-For a team that's in transition, the Brattleboro boys' tennis team looks like they are headed in the right direction. The Bears lost their opening match of the season to Burr & Burton on April 11 and were off for 11 days for the school's spring break. Once they got back into action, the team won five straight matches to improve to 5-1.
Bears head coach Ben Brewer said he has nine new players on the roster this season. "We're less experienced this year, but we still have four guys who were in the playoffs last season, and they are helping out the younger guys, who are improving quickly."
The Bears won all their matches at the BUHS courts last week, with a hard-fought 5-2 win over the Mount Anthony Patriots on April 28, and a doubleheader sweep of Rutland on April 30.
The Mount Anthony match featured three super tiebreakers in singles play, two of which were won by the Patriots. At No. 1, MAU's Micah Whitmire won his match against Malo Renault 6-2, 4-6, 12-10, while at No. 4, Jackson Paquin beat Brattleboro's Eli Welch, 6-3, 2-6, 10-3. Brattleboro's Elias Fraser Olsen outlasted MAU's Will Mattison 6-4, 3-6, 10-6 at No. 3 singles.
The rest of the singles matches went Brattleboro's way, as No. 2 Mark Richards defeated Abeh Woods, 6-1, 6-1, and No. 5 Beckett Mann defeated Carter Giorgi, 6-1, 6-1. The Bears swept the doubles matches as the No. 1 team of Jackson Pals and Tucker Hessel defeated Max Cutsumpas and Aiden Green 6-0, 6-2, and the No. 2 team of Dashiell Moyse and Wyatt Mann beat Vaughn Connors and Colton Gigliotti 6-1, 6-0.
There was much less drama in the Rutland doubleheader, which they agreed to play in Brattleboro after a scheduled match the previous week in Rutland was rained out. The matches were under pro-set scoring, and Brattleboro prevailed in both by a score of 5-2.
In singles play in the first match, Renault beat Rutland's Noah Chester 8-0 at No. 1, Richards beat Sebastian Pell 8-3 at No. 2, and, at No. 5, Brattleboro's Eli Welch beat Whit Sullivan 8-3. Rutland got a win at No. 3 from Owen Hackett, who beat Fraser Olsen 8-3 and Jackson Gilmond won at No. 5 singles 8-2 against Beckett Mann.
Pals and Hessel won the first doubles match over Rutland's Byron Patorti and Johnny Gydes, and Morse and Wyatt Mann won the second match by forfeit.
The Bears finished the week with a 4-3 win at South Burlington on May 2. This was their toughest match of the week. Brattleboro won two of the five singles matches as Richards defeated South Burlington's Peter Lyon, 6-2, 6-5, and Welch beat Evan Xie, 6-0, 6-2. The Bears swept the doubles matches as Hessell and Pals beat Cody Eagle and Ayush Kyasa, 6-3, 6-2, and Mann and Moyse beat Levi Duteau and Tiger Jia 6-4, 7-5.
Softball
• The Bellows Falls Terriers are a Division III team that doesn't mind playing the big schools. The index rating that the Vermont Principals' Association used to rank teams for playoff seeding provide an incentive for doing this by awarding a Division II team more index points for a win or loss against a Division I or II team.
Last week, the Terriers defeated two upper division foes, Otter Valley and Brattleboro, to improve their record to 5-1 and move up to the No. 2 spot in Division III right behind the defending state champs, Oxbow.
Both the Terriers and Otters had 10 hits in BF's 5-4 win on April 29 in Brandon. The difference was a pair of runs scored in the fourth inning by the Terriers. Winning pitcher Izzy Stoodley had 12 strikeouts.
In their 15-2 win over Brattleboro at Sawyer Field on May 2, the Terriers had trouble getting the bats going as good starting pitching from Rose Stone and good defense held BF to just one run. That run came in the third inning as BF's Alyson Streeter was hit by a pitch, stole second, and ultimately scored on a base hit by Brielle Mulverhill.
The Terriers got another two runs in the fourth inning, with Cadence James hitting an RBI double. Brattleboro cut the lead to 3-1 in the bottom of the fourth after Bri Brooks singled up the middle and scored an infield single by Kennedy Uniatis. BF then slammed the door shut by scoring five runs in the fifth inning, three runs in the sixth, and four runs in the seventh.
The only other run that the Bears scored off starting pitcher Izzy Stoodley came in the sixth inning when Brooks singled and later scored on an error. In six innings of work, Stoodley struck out seven, walked one, and gave up four hits. Her younger sister, Delaney Stoodley, retired the Bears in order in the seventh inning to close out the game.
Earlier in the week, the Bears lost on the road to the Springfield Cosmos, 14-7, on April 29, and lost to Agawam, Massachusetts, 12-2, on May 1 at Sawyer Field. Brattleboro ended the week at 1-5.
• Leland & Gray lost to undefeated West Rutland, 16-4, in five innings on April 28. The 4-2 Rebels stayed close in the early innings, but the Golden Horde scored five runs in the third inning and seven runs in the fifth inning to wrap up the mercy rule win.
• Twin Valley lost a pair of home games last week to drop their record to 1-3. TV was beaten by Mill River, 26-9, on April 29. Mill River scored nine runs in the fifth inning and eight runs in the sixth inning to clinch the win. On May 2, the Wildcats were held to just one hit in a 26-4 loss to Proctor in five innings.
Baseball
• Brattleboro co-coach Chris Groeger said at the start of the season that the Bears were going rely heavily on pitching and defense to win games since they didn't have enough offense to overpower teams with hitting.
