-For me, tournament season for Brattleboro Little League baseball is always the fun part of the summer. Watching the latest crop of Brattleboro-area players take the stage, come together as a team, and experience the highs and lows that come with playing high-stakes baseball in July is always compelling.
Then again, I am a neutral party and I don't have a child on the field. For the families of the players, July is an emotional roller-coaster that sometimes doesn't have a happy ending.
For the Brattleboro 10-U All-Stars, it was a magical July as they won the District 2 championship and marched through the state tournament with an undefeated record. In the championship game on July 27 at South Main Street Field, Brattleboro lost to Colchester, 5-4, in a seven-inning game that was tense and gut-churning for fans of both teams.
Fans got treated to a pitchers duel as Brattleboro's Simon Potter and Colchester's Willy Lamarche kept it a low-scoring game through the first six innings. Potter went 5 2/3 innings, allowing two runs with four strikeouts, while Lamarche went 5 2/3 innings, allowing one run with five strikeouts.
Brattleboro, the visiting team in the game, scored its first run in the top of the first inning when Teddy McKay beat out an infield single, took second on a wild pitch, went third on a passed ball, and scored on a sacrifice bunt by Drew Alexander.
Colchester took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the second inning. Keegan Norris drew a walk and scored on a base hit to left field by Boden Carney to tie the game, and Easton Pratt drove in Carney for the go-ahead run with a single to center field.
Brattleboro had its first chance to tie the game in the fifth inning when Larmarche gave up an infield hit to Brodie Houle and Patrick Carroll drew a one-out walk. Wesley Ellingson came iN to relieve Lamarche, and managed to get out of the jam with help from a base running miscue by Brattleboro.
Instead, Brattleboro would tie up the game in the sixth inning. With two outs, Potter reached on a throwing error and scored on a base hit by Mason Rea.
Colchester had the winning run at third with two outs in the bottom of the sixth. Potter, having hit his pitch limit, was replaced by McKay, who got a groundout to send the game into extra innings.
Brattleboro pulled ahead, 4-2, in the top of the seventh. With one out, Benson Urban singled, Jacob Gallagher walked, and Houle reached on an infield hit to load the bases. Hayden Scott drove in Urban for the go-ahead run and Carroll got Gallagher home with a fielder's choice.
Colchester was not finished, however. With two outs and no one on base in the bottom of the seventh, they scored three runs to take the title. Hayden Critchlow reached on an error and scored on an RBI double to center by Carney. Pratt walked and Carney stole third. A wild pitch then scored Carney to tie the game. Pratt, now on third, then scored on a wild pitch to score the winning run and complete an improbable comeback.
It was a bitter ending to what had been what Brattleboro head coach Rob Rea called "a magical season."
"They came together as a team, forgot the individuals, and played together," Rea said. "Everybody is proud of them. It was a hard-fought game. No kid held back. They gave it their all. I can't ask for any more than that."
Colchester now advances to the East Regional Tournament in Cranston, Rhode Island this weekend. Brattleboro, who came so close to a state title, can only dream of getting another shot next year.
Brattleboro 11s top Barre for state title
• In a double-elimination tournament, the toughest route to a title is winning two games in a row against an undefeated team.
On July 14, the Brattleboro 11-U All Stars lost 1-0 to Barre for their first defeat in the state tournament at Bay Park in St. Albans. The good news was that Brattleboro had five days to rest and regroup. The bad news was that they had to play, and win, three games in three days to take the crown.
On July 20, Brattleboro took the first step with a 10-0 win over Champlain Valley to knock out that team from the tourney. Now, all Brattleboro had to do was beat undefeated Barre twice.
Pitchers Cole Systo and Dawson Newton were up to the task as they combined to hold Barre to a single hit in a 4-1 victory on July 21. Systo gave up one hit, struck out seven, and walked five in the 5 2/3 innings that he worked. Newton then retired the final batter on three consecutive strikes to earn the save. Louie Renault doubled and scored a run for Brattleboro, while teammates Brayson George and Dominic McKay (one RBI) each added a single. Soren Cheslawski and Owen Malouin each scored a run.
That win set up the winner-take-all game with Barre on July 22, and Brattleboro showed its grit and determination by overcoming a seven-run deficit in the third inning to rally for an 11-8 victory.
A pair of errors in the first inning gave Brattleboro a 1-0 lead. Barre then scored twice in the top of the second to take a 2-1 lead, then struck for six more runs in the third inning. Trailing 8-1, Brattleboro starting pitcher Zealand Wentworth gave way to reliever Brayson George, who pitched three scoreless innings to keep Barre off the scoreboard for the remainder of the game.
