-It was a slightly off-kilter opening day for the Brattleboro Bears varsity baseball team on a cold, gray, and blustery late afternoon on April 10 at Tenney Field.
The field itself is still a work in progress. The most notable change is the chain-link fencing that now stretches from the grandstand to the newly-installed bullpens alongside each dugout. Both dugouts are now enveloped BY fencing. With completion of the grandstand renovation project still a long way off, Bears fans coming to the games will discover their favorite spots to watch the games are gone now that the bleachers are situated next to the light poles near the first and third base foul lines.
The Bears opening day opponent was the St. Johnsbury Hilltoppers, who have the best 1-2 starting pitching punch in Division I with Rex Hauser and Cage Thompson. They combined to strike out 16 batters while holding the Bears to just one hit in a 5-0 victory.
Jayke Glidden was the losing pitcher and did not pitch that badly. He struck out eight batters and walked two in the three complete innings that he pitched. The trouble came in the Hilltopper third, when they picked up three runs. Adrian Mitchell led off with a walk and Hauser reached on an infield single. Mitchell scored on a passed ball, while Hauser came home on an RBI double to left field by Connor Decker. Carson Finn then followed with another RBI double.
After Glidden walked the first batter he faced in the fourth inning, Eric Kurucz took over on the mound and held the Hilltoppers scoreless. Thompson took over for Hauser in the fourth inning and gave up the Bears only hit of the day, an one-out single to center field by Glidden. St. Johnsbury then picked up two more runs in the fifth. Connor Decker and Finn reached on back-to-back infield singles, and both scored on two more infield singles by Thompson and Carter Bunnell.
"They didn't hit the cover off the ball, but they got timely hits and the ball in play more than we did," said Bears coach Chris Groeger. "They have two great pitchers, but I don't think they're that much better than we are. There's no reason to panic just yet."
There isn't any reason for Bears fans to panic. Eight of the 15 players on the varsity roster are seniors and that experience will pay off as the season goes forward. As Groeger sees it, if the Bears can start hitting and play sound, fundamental baseball, they will have a good season.
A tough break for Groeger
• For me, the oddest part of the St. Johnsbury-Brattleboro game was not the cold conditions, or being fenced off from all the places where I used to take pictures, or watching the Brattleboro batters be overpowered by two great pitchers.
It was starting the afternoon with Groeger greeting me with the news that he is being treated for Stage 4 colon cancer.
Groeger said he had emergency surgery a few weeks ago at Hartford Hospital to remove a sizable tumor, and he will begin chemotherapy this week at Cheshire Medical Center. It was a very close call, he said, but he still has a good chance of pulling through.
He has passed off most of the coaching duties to his assistant coaches, but he was in the dugout for the opening game and hopes to be there as often as health allows for the rest of the season.
I had a scare in 2016 after an early diagnosis caught a large precancerous mass in my colon that was apparently very close to becoming full-blown cancer. I lost about a foot of large intestine, but have not had any problems since then aside from having to do colonoscopies more often.
Colonoscopies aren't fun, but if you are over 45 and haven't been checked, do it as soon as you can. Early detection makes all the difference with colon cancer, and the survival rate when it is caught in the early stages is very high. And please send some positive waves Chris's way in his cancer battle. He will need every one of them that he can get to make it back from this challenge.
Girls' tennis
• Brattleboro got off to a winning start on April 9 with a 5-2 victory over the Mount St. Joseph Mounties on the BUHS courts.
Despite it being a cold and blustery afternoon, and despite being shorthanded due to several absences for the senior class trip, the Bears shrugged off the elements and turned in a solid performance in their season debut.
Brattleboro won four of the five singles matches. The only loss came at No. 1 singles as MSJ's Laney Hussak outlasted Brattleboro's Amelia Lafland, 7-5, 7-5.
No. 2 Ava Bark, No. 3 Amelia Newton, and No. 5 Key Plumb all won their matches in straight sets as Bark defeated Maura Whitman 6-1, 6-2; Newton beat Abby Williams 6-0, 6-1; and Plumb downed Elliana Berriault 6-2, 6-1. No. 4 Ida Desjardins needed a tiebreaker to defeat MSJ's Mary Kay Gregory 6-3, 4-6 (10-6).
The Bears split the doubles matches, with their No. 1 team of Sylvie Plitt and Amaya Arnold beating MSJ's Amber Haley and Ella Fredette 6-0, 6-1, and the No. 2 team of Eliza Gemborowski and Evie Moody losing to MSJ's Maddie Drude and Adeline Miheve 6-1, 6-1.
