The Southern Division teams in the American Legion Baseball State Tournament went 0-4 against their Northern Division opponents in the opening day of play on July 28 at Castleton University and St. Peter's Field in Rutland.
Brattleboro Post 5 and Bellows Falls Post 37 lost their respective opening games in the double-elimination tournament as Essex Post 91 topped Bellows Falls, 5-2, at Castleton, while S.D. Ireland beat Brattleboro, 7-2, at St. Peter's.
Post 5 then ended Post 37's season with a 10-0 win in six innings on July 29 at St. Peter's.
Brattleboro ended up as the last Southern team to exit the tourney, with a 5-4 loss to Franklin County at Castleton on July 30.
• Post 37 coach Bill Lockerby had one chance to use his best pitcher, Seth Balch, since he will not be available for the rest of the tournament as he will be playing for Vermont in the Shrine Maple Sugar Bowl football game on Aug. 4.
So the Windsor star got the start for Post 37 against Essex, and Balch gave up four runs in the first two innings before settling down. Balch gave up a total of five hits.
Staked to a big lead early on, Essex starting pitcher Maverick King was able to make it to the fifth inning before being lifted after throwing 74 pitches.
This allowed him to be under the 80-pitch limit for starters, and allows him to pitch again in three days, an important consideration in a five-day tournament that can quickly burn up a team's pitching staff.
The move could have backfired on Essex, as reliever Nick Fitzgerald loaded up the bases without getting an out in the seventh. George Goldworthy came in and got Post 91 out of the jam, only giving up one run.
Post 37 got a run in the fifth inning when Griffin Waryas reached on an infield single, and later got caught in a rundown that allowed Josh Woods to score on the play.
• S.D. Ireland, which is made up of mostly Champlain Valley Union High School players, managed to shut down a hot-hitting Post 5 team that had won nine of their last 10 regular season games.
Against Bellows Falls in an elimination bracket game, Brattleboro's Adam Newton and Jeremy Rounds teamed up to pitch a no-hitter. More importantly, they needed a total of just 53 pitches between them to do it.
Newton threw 29 pitches over 3 1/3 innings of work, striking out three batters. Rounds then took over and finished the game on 24 pitches, also striking out three batters.
Post 5 roughed up Post 37 starter Kendall Heath and reliever Josh Woods for 13 hits, and scoring runs in every inning but the third.
Leadoff hitter Chris Frost led Brattleboro with four hits and four runs scored, while Dan Petrie had two hits, two RBIs, and scored two runs.
Post 37 finished the regular season with a 15-6 record, with all six of its losses coming at the hands of the tourney teams - three times to Brattleboro, twice to Rutland, and once to White River Junction.
• Brattleboro's season ended at the hands of a team that wasn't supposed to be in the tournament.
Franklin County, last year's champs, finished fifth this year in the Northern Division standings, and initially didn't qualify.
Instead, they ended up as the fourth seed in the tourney after the Newport-based OEC Kings had to forfeit five games for using an ineligible player. OEC Kings failed to qualify for the tourney with the five extra losses.
It was a back-and-forth game that was not settled until Mike Roy singled in the ninth inning against Post 5 reliever Dan Petrie to drive in the go-ahead run.
Tyler Yates then got the win for Franklin County with a shutout inning of relief in the ninth that came after pitching out of a bases-loaded jam in the eighth.
Brattleboro had a chance to win the game in the eighth inning. Post 5 had the bases loaded with two outs, but Yates managed to induce a groundout to end the inning.
Post 5, which finished with a 17-5 overall record, was going for its second state title in three years. They were champs in 2016 after a hard-fought final with Rutland.
Green Mountain Club seeks new members
• Joe Cook is well-known locally as an attorney in Brattleboro. What you may not know about him is that he's the 80th person to through-hike the Appalachian Trail.
Cook did it in 1972, a time when few thought of the idea of hiking from Springer Mountain in Georgia to Mount Katahdin's Baxter Peak of Maine in one fell swoop.
“I didn't realize that it would become such a big deal,” Cook said in an interview with The Commons. “The trail is more of a social event now, and there are more support facilities for hikers now. Back when I did it, you could still drink water from mountain streams and not get sick. You could walk sometimes for three or four days without seeing anyone on the trail.”
Cook still loves the outdoors and getting out on the trail. He is the secretary of the Green Mountain Club's Brattleboro section, which maintains a nine-mile section of the Applachian Trail/Long Trail (the two share the same path from the Massachusetts border to Killington) near Manchester, Vt.