Wentworth had given up eight hits and seven earned runs in his three innings, with four walks and six strikeouts. He had a much better night at the plate, going 2-for-3 with two doubles, four RBIs and one run scored.
Brattleboro chipped away at the big Barre lead, scoring four runs in the bottom of the third to make it an 8-5 game. A two-run double by Wentworth in the fourth inning cut the deficit to one. Brattleboro then finished their comeback with four runs in the fifth inning, with Malouin and Mason Vollinger both hitting RBI doubles.
George walked two, struck out two, and held Barre to three hits in the final three innings to earn the title clinching victory. Systo went 2-for-2 with a double, two runs scored, and one RBI while Newton reached base on a walk and had a stolen base.
Brattleboro advanced to the Tournament of Champions in Beverly, Massachusetts, a 16-team double-elimination tournament with representatives from 10 Northeastern states. In the opening game on July 27, Brattleboro lost to Haddonfield, New Jersey, 4-1.
Post 5 opens Legion tournament with wins
• Brattleboro Post 5 wrapped up the final week of the regular season by clinching the Vermont American Legion baseball Southern Division title for the fourth year in a row, finishing with an 18-3 record and the top seed in the state tournament.
Post 5 opened the tournament on July 27 in Castleton with a dramatic 5-4 win over Montpelier Post 3. Brattleboro broke a 4-4 tie in the bottom of the seventh inning as Jackson Emery led off with a single, Peyton Butynski walked, and Ryan Peloso laid down a perfect bunt to the third base side to load the bases. Evan Wright then hit a long sacrifice fly to center field that was deep enough to score Emery from third and end the game.
It was a close game all the way. Brattleboro opened with a 2-0 lead in the third inning as Harper Cutler beat out an infield hit and scored on an Aidan Davis sacrifice fly and Alex McClelland walked and later scored on an infield error.
Montpelier made it 2-1 in the fourth on back-to-back doubles by Trevor Arsenault and Cam Burke, but McClelland drove in a run in the bottom half of the inning to give Post 5 a 3-1 lead.
Post 3 responded with three runs in the sixth. Tanner Arsenault drew a walk and Trevor Arsenault got hit by a pitch to start the inning. Burke and Keegan Smith followed with base hits as both Arsenaults and Nick Carey scored. However, Brattleboro tied the game in the bottom of the sixth as Wright got to first after a passed ball on a third strike. He would later score on a fielder's choice by John Satterfield.
Davis got the win in relief of starting pitcher Jayke Glidden, who pitched the first five innings and ran into trouble in the sixth. Davis got the last six outs to earn the victory.
Brattleboro faced Manchester Union in Game 2 of the double-elimination tournament on July 28 at St. Peter's Field in Rutland. We'll have the details on that game, and the rest of the tournament, in next week's roundup.
Fall baseball sign-ups this week
• Brattleboro Little League will again have a fall baseball program this year. Any kids between the ages of 8 and 12 who want to participate can sign up on July 31 and Aug. 2 from 4 to 6 p.m., and Aug. 3 from 9 to 11 a.m., at South Main Street Field.
Fall Ball focuses on training and development, particularly for the younger players, in a more flexible format than the spring and summer seasons. For more information, email [email protected].
Senior bowling roundup
• Week 13 of the spring/summer season of the Brattleboro Senior Bowling League at Brattleboro Bowl on July 25 saw first place Misguided (47.5-17.5) have a 4-1 week to add to its lead, as second place Slo Movers (40.5-24.5) and third place Half Normal (40-25) both had 1-4 weeks. Fab 4 (36-29) remains in fourth place, followed by Spare Change (32-33), Three Musketeers (28-37), Stayin' Alive (27-38), Split Happens (26-39), High Rollers (20-45), and Incredibowls (22-18).
Doris Lake had the women's high handicap game (247) and series (650), while Warren Corriveau Sr. had the men's high handicap game (243) and series (667). Misguided again had the high team handicap game (889), while Spare Change had the high handicap series (2,454).
Robert Rigby again had the men's high scratch series (622), with games of 223, 200, and 199. Corriveau had a 574 series with a 212 game, Chuck Adams had a 550 series with a 199 game, and John Walker had a 545 series with a 196 game. Skip Shine had a 531 series. Charlie Marchant had a 509 series, and Mark Shelly had a 507 series with a 200 game. Fred Ashworth rolled a 195 game, while Rick Wescott had a 192 game.
Nancy Dalzell again had the women's high scratch series (461), and the high scratch game (165). Pam Greenblott had a 151 game and Pat Bentrup rolled a 150.
Randolph T. Holhut, deputy editor of this newspaper, has written this column since 2010 and has covered sports in Windham County since the 1980s. Readers can send him sports information at [email protected].
This Sports column by Randolph T. Holhut was written for The Commons.