The Bears' 7-2 win over Green Mountain under the lights at Tenney Field on April 30 was an example of that. Jayke Glidden, Brattleboro's ace pitcher, threw a complete game three-hitter with 14 strikeouts to earn the win.
GM led early as their starting pitcher, Tanner Swisher, kept the Bears in check until Brattleboro eked out a 3-2 lead in the third inning. The Bears finally gave themselves some breathing room in the sixth inning with a pair of two-run doubles by Sam Bogart and Sean Cozza. The table was set for Bogart and Cozza as Harper Cutler opened the inning with a walk and Derek Sage and John Satterfield followed with successful bunt singles to load the bases.
With a 10-1 loss to Keene on May 2, the Bears ended the week at 3-3.
• Otter Valley stopped Bellows Falls, 15-7, in Brandon on April 29. The loss to the Otters ended BF's four-game winning streak. Jake Tostrup, Steve Joslyn, and Jaden Bazin split the pitching chores for the Terriers.
• Leland & Gray took care of winless Springfield with a 17-6 road victory on April 29. The Rebels then were beaten by Green Mountain, 8-3, on May 3. Winning pitcher Mason Parker struck out six and walked no one over seven innings as GM broke open a close game with three runs in the fifth and four more runs in the sixth. Losing pitcher Cody Hescock threw a complete game and went 3-for-3 at the plate as the Rebels fell to 2-4.
• Seth Wrathall went 3-for-3 with a home run as Twin Valley edged Proctor, 6-5, on May 2. The Wildcats are now 2-3 on the season.
Lacrosse
• The Brattleboro boys finished the week with a 1-4 record after a 15-6 home win over Stratton Mountain School on April 28 and a 12-6 home loss to Northampton, Massachusetts, on April 30.
In the Stratton game, Nate Domina finished with two goals and four assists and Donnie Hall had three goals and an assist. Rowan Lonergan, Hunter Roth, and Colby Robinson chipped in two goals each and Carter Mialkowski, JT Easton, Max Madow, and Silas Golding each scored a goal. Mateo Lopez Course was the winning goalie.
• The Brattleboro girls also split their games last week with an 18-3 loss to Mount Anthony on April 29 and a 12-10 road win over Stratton Mountain School on May 1. The Bears are now 3-3.
Learn to row with RowBOC
• Are you interested in learning to row? RowBOC is now taking applications for their Learn-to-Row Clinic which begins on June 7.
RowBOC is a program of the Brattleboro Outing Club, and has been offering a 10-session rowing clinic every year since 2008. Participants learn the basics of rowing and will finish the clinic knowing how to get in and out of a boat safely, launch and land at the dock, stop, turn the boat around, and row forward and backward, from the dock upstream past the town soccer fields.
Experience the joy of mastering a challenging skill in the shallow and calm waters of the West River under the supportive instruction of RowBOC Master Rowers. Season membership is included in the clinic fee. For more information, go to brattleborooutingclub.org-rowing-clinics-lessons or email [email protected]. Space is limited; this clinic usually fills up.
Youth soccer registration opens in Guilford
• Guilford Community Park, 24 Church Drive, will host a free youth soccer league on Thursdays, starting on May 29 for four weeks.
The Kicker League, for children age 4-6, will play from 5 to 5:40 p.m., and the Scrapper's League, for children ages 7-9, will play from 5:45 to 6:30 p.m. Blessed Ngoma will be the coach for both leagues. Register at forms.gle/mppSH14T2GpC5gp5A. Questions can be directed to Dwayne Johnson at [email protected].
Springtime is tick time
• Avoiding tick bites is the key to preventing tick bite illnesses, and the best way to avoid tick bites is to stay away from where they live, such as wooded and brushy areas - particularly during spring, summer, and fall when ticks are most active in Vermont.
That doesn't mean giving up being outside to hike, bike, or work in the garden. If you can't keep away from wooded or brushy areas, the Vermont Department of Health suggests using an EPA-registered insect repellent, and wearing pants, long-sleeved shirts, and long socks outside. They also recommend always checking your body, clothing, gear, and pets for ticks, and to shower as soon as you can after being outside.
If you find a tick attached to your body, remove it as soon as you can. If you develop symptoms, like a fever, headache, joint pain, muscle aches, fatigue, or rash, contact your health care provider. Symptoms can develop three to 30 days after a tick bite. Get more tick tips at HealthVermont.gov/BeTickSmart.
Senior bowling roundup
• The spring/summer season of the Brattleboro Senior Bowling League at Brattleboro Bowl began on May 1 with Team 6, Team 5, and Team 7 (all 5-0) tied for first, followed by Team 10 and Team 1 (both 4-1), Team 2 and Team 9 (both 1-4), and Team 5, Team 4 and Team 8 (both 0-5). League secretary Nancy Dalzell says team names will be announced in the next week or two.
Debbie Rittenhour had the women's high handicap game (216), while Annie Sherman had the high handicap series (621). Fred Ashworth had the men's high handicap game (246) and series (659). Team 9 had the high team handicap game (834) and Team 10 had the high handicap series (2,401).
Kevin Napaver had the men's high scratch series (640) with games of 243 and 212, while Chuck Adams had a 566 series with games of 197 and 192. Warren Corriveau Sr. had a 533 series with a 200 game, Jerry Dunham had a 525 series with a 195 game, and Fred Ashworth had a 509 series with a 196 game. Wayne Randall had a 503 series and Robert Rigby had a 501 series.
Carol Gloski had the women's high scratch series (420), with games of 158 and 153. Dalzell had a 156 game and Debbie Kolpa rolled a 152.
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.