-The Brattleboro Little League 12U All-Stars remain undefeated as they won the District 2 title with a sweep of Rutland. They will now host the state tournament this weekend.
The opening game of the best-of-three series was at South Main Street Field on July 8, where Cole Systo hit a pair of three-run home runs in an 11-1 rout of Rutland in four innings.
After shortstop Gavin Carpenter turned an unassisted double play in the Rutland first, Brattleboro wasted no time taking control of the game. Brayson George hit a one-out single and Zealand Wentworth was hit by a pitch to set the table for Systo, who smashed the first pitch he saw from Rutland pitcher Lane Lubaszweski over the left center field fence to give Brattleboro a 3-0 lead.
"Cole's blast there in the first kind of set the tone for us," said Brattleboro head coach Seth Deyo. "The ballplayers feed off of the energy that he brings to the field. To square one up early like that, the momentum was on our side and we just carried it through."
Brattleboro got five more runs in the second inning. Dominic Houle reached base on an error and scored on a double by Carpenter. George followed with an RBI single. Wentworth then singled, and Systo completed the scoring by launching a three-run homer over the center field fence.
Two more Brattleboro runs scored in the third when Soren Cheslawski doubled and scored on a Ben Hettrick base hit. Hettrick later scored on a fielder's choice by Carpenter for a 10-0 lead.
George, who was the winning pitcher, had a easy time of it. He struck out five and allowed only two hits, both in the fourth inning. The Rutland player who got the first hit, Blake McKeighan, scored the only run when Cruz Boudreau was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.
Systo missed a chance at three consecutive home runs when he was intentionally walked in the fourth inning. Wentworth, who singled and got to third on a pair of passed balls, scored Brattleboro's final run on a groundout by Niko Papadimitriou.
Brattleboro finished the job on July 13 with a 3-1 win in Rutland. With a fully rested pitching staff, and riding the momentum of five straight wins in the playoffs, Brattleboro would not be denied.
This was a pitcher duel between Systo and Lubaszweski, and both turned in strong performances. Lubaszweski went four innings, striking out eight batters and walking two, allowing just two hits. However, Systo was even better with 14 strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings; he walked two and gave up two hits.
Rutland got its only run in the third inning as Nash Fineburg walked, took second on a passed ball, and scored on a wild throw to third after a passed ball. Brattleboro scored on a passed ball in the first inning, broke a 1-1 tie in the fourth inning when Carpenter tripled and scored on an RBI single by George, and got the insurance run when Owen Malouin singled up the middle in the fifth inning and scored on an Ayden Deyo single.
With the District 2 title in hand, Brattleboro will host the state 12U championship. The double-elimination tournament begins on Saturday, July 19, with the winner going to the New England Tournament in Bristol, Connecticut.
10U team swept in district finals
• The Brattleboro Little League 10U All-Stars were swept by Bennington in the District 2 finals in that best-of-three series. In the first game in Brattleboro on July 9, Bennington led wire-to-wire and won, 10-3. Bennington scored two runs in the first inning as Weston Becker walked and scored on a wild pitch and Garrett Free was hit by a pitch and scored on a double by Everett Green.
Green, Bennington's starting pitcher, threw the first 2 1/3 innings and held Brattleboro to one run on two hits, with six strikeouts and two walks. After Bennington scored three more runs in the second inning off losing pitcher Jasper Miller to take a 5-0 lead, Brattleboro got a run in the bottom of the second when Miller singled, stole second, and scored on a double to right by Jace Snow.
Nick Libardoni took over for Miller on the mound in the third inning, and Bennington got another run as Free singled and scored on a groundout by Cole Corbee. After Green was replaced by David Galipeau with one out in the third, Brattleboro cut the lead to 6-3. Emerson Deyo walked and scored on a Libardoni single, and Brodie Houle would send Libardoni home with a ground out.
