-It looks like another exciting July for the Brattleboro Little League All-Star teams as both the 10U and 12U stormed through the first round of round-robin play in District 2 to clinch the top seed and home field advantage for the best-of-three elimination round for the district championship.
The 12U team is scheduled to host Rutland on July 8 at South Main Street Field in game 1 of that series, while the 10U team is set to host Bennington in their series opener on July 9.
Both Brattleboro teams have plenty of pitching, hitting, and defense and have dominated in every game.
• The easiest guy to spot on the Brattleboro 12U team is 6-foot-1 Cole Systo. His size makes him an intimidating pitcher, given the 46-foot distance between the pitching rubber and home plate used in Little League.
Against Rutland on June 28, Systo threw 4 1/3 innings without giving up a hit, striking out nine and walking one as Brattleboro won, 9-2.
Gavin Carpenter pitched 1 1/3 innings of relief and Brayson George got the final out to complete the no-hitter. Both of Rutland's runs came in the second inning on passed balls following a walk and a fielder's choice.
Systo is also no slouch at the plate, as he hit a two-run homer in the fifth inning. Zealand Wentworth, a lefty batter, drove in a run in the third on a sacrifice fly and drove in two more runs with a base hit in the fifth. Alert base running helped Carpenter, George, and Niko Papadmitriou all to score runs in the first two innings.
On June 29 at South Main Street Field, Brattleboro rolled to a 14-0 win over Bennington in a four-inning game shortened by the mercy rule. Carpenter was the winning pitcher, holding Bennington to just three hits - all in the fourth inning - with two walks and one strikeout. The Brattleboro defense played errorless ball behind him.
At the plate, Brattleboro took control with a five-run first inning featuring RBI singles by Wentworth and Systo, who both would score on wild pitches. Cooper Deyo also drove in a run.
After completing a double play to end the Bennington second, Brattleboro poured it on in the bottom half of the inning by sending 12 batters to the plate and scoring seven runs. Once again, it was Wentworth and Systo doing the damage with Wentworth hitting a two-run single and Systo hitting a towering three-run homer over the center field fence. Mason Vollinger tripled and scored a run, George forced in a run with a bases-loaded walk, and Deyo had an RBI single. Brattleboro added two more runs in the third inning on RBI singles by Ayden Deyo and George.
Brattleboro then completed its sweep of the first round of the round-robin on July 3 with a 4-0 win over Rutland at South Main Street Field. Rutland's mound ace, Lane Lubaszewski, struck out seven batters, but got no help from his defense as Brattleboro capitalized on several fielding errors for three runs in the first inning and one more run in the third. Carpenter was the winning pitcher, allowing just three hits and striking out nine batters over six innings.
• The 10U team opened with a 29-1 thrashing of Rutland in a three-inning game on June 28 that was cut short by the mercy rule. Brattleboro scored nine runs in the first inning as the team had 16 hits, including three from Major Rodriguez and Brayden Gouger as they combined for seven RBIs.
Rodriguez pitched the first inning, and Shane Gallagher threw the final two innings. They combined to give up just one hit, a leadoff double by Rutland's Dalton Gee in the first inning.
On June 29, Brattleboro hosted Bennington and cruised to an 11-1 victory in another four-inning game truncated by the mercy rule. Rodriguez got the complete game victory, with no hits, four walks, and six strikeouts. Bennington's only run was scored in the second inning when Everett Green walked and later scored on a wild pitch.
At the plate, Brattleboro scored six runs in the first as Gallagher, Brayden Earp, Gouger, Emmett Cleveland, and Emerson Deyo each drove in a run. Deyo just missed completing an inside-the-park home run as she was tagged out at the plate to end the inning.
Jasper Miller scored a run for Brattleboro in the third inning as he singled and later crossed home plate on a passed ball. Three more runs were scored in the third inning as Gouger had another RBI single, Earp was hit by a pitch to force in another run, and Deyo drove in a run with a groundout. Bradley Zolonoski drove in the final run in the fourth when he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.
Legion baseball roundup
• Brattleboro Post 5 and Bellows Falls Post 37 are locked in a tight race with White River Junction Post 84 for the top three spots in the Southern Division. Since Post 84 will host the state Legion tournament, they get an automatic playoff berth. That leaves three other spots in the Southern Division that are up for grabs, and Brattleboro and Bellows Falls seem to have a good shot at getting them.
• Pitching seems to the strength of Bellows Falls this season. Against Manchester on June 24, Steve Joslyn threw a no-hitter, striking out 13 batters in a 9-0 win. Two nights later against Lakes Region, Jake Tostrup struck out 11 and allowed just two hits in a 8-0 win.
