before.
Two-time state discus champion Laura Kamel of Bellows Falls was the only other local competitor at the New Englands. The sophomore finished 15th with a throw of 108 feet, 11 inches.
Local athletes set to play in all-star games
• With the arrival of summer comes a full slate of all-star games for the top Vermont and New Hampshire high school seniors.
The Twin State All-Star Baseball Classic will be played at Norwich University's Garrity Field on June 24, with the best high school seniors from Vermont and New Hampshire facing off on the diamond.
Bellows Falls pitcher/shortstop Jamison Nystrom is the lone local player selected to the Vermont team. First pitch of game one of a pair of seven-inning contests is at 10 a.m., preceded by brief pregame ceremonies. Admission to the twin-bill is free.
Vermont took two from New Hampshire at Garrity Field in 2022, as the Classic returned to the diamond after a three-year absence. Prior to the Vermont sweep, there have been four twin-bill splits in six classics, with nine games decided by two runs or fewer since returning in its current format in 2015.
Also on the 24th is the Hanover Lion's Byrne Cup Twin State All-Star Lacrosse Games, which take place at Hanover High School in New Hampshire. The women's game will be at 12:30 p.m. with the men playing at 3 p.m. Willow Romo is Brattleboro's lone representative on the Vermont women's team, while Brattleboro's Thad Sawyer and Alex Baker are on the Vermont men's team.
The North-South senior softball games, featuring the top Vermont players, will be held June 30 and July 1. Rosters have not yet been announced for that event.
The Twin State Lions Cup soccer games are set for July 15 at Hanover High School with the women playing at 1 p.m., and the men following at 4 p.m. Leland & Gray will be represented by midfielder Abby Towle, who had all three goals in the Rebels' Division IV championship win against Proctor last fall. She'll be the only local player in either game.
And the all-star season will wrap up with the Shrine Maple Sugar Bowl at Castleton University on Aug. 5. Tristan Evans of Brattleboro and Caden Haskell, Jake Moore, Jamison Nystrom, and Dillon Perry of Bellows Falls will be on the Vermont team.
• Speaking of the Shrine Game, Doug MacPhee of Bellows Falls - a familiar presence on the sidelines as a sports photographer as well as the former public address announcer at Hadley Field for his beloved Terriers football team - was named the game's Grand Marshall for 2023.
It's a big honor for the Bellows Falls High School graduate, and a well-deserved one for Doug, who's been unfailingly helpful to me during my time covering sports here in southern Vermont.
Brattle Paddle comes to town on June 25
• The annual Brattle Paddle event on the West and Connecticut rivers is set for Sunday, June 25 in Brattleboro. According to organizer Sandy Harris, about 70 professional paddlers from around New England are expected to compete in the 9-mile race, but there will also be a 5-mile event for recreational paddlers.
Anyone with a canoe, kayak, or standup paddleboard is welcome to come to The Marina off Putney Road, located at the junction of the two rivers, to join in the fun or just watch the races.
Race day registration takes place from 8:30 to 10 a.m., with the first race at 10:30 a.m. There will be an informal gathering for all registered participants after the races and snacks will be provided.
The entry fee is $25 and proceeds will benefit Groundworks Collaborative. For more information, contact Harris at 603-363-4868 or [email protected].
Fossils tied for first in CRVBL
• In Connecticut River Valley Baseball League (CRVBL) action at Maxfield Sports Complex in Hartford, on June 11, the Putney Fossils handed the Connecticut River Iron Men their first loss of the season. The 2-0 victory moved the Fossils into a tie for first place.
“This is my 20th season in the league,” said Fossils manager Danny Lichtenfeld in a news release, “and that was the best pitching duel I can remember.”
Both starting pitchers - Peter Wagner for the Fossils and Arric Mather for the Iron Men - pitched 10-inning complete games. Through the first nine innings, neither one had allowed a runner to reach third base. Wagner had given up only one hit - a double by Kris Bornholdt in the seventh inning - and struck out 12. Mather had allowed just three singles and struck out 14, including the side in the ninth.
“Those are probably the two best pitchers in the league,” said Lichtenfeld, “and they were both nasty on Sunday.”
In the top of the 10th inning, the Fossils finally broke through. After Mather struck out the leadoff batter, Putney's leading hitter, Ryan Smith, surprised everyone with a perfectly placed bunt down the third-base line. Smith then advanced to second on a passed ball. Cleanup hitter Alex Gauthier hit a sharp ground ball that ricocheted off the first baseman's glove into shallow right field, allowing Smith to race home with the game's first run. Gauthier would later score an insurance run on a ground ball by John Peloso.
“Had we not taken the lead in that half inning, we were going to bring in a relief pitcher,” said Lichtenfeld. But with the complete-game victory within reach, Wagner returned to the mound and retired the side in order, securing the 2-0 win.
Both starting pitchers were aided by crisp defense. Fossils shortstop Andrew Peloso made two highlight-reel plays, including a diving stop in the hole and long throw to first from his knees to record the final out of the game.
At the midway point of the CRVBL season, the race between the Iron Men and Fossils could hardly be tighter. Both teams are 5-1. The Iron Men have scored 59 runs to the Fossils' 57, and the Fossils have given up 14 runs to the Iron Men's 15. The rivals will face each other two more times in the remaining six games before playoffs.
Senior bowling roundup
• Week 7 of the spring/summer season of the Brattleboro Senior Bowling League at Brattleboro Bowl on June 15 saw Slo Movers and Five Pins (both 24-11) now tied for first place with Turkeys and No Splits (both 23-12) tied for second place, followed by The Bowlers (18-17), Stayin' Alive (17.5-17.5), Wrecking Crew (16-19), Skippers (13.5-21.5), and High Rollers (13-22).
Debbie Kolpa had the women's high handicap game (252), while Sally Perry had the high handicap series (684). Milt Sherman had the men's high handicap game (268) while Robert Rigby had the high handicap series (642). High Rollers had the high team handicap game (904) and series (2,492).
Rigby led the men's scratch scoring with a 642 series that featured games of 226, 213, and 201, while Sherman had a 587 series with games of 242 and 197. Warren Corriveau Sr. and Chuck Adams both had a 526 series with a 185 game, while Duane Schillemat had a 514 series with a 212 game. Wayne Randall had a 507 series with a 201 game, Bob Uccello had a 505 series with a 188 game, and John Walker had a 505 series with a 221 game. Others with notable games included Gary Montgomery (187), Fred Ashworth (185), and Jerry Dunham (182).
Carol Gloski again had the women's high scratch series (480); she and Kolpa had the high scratch game (180). Nancy Dalzell had games of 179 and 165, Sally Perry rolled a pair of 164 games, and Shirley Aiken also had a 164 game.