-It's always a treat to see two top high school pitchers throw strikes and frustrate hitters. Baseball fans got to see that on a chilly afternoon on May 21 as Mount Anthony's Jacoby Dicranian and Brattleboro's Jayke Glidden engaged in an old-fashioned pitcher duel at Tenney Field.
Glidden and Dicranian are two of the best pitchers in southern Vermont. When they faced each other in Bennington on May 14, Dicranian and the MAU Patriots got the better of Glidden and the Bears in a 3-2 win that came on a walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the seventh.
At Tenney Field, Dicranian struck out eight batters and held the Bears to just three hits in a 3-1 victory. Glidden also struck out eight batters. The difference was one shaky inning - the fifth - where MAU sent eight batters to the plate and scored all of their runs.
"This was a good high school baseball game," said Bears head coach Chris Groeger. "And our team is as good as anybody else. It's a matter of putting together all three phases of the game - pitching, defense, and hitting. We've had the first two for the most part, but what's been lacking is the hitting. You can't expect your pitchers to not give up any runs. We gotta hit."
The first four innings were scoreless. The Bears' only baserunner in that span was Derek Sage, who drew a two-out walk in the third.
MAU finally broke through against Glidden in the fifth. Hunter Sherwin started the inning with an infield hit. Talin Bartholdi followed with a single up the middle. That set the table for a one-out RBI single to left field by Jonathan Crossman. Dicarnian then helped himself with a two-run single to center field to make it 3-0.
Brattleboro managed to get one run back in the sixth inning when Harper Cutler reached on an infield hit, stole second, got to third on a single by Sam Bogart, and scored on a sacrifice fly to right by John Satterfield. They would get no closer.
The loss to MAU was sandwiched by a pair of wins. Senji Kimura threw five scoreless innings as the Bears beat Leland & Gray, 8-4, on May 19 at Tenney Field. Brattleboro had 15 stolen bases in the game, with Satterfield swiping four bases and Zach Corbeil with three steals.
With a 3-1 win over the Burr & Burton Bulldogs on May 23 at Tenney Field, the Bears improved their record to 7-6 heading into the final week of the regular season.
Lacrosse
• The Brattleboro girls put forth a good effort, but Burr & Burton was just too strong in a 17-8 win on May 21 at Natowich Field.
Sophia Albright and Abby Henry each scored three goals for the Bears, Emerson Freshee and Natalie Knutson also scored. Bears goalie Maren Sawyer faced 23 shots and made six saves.
The Bulldogs led 5-2 after the first quarter and 9-3 at halftime. Emma Weyant scored five goals and had three assists, Piper Morgan had four goals and an assist, and May-Liis Edwards had four goals and four assists. Levi Cherosnick, Bea Thompson, Raven French, and Delia Gould each added a goal.
"I wasn't disappointed in the way we played, " said Bears head coach Morgan Derosia. "We had a lot of moments of good play, but it's been hard to finish off those moments the way we'd like." She singled out the defensive play of Juliette Pals, who held Morgan to just four goals after she scored nine goals against the Bears in the only other meeting this season.
On May 19 in Bennington, the Bears lost to Mount Anthony, 14-7. Brattleboro has a 3-8 record heading into the last week of the regular season.
• The Brattleboro boys had a pair of losses last week, as the Bears were beaten by Keene, 9-2, on May 20, and lost to visiting Burr & Burton, 12-1, on May 23 to fall to 3-10 on the season.
Track & field
• The Brattleboro girls finished second, while the Brattleboro boys finished fifth in the Southern Vermont League large school championships on May 23 at Fair Haven. Burr & Burton finished first in both the boys' and girls' team scoring.
• In the girls' meet, Teagan Thurber won the 300 meter hurdles in 50.46 seconds. Hailey Richards was fifth in the 100 meter dash (13.84), and Carley Lonardo was fifth in the 200 (29.07). The Bears took three of the top five spots in the 100 hurdles with Teagan Thurber finishing second (17.81), Amara Tuma finishing third (17.95), and Rae Thibault finishing fourth (18.20).
