The Brattleboro Colonels started their first week of the baseball season with mixed results.
The Colonels lost their home opener to Monument Mountain of Great Barrington, Mass., 11-3, on April 12.
Brattleboro was not sharp in any aspect of the game, as losing pitcher Tommy Heydinger was hit early and often by the Spartans. He gave up 3 walks and 9 hits before he was removed in the fifth inning, and his defense behind him was less than stellar.
The players bounced back from that loss with a 4-3 win over Hartford at Tenney Field last Friday. Pitcher Sawyer Olson earned the complete game victory, with 2 walks and 4 strikeouts.
Aside from a shaky fifth inning, Olson performed solidly. Soren Pelz-Walsh had the hot bat with 4 hits and drove in two runs during the second inning. Evan Parro and Kevin Paciulli each hit RBI doubles in the first inning to stake Olson to a early lead.
Now 1-1, the Colonels host Bellows Falls on April 21.
Baseball
• Bellows Falls got its season off to a good start with a pair of wins.
On April 12, the Terriers hammered Windsor, 17-2, in a game at Hadley Field stopped after six innings due to the 15-run rule. Pitchers Cooper Long, Jeremy Kilburn, and Eric Laurendeau teamed up to shut down the Jacks. Long was solid at the plate too, with 2 doubles, 2 RBIs, and 3 runs scored. Bruce Wells and Forest Coleman each drove in 2 runs, and Matt Marchica scored 3 runs.
BF followed that up with a 12–6 win over Springfield last Thursday.
Wells and Brendan Hackett each had 3 hits and combined for 7 RBIs, while Marchica went 2-for-3, with 3 stolen bases and 3 runs scored. Long and Kilburn again collaborated on the mound; together, they struck 7 and scattered 6 hits while allowing just 2 walks.
• Leland & Gray prevailed in their home opener last Friday, a 17-8 win over Twin Valley. The Rebels put the game out of reach early, while the Wildcats hung around but could not put together a big inning until it was too late.
Pitcher Drew Barnum went 5 innings to get the win, holding Twin Valley to just 5 hits as he walked 2 and struck out 2. Jared Van Osdol finished up with 3 strikeouts in the final 2 innings. In the 2 innings he worked, Joe Moore gave up 7 runs to take the loss for the Wildcats.
Jason Moore and Dal Nesbitt finished out the game. Together, the three pitchers gave up 16 hits.
It was the third straight road loss for 1-3 Twin Valley. On April 9, the Wildcats were handed a 10-5 loss by Mount Everett of Sheffield, Mass. On April 12, West Rutland beat Twin Valley in a 16-11 game that was stopped after five innings due to darkness.
Softball
• A warmer afternoon and another week of practice gave the Colonels an opportunity to tighten up their game after starting their season with a 32-0 rout of Bellows Falls.
Last Friday, the defending champs looked the part as they shut out Hartford, 10-0. Pitcher Kayla Wood gave up only 2 hits in the victory, striking out 9 and walking no one.
Wood helped herself with a 3-for-4 day at the plate, driving two runs. Ariel Kane hit a pair of triples, driving in 2 runs. Both Kane and Kaylee Graham went 3-for-4, Graham also drove in 2 runs.
Brattleboro had 14 hits on the day as Ashley Watson, Sydney Santor and McKenzie Bover all had doubles, while Kelsey Patterson and Taylor Kerylow also had base hits.
Now 2-0, the Colonels travel to Claremont, N.H., to face Stevens on April 21.
• Leland & Gray looked sharp, and not just because they have new uniforms this season.
The Rebels played an excellent game in shutting down Twin Valley, 4-1, in their home opener at Townshend last Friday. Pitcher Nicole Sherman got the win, holding the Wildcats to just 4 hits. Sherman struck 4, walked 5 and hit a batter, and gave up the only run of the game in the seventh.
Twin Valley pitcher Kylie-blu Crawford scattered 9 hits and walked 4 in a losing effort. She and her twin sister Bryer-lyn accounted for all of Twin Valley's hits, and they helped put a scare into the Rebels' fans as the Wildcats had the tying run at the plate in the seventh before Sherman escaped the jam for the win.
Michaela Tietz and Ashley Goddard went 2-for-3 for Rebels. Tietz scored one run and drove in another, while Alex Morrow drove in a run with a sacrifice bunt. Aly Marcucci and Jacqueline Hazard each scored a run.
• It was another tough outing for the Bellows Falls Terriers last Thursday, as they dropped their home opener to Springfield, 27-0. BF was held to just two hits, by Megan LaBeau and Emma Shaw, who was the losing pitcher for the 0-2 Terriers. They are off until April 25, when they travel to Fair Haven.
