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East Lyme did Woodstock Academy a little favor on Friday. The Vikings downed NFA in a dual meet.
It means Woodstock is guaranteed, at least, a share of the ECC girls’ Div. I regular season title.
If the Centaurs can get past NFA on Wednesday, it will clinch the regular season title outright and will not have to share.
“The closest thing we’ve come to having an undefeated season in the ECC Large was in the asterisk (COVID-19) season where it was the bubble conference with Killingly and Plainfield and whomever. It’s not that it wasn’t meaningful, we did really well against our region, but it’s really cool to see this against the Large schools. I didn’t think we would beat East Lyme any time soon,” said coach Josh Welch.
That win over the Vikings two weeks ago was followed last week by a much more one-sided effort as Woodstock posted a 117-33 win over Fitch.
It means, going into the final Div. I meet of the season; Woodstock is 2-0 while both NFA and East Lyme are 1-1.
The meet against the Wildcats on Wednesday will be on the South Campus track.
Seniors Bella Sorrentino and Magdalena Myslenski had fun down by the shoreline as each won three events against the Falcons.
Sorrentino was her normal diverse self as she captured the top spot in the shotput, 100-meter hurdles, and long jump.
It also prevents a couple of maladies in athletics: Getting bored doing the same thing over and over again and using the same muscles in repetitive fashion.
“Even after a meet like Fitch, I’m not sore. It was throwing, then hurdles and then the long jump. I’m using different parts of my body. It keeps me well-rounded,” Sorrentino said. “I do think people (on the Centaurs girls’ track team) have become more open to trying new things. I would like to think that I had some influence with that.”
Myslenski was first in the discus, javelin, and pole vault and was second in the shotput.
“That was awesome,” Welch said of having two athletes take home three first-place finishes.
Julia Coyle was a winner in both the 1600 and 3200-meter races; Juliet Allard was best in the 200m and 300m hurdles; Talia Tremblay won the 400m; Jillian Edwards the high jump; Reegan Reynolds the triple jump and Isabel D’Alleva-Bochain crossed the line first in the 800m. The 4x800m team of Lauren Brule, Tessa Brown, Sydney Lord and Olivia Tracy also brought home a first-place finish.
“D’Alleva-Bochain hit the 800m hard, went out really aggressively and knocked five seconds off her personal best. She is on the verge of making states and is focused to do so. It was cool to see her come out aggressive and take the race on from the beginning, more of an old pro than a ‘Hey, what is this?’ kind of thing. Magdalena’s javelin and discus were both excellent. She found a good balance this time and pushed a few throws, one that went out of sector (bounds) that would have been fantastic,” Welch said.
Boys’ Track
In the first meet of the season, Jared Eaton set a Woodstock record in the shotput. In his first home meet last week, he captured three first-place finishes, winning shotput, discus and javelin competitions.
Not a bad start to the season.
“Three first-place finishes, you don’t see that a lot in any school. That’s a real feather in his cap,” said coach Gerry LaMontagne.
Unfortunately, Eaton’s efforts did not produce a win for Woodstock as the Centaurs fell to Fitch 87 2/3 – 62 1/3.
That was better than LaMontagne had anticipated. “I was really happy with the effort the kids put out. On paper, we were not supposed to be in that meet at all. It was tight,” LaMontagne said.
In fact, with six events to go, the Centaurs led by two points. That was due to their strength in the running events.
Christian Menounos along with Colton Sallum, Jackson Durand and Charles Caggiano captured the 4x800-meter relay to start the event.
Menounos went on to win the 800-meter and Sallum captured the 3,200m.
Carter Saracina was a bit of a surprise as he stepped in and finished second in the 100m and was first in the 200m.
“He was really big,” LaMontagne said of the senior. “I was hoping for him to just break up sweeps in the sprints because Fitch is so strong in them but coming up with a first and a second is kudos to him. He also qualified for states in those events.”
The problem for Woodstock came in the jumps.
Fitch swept the top three places in the long, triple and high jumps.
Sallum also finished second in the 1600m; Liam Wilcox was second in the 110m hurdles and pole vault; Owen Tracy was second in the 300m hurdles; Austin Adams was second in the shotput and Menounos was second in the 400m on a day that really didn’t lend itself to strong performance.
Baseball
Seven in a row. The baseball team continued to get strong efforts on the mound and that has carried them to a 10-1 record going into the second half of the season.
“If you had asked me at the beginning of the year if I would have taken 10-1 in the first 11 games, I would have said, ‘Absolutely,’ The kids have really done a nice job. We have won some games where we didn’t play our best but the guys are really trying to get as good as they can get. They know when we don’t play our best, and we, obviously, remind them. They’re starting get a good feeling. The coaches have a good feeling about this team. If we do the right things, play the brand of ball we’re capable of, we can do some big things,” said coach Brian Murphy.
The Centaurs gave up only one run in two games this week.
Kaden Murphy delivered a three-hit, eight strikeout performance where the Centaurs posted a 5-1 victory over Fitch Friday.
Earlier in the week, Riley O’Brien went the distance where Woodstock posted a 9-0 victory over the Whippets.
Prior to the trip down to Groton to play Fitch, the Centaurs were reminded of the last time they played on the Falcons’ home field. It was in the ECC championship game last year and the Centaurs ran out of arms and fell to the Falcons, 10-0.
