-Cooper Hammarlund, 40, of Atlanta, Georgia, was the men’s winner in the annual Bill Powers Firecracker 4-Miler road race, presented by the Red Clover Rovers running club on July 4 in Brattleboro.
Hammarlund, a Brattleboro native, held off Jason Guerino, 27, of Vernon, and Spencer Knickerbocker, 33, of Marlboro, to win the race in 23 minutes, 25.95 seconds. Guerino was second in 23:41.62, and Knickerbocker was third in 23:46.35.
Deepti Cole, 45, of Brighton, Massachusetts, was the first woman across the finish line, finishing 11th overall in 29:35.32. Eve Pomazi, 27, of Brattleboro, was 16th overall and the second women to finish in 30:33.46. Jennifer Smith, 50, of Brattleboro, was third for the women and 18th overall in 31:24.50.
There were 89 finishers in the race on a morning that was hotter and more humid than in recent years. Full results can be found at runsignup.com/Race/Results/21519/#resultSetId-666950.
Legion baseball roundup
• Brattleboro Post 5 is off to a good start in Southern Division play, finishing the first two weeks of the season with a 4-2 record.
Post 5 started the league season with three straight road games — a 3-2 win against Rutland Post 31 on June 19, a 4-3 loss against Bennington Post 13 on June 23, and a 12-7 win over Lakes Region on June 25.
Brattleboro had its home opener on June 30 at Tenney Field against Ludlow Post 36 and came away with a 6-2 win. Post 5 then split a doubleheader with Lakes Region at Tenney Field on July 2, winning the first game, 7-8, and losing the nightcap, 11-0, in five innings.
• Bellows Falls Post 37 finished the first two weeks of the season with a 3-3 record in Southern Division play. After winning the home opener to Post 13, 14-5, on June 16, Post 37 lost to White River Junction Post 84, 11-5, at Hadley Field on June 24, and lost their first game to Ludlow Post 36, 3-2, on June 25.
Post 37 got back into the win column with a doubleheader sweep of Lakes Region at Hadley Field on June 27, taking the first game, 10-7, and winning the second game, 16-6. Bellows Falls ended the week with a 10-2 loss to visiting Ludlow on July 2.
• Brattleboro and Bellows Falls will play a rare weekday doubleheader at Tenney Field on Thursday, July 9. The first game starts at 5 p.m., with the nightcap at 7:30 p.m.
A chance at history for Kaiden McCarthy
• The Major League Baseball Draft is this weekend, and teams have their eye on Kaiden McCarthy of Chester.
The 17-year old right-handed pitcher who played his high school ball at Vermont Academy, is ranked as the No. 77 overall prospect in the 2026 MLB Draft by Baseball America and No. 79 overall by Prep Baseball Report.
Vermonters don’t usually get a close look from big league scouts, nor do they get picked in the early rounds of the draft. The highest-drafted Vermont prospect in the MLB Draft was U-32 alumnus Owen Kellington, who was picked by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the fourth round in 2021.
McCarthy is expected to go higher than that, thanks to a lot of training, good coaching, and hard work developing his pitching repertoire ever since he was a 10-year-old. By age 11, he could throw 70 mph. By middle school, his fastball topped 85 mph. This year, he’s been throwing in the upper-90s.
In an abbreviated season with Vermont Academy this spring, he allowed two runs on three hits over 19 1/3 innings while striking out 42 batters and walking six. That’s why so many scouts were tracking McCarthy this season.
After he reclassified from the draft class of 2027 to 2026 this past winter, McCarthy was invited to participate in the MLB Draft Combine in Phoenix last month as one of more than 300 top high school and college prospects.
The competition is fierce to make it to the big leagues, but McCarthy has a great fallback position. He’ll have an opportunity to pitch at the University of Tennessee in 2027 if things don’t pan out in this year’s draft.
Bears drop down to Division II in football
• The Vermont Football Coaches’ Association recently posted the 2026 high school football schedule, and one big change that passed under our radar is that Brattleboro has dropped down from Division I to Division II. Bellows Falls, the reigning Division III state champion, stays put this season.
Here’s what the schedule looks like for Brattleboro and Bellows Falls. Dates and times are subject to change.
In Week 1, Brattleboro travels to Springfield Friday, Sept. 4, at 7 p.m., while Bellows Falls opens at home that night against North Country at Hadley Field.
Week 2 will see Bellows Falls at Fair Haven Friday, Sept. 11, at 7 p.m. while Brattleboro has their home opener that night against St, Johnsbury.
Bellows Falls and Brattleboro will face each other on Week 3 Friday, Sept. 18 at 7 p.m. at Natowich Field.
Week 4 sees Bellows Falls traveling to East Montpelier to face U-32 Friday, Sept. 25, at 7 p.m., while Brattleboro is at Hartford.