Libardoni retired Bennington in order in the fourth, and Brattleboro looked like it had a chance to continue the rally when Bradley Zolnoski and Emmett Cleveland hit back-to-back singles with two outs, but they failed to score. Bennington then responded with four runs in the fifth - capped by an inside-the-park home run by Lucas Mitchell - to secure the win.
Faced with a must-win situation on July 12 in Bennington, Brattleboro put up a good fight but lost game 2, 9-8, in extra innings to end their postseason run.
Legion Baseball roundup
• The race has gotten tighter for the final three spots allotted to the Southern Division for the upcoming Vermont American Legion Baseball tournament.
White River Junction Post 84, the host of the tournament, has an automatic berth. They are in first place at 10-4, with Bellows Falls Post 37 (9-5), Brattleboro Post 5 (8-5), Ludlow Post 36 (7-7), and Rutland Post 31 (6-8) fighting for the other three berths heading into the final week of the regular season.
After starting last week with a doubleheader split with Ludlow on July 6, Brattleboro beat Lakes Region, 19-6, on July 8. Post 5 then lost a 6-5 decision to White River Junction on July 10, and was swept in a doubleheader against Bellows Falls on July 12.
Against Lakes Region, Post 5 took advantage of 17 walks and two hit batsmen in the win. Ryan Peloso and Spencer Claussen, batting in the middle of the Post 5 order, had good nights at the plate with Peloso going 2-for-2 with a walk and an RBI, while Claussen was 3-for-5 with two doubles. The two accounted for five of Brattleboro's seven hits in the game. Alex McClelland had a two-run double and Harper Cutler had an RBI single.
White River Junction proved to be a much tougher opponent for Post 5 in a back-and-forth game that was ultimately decided on a sacrifice fly by Kyle Spaulding in the fifth inning that drove in what would be the winning run. Spaulding also had a two-run double in the second inning.
Peloso and Claussen hit RBI singles in the first inning, McClelland had an RBI single in the fifth, and John Satterfield and Peloso scored on a wild pitch and a passed ball, respectively, in the third inning for Post 5.
• After a 10-5 loss to Manchester on July 6 and a 6-3 loss to Rutland on July 8, Bellows Falls was in danger of falling behind in the chase for a playoff spot. Post 37 regrouped and won three straight games at Hadley Field - a 15-5 rout of Lakes Region and a sweep of Post 5 on July 12 with a 2-0 win in the opener and an 11-6 win in the nightcap.
Bellows Falls ended a four-game losing streak with the win over Lakes Region. They quickly took control with seven runs in the first inning. Quincy Knapp had two hits and six RBIs and Eli Allbee had two hits and five RBIs to lead the Post 37 offense.
PVYBL roundup
• Since Babe Ruth Baseball faded away in Brattleboro a few years ago, I have been remiss in not covering its replacement - the Sandy Koufax Division of the Pioneer Valley Youth Baseball League (PVYBL).
Like Babe Ruth Baseball, the PVYBL's Koufax Division is for players aged 13 and 14. It is the interim step between Little League and Legion baseball and the place where the players who have aged out of Little League make the transition to playing on a full-sized diamond.
This turns out to be a good year to start paying attention. Whitingham (sponsored by JC Electric) and Brattleboro (sponsored by American Legion Post 5) are the top two teams in the Koufax Division, which also includes Massachusetts teams from Amherst, Dalton, Deerfield, Greenfield, Hatfield, Northampton, and Shelburne Falls.
• On July 11, I caught a game between Hatfield and Brattleboro at Tenney Field. I was curious to see if I knew any of the Hatfield players, since that's where I grew up and where I played youth baseball at Charlie Brown levels of competence and ability in the mid-1970s. Their home field at Smith Academy is about a quarter-mile from my boyhood home on North Street. I did not know any of them, and they didn't know any Holhuts.
Hatfield entered the Brattleboro game with just one win this season, and had just nine players in the dugout. But they scored six runs without a hit in the first inning and rolled to a 12-1 win in a five-inning game shortened by the mercy rule.
