-The regular season for high school sports in Vermont ended on May 31 the way it began in early April - with lots of rain forcing the cancellation of games.
It was frequently soggy and cool this spring, but our local teams managed to get most of their scheduled games played. Now, they are preparing for the postseason.
Boys' lacrosse
• Brattleboro had its Senior Night on May 29 at Natowich Field as Nathanial Domina, Alexander Dick, Justin Packard, Marco Lopez Course, Aundreas Hewitt, Zachary DiZoglio, and Rowan Lonergan were honored.
And, in the first half, it looked like the Bears would send the seniors off with a victory over the Woodstock Wasps. The Wasps spoiled those plans by scoring eight unanswered goals in a 10-4 victory.
The Wasps had beaten the Bears, 11-1, in Woodstock on their Senior Night on May 27, but came out a bit flat in the first quarter of this game. Woodstock scored the first goal, but Brattleboro came back with a pair of goals scored just six seconds apart to take a 2-1 lead with 4:19 left. The Wasps tied the game two minutes later, but the Bears took back the lead with 3.2 seconds left.
Brattleboro did their best to protect that 3-2 lead, but Woodstock tied the game again with 9:13 left in the second quarter. The game stayed tied until a penalty left the Bears shorthanded and Woodstock scored with 9.8 seconds left to take a 4-3 halftime lead.
The Wasps would not relinquish that lead the rest of the way. Woodstock scored three more goals in the third quarter and three more in the fourth quarter before Longeran ended the Bears' scoring drought with his second goal of the night with 3:56 left in the game. Max Madow and Domina scored the other two Bears goals. Domina also had two assists, and Colby Robinson was also credited with an assist.
Bears goalie Luke DiZoglio faced 26 shots from the Wasps. Cole Little and Asher Emery scored three goals each for Woodstock, Kyler Eaton added two goals,and Kelton Maxham and Joseph Sulka each had a goal.
"We didn't win, but we had a good effort," Bears head coach Chris Sawyer said after the game. "We've had trouble scoring goals all season, but it's the penalties that hurt the most. We give up shorthanded goals, the team gets down, and we give up more goals."
The Bears head into the Division II playoffs with a 4-12 record.
Girls' lacrosse
• Brattleboro ended the regular season with a 4-9 record after losing 12-11 to Rutland in overtime on May 28 at Natowich Field and winning 16-9 at Stratton Mountain School on May 30.
In the Rutland game, Piper Newman scored the game-winning goal in the first minute of overtime. She finished with five goals, as did her teammate, Lanza Bellomo, who assisted on Newman's winning tally. Sophia Albright led Brattleboro with four goals, and Abigail Henry and Emerson Freshee scored three goals each.
Track & Field
• The Bellows Falls girls won the Southern Vermont League's small schools championship meet on May 27 at Windsor High School, while the BF boys finished sixth.
Bellows Falls won the girls' meet with a team score of 127.33. Desi Broadley finished first in the 1,500 meters in a personal best time of 5 minutes, 7.58 seconds, and had another personal best in winning the 3,000 meters in 11:12.79.
Hadley Gleim was second in the 100 in 13.42, and was second in the 200 in a school record time of 27.84. Elyse Thurber (56.98) and Abigail Nystrom (57.74) finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in the 300 hurdles.
In the relays, the quartet of Gleim, Thurber, Avery Maxfield, and Nystrom finished second in the 4x100 in 54.36, while Nystrom, Gillian Robb, Thurber, and Maxfield teamed up to win the 4x400 in of 4:40.28, and Thurber, Robb, Maxfield, and Broadley took the 4x800 in 11:07.16. All three times were personal bests.
In the field events, Laura Kamel was first in discus with a throw of 106 feet, 1 inch, and first in javelin with a school-record toss of 96 feet, 3 inches. Gleim won the triple jump (31-2.5), Veronica Moore was second in javelin (96-3) and long jump (14-10), Nola Sciacca was fourth in discus (85-10), fourth in javelin (83-2) and fifth in shot-put (29-7.25).
