At the midpoint of the season, the undefeated 8-0 Brattleboro Colonels are looking as dominant as they were last season, when they won the Division I state championship.
And, like last season, they are doing it with plenty of hitting and the brilliant pitching of sophomore Kayla Wood.
Last Friday at Sawyer Field, Wood threw a no-hitter and went 4-for-4 at the plate as the Colonels ripped Burr & Burton, 14-0. The win was the 13th in a row for Brattleboro, as they won their last five games of the 2010 season.
Wood struck out 9, walked 2, and hit one batter. Another batter reached on an error in the seventh inning. She got plenty of run support as the Colonels got 11 hits, including two each from Kelsey Patterson and Sydney Santor, and a two-run triple from Taylor Kerylow.
On May 2, they blasted Mount Anthony, 15-0, in a game at Sawyer Field that ended in the sixth inning due to the 15-run rule. Wood held the Patriots to just 3 hits, as she struck 3 and walked just a single batter. Not a single MAU baserunner made it past second base.
At the plate, the Colonels got nine hits and took full advantage of mistakes in the field by the Patriots. Ariel Kane tripled, Ashley Watson doubled, and Cassie Rawson drove in two runs.
Softball
• Leland & Gray is rolling along also, as they finished last week with a 6-0 record. Last Friday, the Rebels shut out Proctor, 11-0. Ashley Goddard went 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles, while Aly Marcucci finished with 2 hits and 3 RBIs, and pitcher Nicole Sherman hit a three-run homer. Sherman and Elizabeth Symanski combined on a one-hit shutout.
On May 3, the Rebels beat Poultney on the road, 7-2. Goddard went 3-for-4 with a double and 2 RBIs. Sherman and Jacqueline Hazard each had two hits. Sherman threw a complete game three-hitter to get the win, striking out 8 and walking 2.
The Rebels clobbered Woodstock, 29-2, on April 30 in a five-inning game cut short by the 15-run rule. The Rebels took advantage of 17 walks to pile up the runs. Marcucci scored 5 runs, while Chelsea Cox and Hazard both had 2 hits and 2 RBIs, and together scored 7 runs.
• Bellows Falls was shut out by Otter Valley, 16-0, on May 2. Megan LaBeau had 2 hits in the loss.
• Twin Valley got stung by the Windsor Yellowjackets, 19-2, in a six-inning game cut short by the 15-run rule. Hard-throwing Windsor pitcher Katelyn Curtis dominated the 3-2 Wildcats as she struck out 7 and gave up just 1 hit in 4 innings of work. Pitcher Bryer-lyn Crawford gave up 13 hits in the loss.
The Wildcats bounced back from that loss with a 16-10 win over Black River. The bottom of the order did most of the damage as they combined for 7 hits and 6 RBIs.
Savannah Nesbitt went 4-for-4 in the No. 8 slot to lead the way, Ashley Dix went 2-for-3, and Mykayla Pronovost had one hit. Nesbitt and Pronovost each belted a bases-clearing triple. The Wildcats are now 4-2.
Baseball
• Sawyer Olson pitched a five-hitter, with no walks and 5 strikeouts, to lead the Colonels to a 9-3 win over Burr & Burton at Tenney Field on Friday. Jamie Martell had 2 hits and an RBI, Gerard Roberge drove in 3 runs, and Derek Sargent, Soren Pelz-Walsh, Evan Parro, and Tommy Heydinger each drove in a run as the Colonels finished the week at 5-3.
Heydinger struck out 6 batters in leading the Colonels to a 7-1 win at Bellows Falls on May 2. Heydinger allowed just 4 hits, 1 walk, and an unearned run. Travis Beeman-Nesbitt went 3-for-4, Kevin Paciulli went 2-for-4 with a double, and Heydinger drove in 2 runs.
• Bellows Falls improved to 6-3 with a 9-6 win at Woodstock on Friday. Brendan Hackett hit a grand slam, and Cooper Long and Bruce Wells each finished with two hits for the Terriers. Pitcher Matt Marchica went the distance for the win with 2 hits, 5 walks, and 5 strikeouts.
• Twin Valley got rocked by Black River, 20-5, at Baker Field on Friday. Ian Murdock, Colin Lozito, and Jason Moore all pitched for the Wildcats and gave up a combined 15 hits.
On May 3, Twin Valley eked out a 7-6 win over Mt. Everett at Baker Field. A Moore three-run homer highlighted a six-run second inning, and the Wildcats withstood a late rally to secure the victory. Moore was the winning pitcher, while Tony Bernard struck out three of the five batters he faced to pick up a save.
• Drew Barnum, Wade Battie, and Forrest Hamer all homered for Leland & Gray in a 19-2 win at Poultney on May 3. Barnum led the way with 3 hits and 3 RBIs, while Hamer, Colin Nystrom, and Brandon Reilly finished with two hits each. Barnum was also the winning pitcher; he struck out 9 and walked 2 in throwing a complete game five-hitter.