In the relay events, the foursome of Lonardo, Richards, Thurber, and Tuma were second in the 4x100 (54.14) and third in the 4x400 (4:33.94). Lydia Donahue, Elodie Hoskins, Leanna Rago-Marker, and Ciana Grasso ran the 4x800 and finished second (11.48.01). All these times were personal bests.
In the field events, Richards won the pole vault (8 feet, 6 inches). Brattleboro finished 2-3-4 in discus with Tuma in second (55-9), Haskins in third (54-09), and Chekina Pemba in fourth (52-07). Pemba was also third in javelin (68-08), while Thibault was third in high jump (4-6).
• In the boys' meet, Jack Cady won the 100 meter dash in 11.39 seconds, and won the 400 in 50.01. Nico Conathan-Leach won the 3,000 in 9 minutes, 21.75 seconds. Colby Weaver tied for third in the 200 (24.24), Stockton Woodruff was third in the 400 (54.83), and Willow Sharma was fifth in the 1,500 (4:30.71).
In the relay events, the quartet of Cady, Weaver, Woodruff, and Gabriel vonRanson finished fourth in the 4x100 (47.26). Jonas Ackerman-Hovis, Jackson Ferreira, Galen Fogarty, and vonRanson were fourth in the 4x400 (3:58.27). Ackerman-Hovis, Conathan-Leach, Fogarty, and Sharma teamed up to take second in the 4x800 (8:49.12). All these times were personal bests. In the field events, Henke Klumpe was fifth in discus (85 feet, 9 inches), Conathan-Leach was fifth in pole vault (9-8),
Next up for the Bears' track teams is the Essex Invitational on May 31, the Division I state championship at Burlington High School on June 7, and the New England Track & Field Championships in New Britain, Connecticut, on June 14.
Softball
• After starting the week with a 23-1 win over Woodstock, Bellows Falls had to forfeit their game at Oxbow on May 22 and then lost a close one to Otter Valley, 5-3, on May 24 in Westminster to fall to 8-5 on the season.
The Otters took an early 2-0 lead before BF rallied to three runs in the bottom of the third. The Terriers held that lead until the Otters scored a pair of runs in the seventh. BF pitcher Izzy Stoodley took the loss, scattering 10 hits with three walks and four strikeouts. Otters pitcher Sophie Parker gave up seven hits, with eight strikeouts and one walk, to earn the win.
• Brattleboro shortstop/pitcher Rose Stone, infielder Kayli Speno, and center fielder Cynthia Velazquez were honored by their families and teammates on Senior Day, but Mount Anthony spoiled the festivities with a 13-0 win over the Bears in five innings on May 21 at Sawyer Field.
With a 7-3 loss to Burr & Burton on May 24 at Sawyer Field, the Bears fell to 1-12.
• Leland & Gray picked up a big win with a 9-5 road victory over Springfield on May 20. The Rebels took advantage of some shaky defense by the Cosmos in the third and fourth innings to score most of their runs.
On May 22, the Rebels went north to Proctor and lost to the Phantoms, 6-2. Losing pitcher Kristen Lowe held Proctor to just four hits, while winning pitcher Olivia Graham allowed just two hits and struck out 14 batters. The Rebels then beat up the visiting Twin Valley Wildcats, 16-6, on May 24 in Townshend to finish the week at 8-4.
• The loss to the Rebels ended a busy week for Twin Valley. Rainouts and postponements meant the Wildcats had to play four games in six days. Twin Valley lost to Burr & Burton, 16-6, on May 19; lost to Long Trail, 17-11, on May 20, and lost to Mill River, 25-19, on May 23. The Wildcats are 1-11.