Tennis
• It took a victory in the final singles match to give Hartford a 4-3 win over the Brattleboro girls on Saturday. Lauren Mabie, Mary McLoughlin, and Hayley Ryan all won their singles matches.
• The Bellows Falls girls got their season off to a strong start with a 6-1 victory over Springfield at the Hadley Field courts on April 11. The singles players - Ruth Rowell, Hillary Willard, Weeze Bennett, Vanessa Edwards, and Lee Parslow - all won their matches.
The closest match of the day was at No. 2 doubles, as Remington Kurkul and Tessa Morey rallied to defeat Springfield's Kelsie Howard and Hannah Sorrell, 2-6, 6-4, 7-2.
• The Bellows Falls boys opened their season with a 7-0 loss to Hartford last Thursday at the Hadley Field courts. They won't be back in action until April 25, when they travel to Brattleboro.
Track and Field
• Twin Valley has a track and field team for the first time this year.
In the team's inaugural meet in Brattleboro on April 11, Twin Valley freshman Sammy Cunningham-Darrah placed in the top 3 in all the events she participated in. She was second in the 100 and 800; she also took third in the long jump and joined Emily Furlon, Jennifer Jones, and Alex Kennedy in taking second in the 4 x 100 relay.
Cunningham kept it up last Thursday at a five-team meet in Brattleboro. Competing against much bigger schools, she won the 100- and 200-meter dash, in 13.9 and 29.57 seconds, respectively. Kennedy and Cunningham-Darrah placed second and third in the 400, while Jen Jones ended up third in the 1,500.
• While the Twin Valley girls made some noise in last Thursday's home opener for the Brattleboro track teams, the Colonel girls came away with the team victory.
Ursula Casey won the hurdles and triple jump, and she took second in the long jump and third in the high jump to lead the Colonels.
Halie Lange won the 800 and led the 4 x 800 relay team to victory. Paige Bailey won the pole vault, Helen Manning took the long jump, and Hannah Reichel was a winner in the 3,000.
The Colonels came in second to Fall Mountain in the boys meet. Greg Reuter led Brattleboro with wins in the 200 and 400, and a third in the 100, as well as leading the Colonels to a second in the 4 x 100 relay.
Jacob Ellis won the 800 and was a member of the winning 4 x 800 relay team. Other first-place finishers included Austin Lester in the 1,500 and Spencer Olson in the 3,000.
Bellows Falls came in third in the girls' meet, and fourth in the boys' meet.
Lacrosse
• Sam Finnerty scored the winning goal in sudden-death overtime to give the Brattleboro boys a 8-7 victory over Rutland at Natowich Field last Friday. Finnerty also scored and had three assists for the Colonels in regulation time. Travis Elliott-Knaggs also had a pair of goals. Tarique Rashed, Jon Thomson, Alex Phomnath, and Nik Rancourt also scored. Goalie Romello Lindsey had 12 saves.
The following day, the Colonels journeyed to Monson, Mass., and won, 10-4. Phomnath finished with 3 goals and 3 assists. Thomson also scored 3 goals, Elliott-Knaggs scored twice, and Rashed and Finnerty each added a goal.
Rashed also got a pair of assists, while midfielders Taylor Lynde and Andy Harris each had an assist. Lindsey and Logan George shared time in goal and combined for three saves.
Miscellany
• The Brattleboro Recreation & Parks Department will host the “Hoop It Up” basketball camp for children entering grades 2-7 on the week of June 20-24 at the Gibson-Aiken Center, 207 Main St.
For students in grades 2-4, the camp will run from 9 a.m. to noon and will focus on the development of motor skills, giving each child the opportunity to practice specific skills in a structured and fun setting.
For students in grades 5-7, the camp runs from 1 to 4 p.m. and will focus on the development of motor skills as well as provide opportunities to practice team skills in game situations.
The camp is intended for boys and girls to improve their skills with ball handling, dribbling, passing, catching, and layups.It is directed by Todd Bell, who coaches at Brattleboro Union High School. All counselors are present or past athletes who are either attending BUHS or are involved in college basketball programs.
This camp has a small camper-to-counselor ratio, helping to ensure plenty of individual attention and instruction in a fun, supportive environment.
The cost is$85 for Brattleboro residents and $100 for non-residents. To register, stop by the Brattleboro Recreation & Parks office at the Gibson-Aiken Center, 207 Main St.. For information, call 802-254-5808 or visit www.brattleboro.org.