A doubleheader split with Ludlow on June 28 gave Post 37 a 6-1 record heading into their game with Brattleboro at Tenney Field on June 30. With Joslyn getting the start for Bellows Falls, they liked their chances of leaving with a win.
However, the pitcher who got the win was Post 5's Sean Cozza, who struck out eight batters and walked only one over six innings in a 7-1 victory. Joslyn struggled as he struck out six batters, but issued five walks as Brattleboro scored five runs over five innings.
Cozza got plenty of run support as Harper Cutler went 1-for-3 with two RBIs and Ryan Peloso, Alex McClelland, Spencer Claussen, and John Satterfield each had an RBI and a run scored.
Ryder Butynski pitched the seventh for Post 5 and quickly retired the three Post 37 batters he faced to clinch the win. Jaden Bazin scored the only run for Post 37 with an RBI single off Cozza by Trenton Fletcher in the sixth inning.
• As usual, the Post 5 squad led by coach Eric Libardoni is looking strong. Against Ludlow Post 36 on June 25, Peloso had three hits, including a home run, to help lead Brattleboro to an 8-5 victory. Jayke Glidden was the winning pitcher.
After the win over Post 37, Brattleboro hosted Rutland Post 31 on July 1 and eked out a 4-3 win.
McClelland was the hero in this game. He walked and eventually scored on a sacrifice fly by Satterfield in the first inning, turned a game-saving double play in the top of the fourth inning, provided the margin for victory in the bottom half of the inning with a two-run double, and earned the save with two scoreless innings of relief pitching.
But don't think that McClelland did it all alone. Brattleboro's defense is strong up the middle with Satterfield at shortstop, Claussen at second base, and Cutler in center field, and they did their part to preserve the lead. At the plate, Glidden and Satterfield each drove in a run and each scored a run.
Brattleboro ended last week with a league record of 6-1. Bellows Falls is 6-2, pending the conclusion of a game with White River Junction on July 3 that was stopped due to thunderstorms with Post 84 in front, 5-2.
Warren, Van Den Broeck Raffensperger win Firecracker 4-Miler
• Trinley Warren, 22, of Brattleboro and Laure Van Den Broeck Raffensperger, 48, of Leyden, Massachusetts, were the overall winners at the 2025 Firecracker 4-Miler in Brattleboro.
In the men's division, Warren's time of 22 minutes, 58 seconds was 17 seconds faster than runner-up Cooper Hammarlund, 38, of Atlanta, Georgia.
In the women's division, Van Den Broeck Raffensperger edged Jessica Freeman Earp, 36, of Vernon by less than a second, finishing with a time of 27:19.
Ninety-four runners completed the race. Full results are available at redcloverrovers.com.
Senior bowling roundup
• After 10 weeks of the spring/summer season of the Brattleboro Senior Bowling League at Brattleboro Bowl, Slo Movers (37.5-12.5) remains in first place, while Team 7 (33-17) has sole possession of second place. Dims (29-21) is in third place, followed by Cyclones (28.5-21.5), 4 Queens (23.5-26.5), Having Fun and I.D. Care (both 22-28), Wayne's World and Leftovers (both 19-31), and Strikers (16.5-33.5).
In Week 10 action on July 3, Mary Parliman had the women's high handicap game (228), while Darlene Ladabouche had the high handicap series (663). Milt Sherman had the men's high handicap game (254) and Norm Corliss had the high handicap series (679). Wayne's World had the high team handicap game (864) and Cyclones had the high handicap series (2,520).
Robert Rigby had the men's high scratch series (604), with games of 204, 203, and 197, while Kevin Napaver had a 581 series with games of 214 and 193. Warren Corriveau Sr. had a 556 series with a 200 game, Sherman had a 549 series with games of 227 and 211, Rich Pietro had a 534 series, and Fred Ashworth rolled a 194.
Shirley Aiken had the women's high scratch series (465), with games of 161, 153, and 151. Parliman had a 158 game, and Nancy Dalzell rolled a 150.
Week 9 play on June 26 saw Mary Piluski have the women's high handicap game (251), while Dalzell had the high handicap series (663). Corriveau had the men's high handicap game (278) and series (719), and Team 7 had the high team handicap game (864) and series (2,539).
Corriveau and Rigby shared the men's high scratch series title (626), as Corriveau had games of 247 and 216, while Rigby had games of 235 and 210, Napaver had a 595 series with games of 193 and 191, Gary Montgomery had a 582 series with a 211 game, Pietro had a 541 series with a 193 game, and Sherman had a 536 series with a 196 game.
Dalzell had the women's high scratch series (489), with games of 182 and 160. Debbie Rittenhour rolled a 174.
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.