Lacrosse
•Brattleboro hammered Monadnock, 13-1, at Natowich Field on Thursday night. Travis Elliott-Knaggs and Colin Campbell each scored 4 goals to lead the Colonels. Sam Finnerty, Tarique Rashed, Jon Thomson, Alex Phomnath, and Charles Greene-Cramer added one goal apiece.
The Colonels traveled to Manchester on May 2 and beat Burr & Burton, 10-8. Campbell and Elliott-Knaggs each scored 3 goals, while Phomnath scored twice and Finnerty had a goal and 2 assists. Goalie Romello Lindsay made 10 saves.
On April 30, the Colonels traveled to Belchertown, Mass., and came away with a 14-7 win. Phomnath and Finnerty led the Brattleboro attack with 3 goals each. Campbell and Travis Elliott-Knaggs each had 2 goals, while Nik Rancourt had a goal and 3 assists. Also, Conner Elliott-Knaggs scored his first varsity goal, while Nate Forrett had an assist from the defensive midfield position.
• The Colonel girls lost to Northampton, Mass., 9-5, on May 2. Karley Fortier, Maddie Rollins, Shelby Davis-Lane, Becca Bird, and Mariah Lesure were the goal scorers.
Tennis
• The Brattleboro girls started the week with a 4-1 road loss in Amherst, Mass., on May 2. The only win came in No. 3 singles, as Hayley Ryan defeated Hannah Lange, 6-2, 6-1. They then got shut out at Burr & Burton, 7-0, on Friday.
• The Brattleboro boys haven't had much luck with the weather, but they finally got a home match in on May 2. They made the most of it with a 7-0 demolition of Burr & Burton. Chris Brewer, Isiah Ungerleider, and Matt Dunn were singles winners, while Cuyler Cunningham and Dylan Gauthier won their No. 1 doubles match. The rest of the wins were by forfeit.
• The Bellows Falls girls got skunked by Mount Anthony, 7-0, at the Hadley Field courts on May 2.
Track and field
• Brattleboro had a good day at a seven-team meet in Springfield on May 3.
Greg Reuter, Austin Lester, and Jacob Ellis each won two events to lead the Colonel boys. Reuter finished first in the 200 and 400, Lester was first in the 3,000 and 800, and Ellis took the 1,500 and long jump. Reuter was also part of two winning relay teams. He joined John Asigbekye, Abadi Kerlin-Smith, and Paxton Reed in the 4 X 100, and Alex Silver, Ellis, and Kerlin-Smith in the 4 X 400. Other winners included Anthony Burdo in the 300 hurdles and Jesse Gurney in the shot put.
Halie Lange, Ursula Casey, and Analiz Jasmine Cancel led the way for the Colonel girls. Lange won the 200 and 400, Casey took the triple jump, and Cancel was tops in the 100. They also won two relays, as the 4 X 800 relay team of Maud Benit, Linnea Jahn, Sarah Levine, and Bailey Paige won, as did the 4 X 100 team of Michelle Cancel, Eliza Reynolds, Kellie Schiller, and Analiz Jasmine Cancel.
• The Twin Valley girls showed they could hold their own against the big schools in the Springfield meet. Sammy Cunningham-Darrah, Jennifer Jones, Emily Furlon, and Alex Kennedy took fourth place in their 4 X 100 meter relay race. Cunningham-Darrah was third in the 200 and 800, and she and Jones tied for fifth in the 100. Kennedy was third in the 400.
• The Bellows Falls boys finished second. They were led by John Punger, who won the pole vault and placed second in the 400. Joe Aslin took the javelin, and Jamie Moore was runner-up in the 800. The Terrier boys' also won the 4 X 800 relay.
Brit Moyna (300 hurdles) and Becky O'Neill (1,500) each finished third, as the Bellows Falls girls tied for third overall with Windsor.
BOC holds annual kayak, canoe swap
If you're looking for a good used kayak, trying to find a new home for the sailboat you never use, or looking to swap your old canoe for a kayak, mark your calendar for Saturday, May 14, noon to 2 p.m. That's the time and date for the Brattleboro Outing Club's annual Spring Canoe, Kayak, and Sailboat Consignment Sale/Swap.
This yearly extravaganza will take place at The Outlet Center, 580 Canal St., and it's a fundraiser for the BOC's summer paddling program.
Boat owners set their own selling price, and BOC will retain a small portion of the sale price to fund the paddling program. Boat swaps are encouraged, and donations of unwanted boats will be accepted. Sale/swap is limited to all types of canoes, kayaks, rowing shells, rowboats, small sailboats, and paddling accessories. No motorboats or motors are allowed.
Boats may be dropped off on Friday, May 13th, from noon to 2 p.m. and from 5 to 7 p.m., or on the day of the sale from 9 to 11:30 a.m. Sale/Swap will be from noon to 2 on Saturday. Make sure to be there when the doors open, because the good ones go fast! Only boat owners looking for swaps will be allowed in the sale area between 11:30 a.m. and noon. Unsold boats must be picked up immediately after the sale/swap, until 3 p.m., or by prior arrangement.
For more information, or to arrange a drop-off at a more convenient time, call Larry McIntosh at 802-254-3666, or visit www.brattleborooutingclub.org.