In the boys' meet, Brandon Keller won the 110 hurdles in 15.59 seconds, as well as the 300 hurdles in 42.48 seconds. Both were personal bests. Tristan Boylan won the triple jump with a personal best mark of 41 feet, 0.5 inches.
Keller joined Boylan and Springfield's Gage Quimby in a three-way tie for fourth in the high jump with a mark of 5 feet, 7 inches. Boylan was also third in long jump (19-4.25), while Connor Jones was fourth in the 200 (25.00), and anchored the 4x100 relay team with Keller, Matheo Vargas, and Morgan Haskell to a fifth place time of 49.30 seconds.
The Terriers are set to compete in the Division III state championship meet on June 5 at Burlington High School.
Baseball
• Brattleboro lost another heartbreaker on May 28. This time, it was a 6-5 loss to Bellows Falls under the lights at Hadley Field.
The Bears had a 4-0 lead after three innings, but the Terriers rallied and tied the game at 4-4 in the bottom of the third. Steven Joslyn doubled and Peyton Haskins had a base hit to each drive in a run and give BF a 6-4 lead in the fourth inning.
Joslyn was the starting pitcher for BF, but did not figure in the decision as Jacob Kissell took over in the fourth inning and held the line to earn the win. Jaden Bazin came into the game with one out in the seventh to get the final two outs and earn the save. Jayke Glidden took the loss for the Bears, lasting 5 2/3 innings.
The game ended with a defensive gem. With two outs in the Bears seventh and runners on first and second, John Satterfield singled to left field. Left fielder Jake Tostrup fielded the ball cleanly and threw out Bears baserunner Derek Sage at the plate.
It was a frustrating loss for the Bears, but they bounced back with a 10-3 win at Fair Haven on May 30. Brattleboro broke a 3-3 tie with two runs in the sixth and five more in the seventh. The Bears finished the regular season with an 8-7 record heading into the Division I playoffs.
• Bellows Falls finished the regular season on May 30 with an 8-4 win at Green Mountain. Bazin hit a homer, Joslyn had three hits, and Tostrup, the winning pitcher, had two hits in the victory. The Terriers enter the Division III playoffs ranked No. 3 with a 10-5 record.
• After a 1-0 loss to Green Mountain on May 26, Leland & Gray finished strong with a 20-0 win over Poultney on May 28 and a 15-8 win over Twin Valley on May 29 to end the regular season at 7-8 and the No. 4 ranking in Division IV.
• Twin Valley ended the regular season with three straight defeats - a 12-0 loss to Arlington on May 27, the loss to Leland & Gray on May 29, and a 12-4 loss to West Rutland on May 30 to finish 4-8-1 with the No. 8 ranking in Division IV.
Softball
• Leland & Gray finished with a flourish, hammering Mill River, 17-0, in five innings on May 26, beating Poultney, 14-1, in six innings on May 28, and downing Windsor, 10-1, on May 30. The 11-4 Rebels are ranked No. 3 in Division IV.
A big reason for the Rebels' success is senior pitcher Kristen Lowe, who has been dominating hitters this season as she closes in on 400 strikeouts for her varsity career. The defense is playing well, and they have scored 10 or more runs in 10 of the 11 wins this season.
• Bellows Falls had an up-and-down final week as they were crushed by undefeated Mount Anthony, 12-0, in five innings on May 27, beat Brattleboro, 12-4, on Senior Day on May 28, and lost a wild 15-14 game to Springfield in the regular season finale on May 30 to finish 9-7 with the No. 5 ranking in Division III.
• Brattleboro lost its season finale at Fair Haven, 12-0, on May 30, to end its season at 1-14. The Bears only win of the season came on April 22 against Rutland.
• Twin Valley finished with four games in four days. The Wildcats lost to Long Trail ,15-1, on May 27, lost 20-19 to Windsor on May 28, then split a May 30 doubleheader with Woodstock, winning the first game, 14-6, and losing the nightcap 15-3, to end the regular season with a 2-14 record.