The Brattleboro section of the GMC was formed in 1947. “We've got about 100 people, but we'd love to have more members, particularly younger people,” said Cook.
Besides trail maintenance, section members also go out on biking, hiking, snowshoeing, and canoe trips around New England. You don't have to be a GMC member to participate in the Brattleboro section's events, so it's a good way for prospective members to see what the club is about.
For a list of upcoming events or to find out more about joining the GMC, visit brattleborogmc.com.
Youth Services' Golf Tournament raises nearly $20,000
• It wasn't a perfect day for golf, but 96 local golfers dodged the showers at the Brattleboro Country Club on July 25 and made Youth Services' 33rd annual Golf Tournament a big success, generating nearly $20,000 to help underwrite the agency's programs.
The Cersosimo Lumber team of Bruce Davis, Wayne Wright, Michael Cersosimo and Brian Knowles won First Gross, with The Richards Group team of Cathy Coonan, Rick Manson, David Anderson and Bill Pettengill finishing First Net.
The Brattleboro Food Co-op team of Bob Lyons, Sabine Rhyne, Jeff Houle and Tracy Sloan took Second Gross, while the David Manning Inc. team of Amos Ireland, Steve Castle, Dennis Rawson, and Henry Ireland took Second Net.
Elizabeth Walker won the prize for the Women's Longest Drive. Tammy Bischof took Women's Closest to the Line with Bonnie McKellar winning the prize for Women's Closest to the Pin.
In the Men's Division, Greg Goodrich took the prize for Men's Longest Drive. Jim DeVincentis took Men's Closest to the Line with Bill Pettengill winning Men's Closest to Pin.
Youth Services' Executive Director Russell Bradbury-Carlin, together with former board member Timm Harris, ran a Putting Contest which raised $425 for the agency. The winner of the Putting Contest was Paul Kelley of the Monadnock Radio Group.
A special feature was the Helicopter Golf Ball Drop, as the Renaud Bros, Inc. helicopter, piloted by Mike Renaud and assisted by his wife, Shirley, dropped buckets of golf balls from 20 feet on the fairway. The winner of the $3,000 cash prize was Tim Dandrea of Brattleboro. Chris Stoner and Barbara Gentry had the next closest balls.
Rec. Dept. to hold girls' lacrosse camp
• The Brattleboro Recreation & Parks Department will be offering one week of girls' lacrosse camp for students who are entering grades 3 through 9. The cost is $50 for Brattleboro residents and $65 for non-residents. Camp will run the week of Aug. 13 through 17, from 9 a.m. to noon, at West River Park on Route 30.
No experience is necessary to participate. Groups will be made accordingly and skills will be taught. The camp will be run by Emily Lyons.
Bring your own stick and goggles if you have them. There will be sticks and goggles available for use if you do not have them. Everyone must bring a mouth guard, snack, and water bottle. To register please stop by the Recreation & Parks Dept. Office, 207 Main St., or visit www.brattleboro.org and mail in a form to Bratt. Rec. & Parks, P.O. Box 513, Brattleboro, VT 05302.
Mountain biking camp
• The Brattleboro Recreation & Parks Department is also offering a mountain biking camp for area young people ages 10 to 14. This camp, instructed by avid rider Steven Robinson, will run the week of Aug. 13 through 17, from 9 a.m. to noon, at Living Memorial Park.
The first day will consist of bike maintenance, safety and proper gear. The rest of the week will have fun rides with plenty of trails within the community to explore. The cost of the program is $100 for Brattleboro residents and $115 for non-residents. Sign up by calling the Rec. Dept. at 802-254-5808.
Senior bowling roundup
• Team 2 (45-20) had a 5-0 week to hang on to first place after Week 13 of the summer season of the Brattleboro Senior Bowling League. Team 1 and Team 3 (both 37-28) are now tied for second place. Team 7 (35-30) is now in fourth place, followed by Team 9, Team 4, and Team 6 (all 33-32), and Team 8 and Team 5 (both 31-34).
Arlene Blum had the women's high handicap game (230), while Lois Pease had the women's high handicap series (624). Wayne Randall had the men's high handicap game (245) and Peter Cross had the high handicap series (658). Team 4 had the high team handicap game (847) and series (2,445).
In scratch scoring, Warren Corriveau Sr. (570), Fred Ashworth (537), and Jerry Dunham (558) each rolled a 500-plus series. Dunham (202) and Corriveau (212) were the only bowlers with 200-plus games.