Brattleboro hosts Burr & Burton in a Week 5 game Friday, Oct. 2. For now, Bellows Falls does not have a game scheduled for that week.
Brattleboro is at Rutland Thursday, Oct. 8, in a Week 6 matchup, while Bellows Falls hosts Lyndon Institute Friday, Oct. 9, at p.m.
Week 7 games on Friday, Oct. 16 see Brattleboro traveling to Middlebury, while Bellows Falls hosts Mount Mansfield.
The final week of the regular season is rivalry week as Brattleboro hosts Mount Anthony for the Elwell Trophy game Friday, Oct. 23, while Bellows Falls is at Springfield in their annual game for “The Trophy” Saturday, Oct. 24.
There are no easy games on either school’s schedule this season.
While Brattleboro has dropped down to Division II, most of their schedule consists of games against Division I opponents (Burr & Burton, Middlebury, Mount Anthony, Rutland, and St. Johnsbury). On the plus side, there are no road trips to Chittenden County this season. The only two long bus rides are to Middlebury and Rutland.
Bellows Falls also has mostly upper division opponents on its schedule, with Springfield as its only Division III foe. They also avoid those long road trips to the Northeast Kingdom as North Country and Lyndon will have to journey south. BF’s longest road trips will be to Fair Haven and U-32.
SVL Unified basketball all-stars announced
• Brattleboro’s Julius Sobieski and Mia Braun and Twin Valley’s John-Michael Richard were named to the Southern Vermont League’s Unified basketball first team for the 2026 season. Twin Valley’s Mason Ranslow was named to the second team.
The Bears made it to the state Unified basketball playoffs, falling to Middlebury in the semifinals. The Wildcats didn’t participate in the playoffs.
‘Pins for Purrs’ set for July 15
• Join the Windham County Humane Society (WCHS) on Wednesday, July 15, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Brattleboro Bowl for their second annual “Pins for Purrs” charity bowling event.
Tickets are $35 per person and include two hours of bowling, shoes, and pizza, or book a whole lane for $200. There will also be raffle prizes, and a mini 50/50 raffle.
All funds raised at Pins for Purrs will help provide shelter and care to hundreds of abandoned and surrendered dogs, cats, and small pets that WCHS has the privilege of helping every year. Additional donations are welcomed and appreciated. For more information, visit windhamcountyhumane.org/events/pins-for-purrs-2026.
Brattleboro Kiwanis Golfing Fore Children is July 16
• The Kiwanis Club of Brattleboro will host its Golfing For Children tournament fundraiser to gather funds to help children in the community Thursday, July 16, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., at the Brattleboro Country Club. Sign in is at 9 a.m., with a shotgun start at 10 a.m. Lunch will be provided, and there are prizes for the winners.
Kiwanis is a nonprofit organization that serves children in the community and globally. If you want to help and have a great time doing it, contact [email protected].
Pickleball tournament benefits United Way
• Join the Southern Vermont Board of Realtors for their third annual Pickleball Tournament Saturday, July 18, benefiting the United Way of Windham County and hosted by the Southern Vermont Pickleball Club at Farm Road Estate in West Dover. Rain date is Sunday July 19.
Teams of four must consist of two men and two women. If you don’t have a team of four, you can sign up as a solo player or with a partner and they’ll match you with other participants to form a full team. Players must be over the age of 16 to participate. Space is limited and teams are based on the highest rated player.
To purchase tickets and for more information, go to givebutter.com/2026-pickleball-tournament-qkwwvx.
Senior bowling roundup
• After nine weeks of the spring/summer season of the Brattleboro Senior Bowling League at Brattleboro Bowl, Queen ‘n’ Jokers (31-14) are in first place, followed by Skippers (29-16), Pin Heads (27-18), Slo Movers (26-19), The House (25-20), Near Miss, Number 1, and Strike Force (all 20-25), Ducks (16-29), and Team Two (11-34).
In Week 9 action on July 2, Mary Piluski had the women’s high handicap game (252), while Nancy Dalzell had the high handicap series (645). Doug Switzer had the men’s high handicap game (258), while Robert Rigby had the high handicap series (623). Pin Heads had the high team handicap game (873) and Team Two had the high handicap series (2,455).
Kevin Napaver had the men’s high scratch series (664) with games of 225, 223, and 216, while Robert Rigby had a 623 series with games of 217, 215, and 191. Warren Corriveau Sr. had a 566 series with games of 204, 182, and 180, Mike Pavlovich had a 527 series with a 209 game, John Walker had a 520 series, and Rick Westcott had a 514 series with a 219 game. Switzer rolled a 182.
Andrea Papanek had the women’s high scratch series (533) and game (193). She also had a 171 game, while Dalzell rolled a 181.
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.