Baseball
• Jake Tostrup threw a two-hitter as Bellows Falls edged Otter Valley, 4-1, on May 24 in a night game at Hadley Field. The Terriers scored all of their runs in the first four innings. BF is now 8-5 and hosts Brattleboro on May 28.
• After losing to Brattleboro, Leland & Gray defeated Springfield, 5-4, in eight innings on May 21 in Townshend. The Rebels took an early 3-1 lead, Springfield rallied and eventually tied the game at 4-4 to force extra innings. The Rebels ended up scoring the winning run on a balk. Cody Hescock was the winning pitcher. The Rebels then defeated Paine Mountain, 6-1, in Townshend on May 24 to finish the week at 5-7.
• Twin Valley lost to Rivendell, 8-6, on May 19 and played a home-and-home series with Mount St. Joseph that saw the Wildcats win in Rutland, 6-3, on May 21, and play the Mounties to an 8-8 tie in Wilmington on May 23. The Wildcats are now 4-5-1.
Rec. Dept. offers summer gymnastics classes
• The Brattleboro Recreation & Parks Department will offer gymnastics classes this summer at the Gibson-Aiken Center for those 3 to 12 years old. Classes will run from July 16 to Aug. 13 with instructors Amanda Montgomery and Karen Gallivan. Classes for ages 3–5 will be from 3 to 3:45 p.m, while classes for ages 5–12 will be from 3:45 to 4:45 p.m.
The fee for the five-week session is $70 for Brattleboro residents and $85 for non-residents. Participants should bring a water bottle, and wear tight-fitting clothes. Register online at vtbrattleboroweb.myvscloud.com/webtrac/web or in person at the Gibson-Aiken Center on Main Street.
Grace Cottage golf benefit at Haystack Golf Club on June 7
• Support a great cause and enjoy an afternoon of golf on Saturday, June 7, at Grace Cottage Hospital's annual Tee It Up for Health Golf Tournament at Haystack Golf Club in Wilmington. Now in its 16th year, all net proceeds will go toward the construction of Grace Cottage's new primary care clinic building.
The tournament begins with registration from 10:30 to 11:45 a.m. ahead of a shotgun start at noon. Prizes will be awarded, including longest drive, closest to pin, lowest and highest-scoring teams, and more. The very popular Air Cannon will return this year, and the all-day silent auction features exciting trips and high-end gifts.
Player fees are $175 per person or $700 per team, and this includes a box lunch, greens fees, golf carts, golf balls, and an awards dinner served in the clubhouse following the tournament. Registration closes when all team slots are filled. For more information, call Charma Bonanno at 802-365-9109, e-mail [email protected], or register online at gracecottage.org/events.
Senior bowling roundup
• Week 4 of the spring/summer season of the Brattleboro Senior Bowling League at Brattleboro Bowl on May 21 saw first place Cyclones (15.5-4.5) take a one game lead over second place Slo Movers (14.5-5.5). 4 Queens (12.5-7.5) is in third place, followed by Dims (12-8), Team 7 (10-10), I.D. Care (9-11), Wayne's World and Leftovers (both 7-13), Strikers (6.5-13.5), and Having Fun (6-14).
Deb Fantini had the women's high handicap game (250), while Nancy Dalzell had the high handicap series (656). John Laamanen had the men's high handicap game (252) and Eric Brown had the high handicap series (706). Slo Movers had the high team handicap game (883) and series (2,524).
Robert Rigby had the men's high scratch series (605) with games of 217 and 197, while Chuck Adams had a 556 series with a 224 game. Rich Pietro had a 540 series with a 191 game, Jerry Dunham had a 529 series with a 196 game, Mike Pavlovlich had a 519 series, Milt Sherman had a 511 series, and Gary Montgomery had a 509 series with a 201 game. Laamanen had a 191 game and Ian Lake rolled a 190.
Fantini had the women's high scratch series (524) and game (210). She also had a 172 game. Carol Gloski had a 177 game, Pamela Greenblot had a 164 game, and Shirley Aiken rolled a 160.
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.