Brattleboro has nine returning players on the roster this season and coach Tyler Boone said the Bears have the potential to be more competitive than they've been in several years.
"Four years ago when we played MSJ, we lost every match but one by 6-0, 6-0 scores," Boone said. "It's pretty great to see how far the seniors and the other players who are back have come along."
Unified basketball
• Seniors Austin Pinette and Jeffery White scored 10 points each as Brattleboro took a big early lead and held on for a 48-37 win over the Twin Valley Wildcats in Whitingham on April 8.
Twin Valley was led by John-Michael Richard and Thomas Richard, who scored 13 and 10 points, respectively.
The Bears took a 16-0 lead after one quarter, but Twin Valley got going on offense and cut Brattleboro's lead down to 24-10 at the half. The Wildcats picked up the pace in the second half and the Bears had to work hard down the stretch to secure their second win of the season.
Twin Valley, which defeated Mount Anthony in their opening game on April 1, is off until April 24, when they play Springfield, while Brattleboro is off until April 28, when they host Mount Anthony.
Lacrosse
• The Brattleboro boys opened their season on the road and the result was a pair of lopsided losses.
On April 8, the Bears were shut out by Rutland, 14-0. Rutland's offense was slow getting started, but they took a 4-0 lead after one quarter and led 11-0 by halftime.
Brattleboro managed only one shot on goal in the first half. Rutland goalie Bryce Hebert needed to make just three saves, all in the second half, to earn the shutout victory. Brattleboro goalie Mateo Lopez Course faced multiple shots before his understudy James Fagley took over late in the game. Rutland's top scorer was Noah Bruttomesso, who had five goals and three assists.
It didn't get any easier for the Bears on April 10, when they traveled to Manchester to play the Burr & Burton Bulldogs. Brattleboro lost 11-1, with Alex Dick scoring the Bears' only goal. Jack McCostis had a goal and four assists for the Bulldogs, and Wyatt Townsend and Parker Underhill each scored two goals.
• The Brattleboro girls opened on the road on April 11 with a trip to Massachusetts to play Southwick-Tolland, and the Bears came away with a 17-1 victory.
Softball
• St. Johnsbury pitcher Cassidy Kitteridge held Brattleboro to two hits as the Hilltoppers shut out the Bears, 13-0, at Sawyer Field on April 10.
• Twin Valley opened their season in Arlington on April 11, and lost a 17-16 slugfest to the Eagles.
Grace Cottage's Family-Friendly 5K set for May 10
• Mark your calendar now for the 16th annual Grace Cottage Family Health & Hospital's Spring into Health 5K. The event begins with an 8:30 am shotgun start on Saturday, May 10, on the Townshend Common. You can run, walk, roll, stroll, or push your baby carriage for this fun, family-friendly event.
Registration is $20 per participant (children under the age of 18 are free with signed parent/guardian permission) and registration is open now at gracecottage.org/events. A virtual option is also available. Register at the same link. For more information, contact Grace Cottage Foundation at [email protected] or call 802-365-9109.
Senior bowling roundup
• Week 13 of the winter/spring season of the Brattleboro Senior Bowling League at Brattleboro Bowl on April 10 saw Renegades and Full Monty (both 42-23) now tied for first place, followed by Double Trouble (41-24), Charlie's Angels (37-28), Slo Movers (34-31),Wayne's World and Sandbaggers (both 32-33), Let 'Em Roll (31-34), and Niners (30-35).
Nancy Dalzell had the women's high handicap game (238) and series (690), while Dick Cooke had the men's high handicap game (268) and series (694). Renegades had the high team handicap game (920) and series (2,534).
Kevin Napaver had the men's high scratch series (692) with games of 248, 226, and 218, while Warren Corriveau Sr. had a 612 series with a 246 game, and Robert Rigby had a 610 series with games of 242 and 197. Rich Pietro had a 587 series with games of 206 and 201, Rick Westcott had a 563 series with games of 221 and 195, Mike Pavlovich had a 507 series with a 212 game, and Jerry Dunham had a 500 series with a 193 game. Fred Bump had a 203 game and Cooke rolled a 196.
Dalzell had the women's high scratch series (510), with games of 178, 167, and 165. Carol Gloski had games of 190 and 160, Pam Greenblott had a 173 game, and Debbie Rittenhour rolled a 166.
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.