Tennis
• The Bellows Falls girls swept doubleheaders from Rutland and Mount St. Joseph last week, and defeated Brattleboro, 6-1, on May 30 to finish the regular season and head into the Division II playoffs with a 7-6-1 record.
• On May 27, the Brattleboro girls were shut out by Burr & Burton, 7-0, to finish its season at 1-9.
• The Brattleboro boys ended the regular season at 10-4 after beating Burr & Burton, 6-1, at the BUHS courts on May 27. The Bears are ranked No. 6 in Division I heading into the playoffs.
Ultimate disc
• Brattleboro finished the final week of the regular season on the road with a 15-7 loss to Burr & Burton on May 27 and 15-12 win over Long Trail School on May 29. With a 7-2 record, the Bears ended the playoffs ranked third in the state.
• Leland & Gray finished the season with a 0-9 record, losing their final match against Long Trail, 15-8, in Townshend on May 27.
Spring into Health 5K raises nearly $5,000 for Grace Cottage
• Grace Cottage Family Health & Hospital hosted its 16th annual Spring into Health 5K on May 10 in Townshend with 93 runners, walkers, and strollers.
According to Dr. Moss Linder, one of the event organizers, Max Albin was the fastest runner at 20 minutes, 30 seconds, Kalia Webb was the fastest female runner at 22:24, and special recognition went out to Christine Tattersall, the event's "most experienced" participant.
According to Linder, proceeds from this year's 5K, which totaled close to $5,000, "will go toward the construction of a much-needed new primary care clinic building."
Organizers of the event thank all the sponsors and volunteers who made it a success, and remind everyone to save the date for next year's Spring into Health on Saturday, May 9, 2026.
Rec. Dept. offers adult kickball games
• The Brattleboro Recreation & Parks Department is now accepting registration for Adult Kickball, which will be held on Sundays from 5 to 7 p.m. from June 8 to Aug. 24.
This program is for anyone 18 years old and older. Games will be played at Living Memorial Park on the Lower Softball Field. The fee is $3 a night for Brattleboro Residents and $5 a night for non-residents.
Pre-registration is required. Individuals can register online at vtbrattleboroweb.myvscloud.com/webtrac/web, or in person Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4:30 p.m., at the Gibson-Aiken Center on Main Street. Participants can also call and register over the phone with a credit card by calling 802-254-5808.
Senior bowling roundup
• Week 5 of the spring/summer season of the Brattleboro Senior Bowling League at Brattleboro Bowl on May 29 saw Kevin Napaver roll a 300 for the first perfect game in the league's history. It was part of a 712 series that led the men in scratch scoring.
There was also a new team in first place as Slo Movers (19.5-5.5) had a 5-0 week to overtake Cyclones (16.5-8.5). Dims (16-9) is in third place, followed by Team 7 (14-11), 4 Queens (12.5-12.5), Wayne's World (12-13), Leftovers (11-14), I.D. Care (10-15), Strikers (7.5-17.5), and Having Fun (6-19).
Pat Bentrup had the women's high handicap game (232), while Vicki Butynski had the high handicap series (630). Napaver had the men's high handicap game (300) and Stan Kolpa had the high handicap series (616). Wayne's World had the high team handicap game (892) and Slo Movers had the high handicap series (2,535).
Milt Sherman had a 574 scratch series with games of 231 and 209, Warren Corriveau Sr. had a 553 series with games of 216 and 188, and Chuck Adams had a 556 series with a 190 game. Stan Kolpa had a 551 series with games of 197 and 181, Mike Pavlovlich had a 549 series with games of 204 and 193, Robert Rigby had a 503 series with games of 193 and 183, and Fred Ashworth rolled a 188.
Deb Fantini again had the women's high scratch series (490) and game (188). She also had a 160 game. Carol Gloski had a 178 game, Shirley Aiken had a 167 game, and Bentrup rolled a 165.
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.