Brattleboro's Daniel Oakley was the losing pitcher as Hatfield sent 10 players to the plate in the first inning and scored their runs in the first on five walks, three errors, three passed balls, a wild pitch, and a hit batsman. Hatfield then scored three more runs with just one out in the second inning, thanks to two more passed balls and a throwing error. Hunter Bush then took over the pitching duties and got the final two outs.
Brattleboro got seven hits off Hatfield pitcher Callan Payne, but the only run they could muster came in the fourth inning, when Bentley Sparks walked, stole second, took third on a passed ball and scored on a ground out. Bush managed to keep Hatfield from scoring until the fifth inning, when they tacked on three more runs with two outs. Eli Depue came in to relieve Bush to get the final out.
• Whitingham - which is loaded with the younger players from the Twin Valley varsity team that did so well this spring - had a better week with four straight wins: a 17-2 victory over visiting Amherst on July 7, a 6-4 road win over Northampton on July 8, a 14-0 road win over Dalton on July 9, and a 2-1 win at home against Shelburne Falls on July 11.
Heading into the final week of the PVYBL season, Whitingham is first place at 12-2, while Brattleboro is 9-5. A double-elimination tournament begins on Monday, July 21 at the home fields of the top seeds. The championship game will be played on July 26 and July 27 (if necessary) at Deerfield Academy.
Hoot, Toot & Whistle Trail closed for repairs
• Wilmington's Hoot, Toot & Whistle (HT&W) Trail is now closed through September for renovation. The trail follows the roadbed of the former Hoosac Tunnel & Wilmington Railroad.
"After 4 years of design planning, funding, permitting, and contracting, the trail is being upgraded, " the Wilmington Trail Committee announced in a recent news release. While the renovations are being done, hikers are asked to stay off the trail.
At the end of this summer's work, the committee says the trail will have "a more level, wider trail path, a new level trail option to avoid an existing difficult section, a dedicated parking area on Fairview Avenue, additional signage, bridges to reclaim more of the original rail bed path, boardwalks over wet areas to preserve the ecosystem, and culverts for a more durable trail path."
The renovation work is being funded through a combination of state grants, town money, and private donations. If you want to help out, contact the Trails Committee at [email protected]. For progress reports on the renovations, visit wilmingtonvermont.us/about/trails/hoottoot. For more information, contact Gretchen Havreluk at [email protected] or 802-464-8591, ext 117.
Senior bowling roundup
• The standings after 11 weeks of the spring/summer season of the Brattleboro Senior Bowling League at Brattleboro Bowl show Slo Movers (37.5-16.5) still in first place, but Team 7 (37-18) not far behind in second place. Cyclones (32.5-22.5) moved into third place, followed by Dims (30-25), I.D. Care (25-30), 4 Queens (24.5-30.5), Leftovers (24-31), Wayne's World (23-32), Having Fun (22-33), and Strikers (18.5-36.5).
Mary Piluski had the women's high handicap game and series (630). Warren Corriveau Sr. had the men's high handicap game (293) and Mike Pavlovich had the high handicap series (723). Team 7 had the high team handicap game (948) and series (2,618).
Robert Rigby again had the men's high scratch series (682), with games of 278, 211, and 193, while Corriveau had a 629 series with games of 267 and 204. Kevin Napaver had a 619 series with games of 243 and 199, Pavlovich had a 618 series with games of 225, 198, and 195, and Rich Pietro had a 542 series with a 210 game. Gary Montgomery had a 526 series with a 201 game, Duane Schillemat had a 510 series, and Milt Sherman had a 509 series with a 195 game.
Diane Cooke had the women's high scratch series (435), with games of 165 and 153. Carol Gloski had the high scratch game (167) and also rolled a 162. Nancy Dalzell had a 153 game, while Shirley Aiken had a 151 game.
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.