A repeat performance was not to be had by Fitch.
Kaden Murphy was solid on the hill.
“He was on his game again. He had a similar game against Bacon (Academy). Fitch, Bacon, Waterford have always been a thorn in our side so you have to tip your cap because (Kaden Murphy) went down there, commanded the mound, commanded the zone, competed and had a great game. He gave up three groundball singles,” Brian Murphy said.
Murphy got some early help as both Marcus McGregor and O’Brien delivered run-scoring doubles in the top of the first inning to put the Centaurs up early.
The Falcons did cut that lead in half when Dylan Meyer singled home a run in the second inning but the Centaurs restored the two-run lead quickly.
Maxx Corradi walked, stole second, went to third on one wild pitch and then scored on another in the third inning.
Woodstock added two more in the fourth when Carter Morissette scored on an error and Keon Lamarche came around on a ground out.
Murphy was also the only player in the lineup with two hits against Fitch pitching.
O’Brien allowed just two hits, struck out eight and went the distance to earn the shutout victory against the Whippets.
The victory raised the Centaurs record in Div. II of the ECC to 5-0.
Woodstock put it away with a five-run fourth inning. Eric Mathewson and Brady Ericson had RBI singles in the rally, Corradi had a sacrifice fly and Windham helped the Centaurs by surrendering two bases-loaded walks.
Morissette added two hits in the win for the Centaurs.
Woodstock also played an exhibition game on Wednesday against MacDuffie School, notable mostly because of the venue that it was played at, Dunkin’ Park in Hartford, home of the Hartford Yard Goats minor league baseball team.
Boys’ Golf
There was little more that boys’ golf coach Rich Garceau could say other than Stonington is good.
The Bears downed the Centaurs 5-2 in the home opener for Thursday at the Quinnatisset Country Club.
Senior Davis Simpson returned to the Centaurs lineup earlier in the week and finished with a two-under par 34.
Logan Rawson was just three-over par with a 39 and Don Sousa had one of his career-best performances with a 41.
Unfortunately, Brandon Tavares of Stonington finished with a four-under par 32.
“He made some incredible shots out here. He pitched in on the ninth hole for a birdie to finish up,” Garceau said of Tavares. “You put up a 34 and a 39 and a 41, you expect to win. Every day, we’re getting better. I can’t complain, I’m not upset with the effort. The kids went out and played really well.”
The Centaurs (2-3) had played their first three matches, including a tri-match with East Lyme and Valley Regional, on the road.
The Centaurs finished with a 166 total against the Bears which should help the Centaurs in the state rankings.
Simpson returned to the Centaur lineup earlier in the week against East Lyme and Valley Regional and came away as medalist with a three-over par 38 at Old Lyme Country Club.
Simpson’s effort helped the Centaurs (1-1 ECC Div. I) split their tri-match with East Lyme and Valley Regional.
The Centaurs beat Valley Regional 6-1 but lost to the Vikings by that same score.
Sousa added a 45 for Woodstock.
“I think East Lyme and us are the best (in Division I of the ECC),” Garceau said.
Sophomore Tyler Moore led East Lyme with a 39.
Girls’ Golf
The Centaurs bounced back from a loss to NFA early last week with a win over Killingly at Quinnatisset.
Woodstock finished with a 227 total on its home course to defeat Killingly which was forced to forfeit as it had only two players available.
Senior Maya Orbegozo paced the Centaurs with a 46 while Liliana Bottone added a 55.
The win improved the Centaurs record to 5-1 in the ECC.
Woodstock picked up a non-league victory last Wednesday, downing Suffield High, 217-253.
Orbegozo was again the medalist of the match with a 47 while Bottone shot a second-straight 55 and Ella Musumeci was just a stroke behind her.
The Centaurs are now 6-2 overall.
The team came up three strokes short Monday as it fell to NFA in an ECC match, 215-218. Musumeci led the way as the senior finished with a 52, Bottone was one stroke back and Orbegozo added a 54.
Girls’ Lacrosse
All Jeremiah Huntt wants to see from his girls’ lacrosse team every time it goes out on to the field is improvement.
The Centaurs may have lost to RHAM, 9-4, but that was better than the 12-goal loss that they had suffered to the Raptors earlier in the season.
“That’s the best lacrosse we have played all season. We really implemented the things we practiced, and I couldn’t be more proud about this game,“ the first-year head coach said. “I still think our endurance, both mentally and physically, can be a little better. That was lacrosse there. I don’t know if I can say we were playing lacrosse (at the beginning of the season), but that was lacrosse right there. We moved the ball up the field well. We passed well and were aggressive.”
RHAM did break out in front, 4-0, in the first 14 minutes of the match.
Huntt called a well-placed time out to let his team compose itself a bit.
“I lit a fire under them in that timeout,” Huntt said. “I told them that we were moving the ball well and just had to be more aggressive. We had to make cuts to get open, get open for teammates and we started to do that.”
Caroline Harris scored the first goal for the Centaurs with 10 ½ minutes left in the first half. Lennon Favreau tallied a minute later and just a minute after that, Joanna Lin found an opening and stuffed the ball into the RHAM net to cut the deficit to one.
The Raptors did score just about five minutes into the second half but Woodstock countered.
Gabby Couture, who had a first half assist, got a second-half tally to bring the Centaurs back within one, 5-4, with 19:15 left.
Unfortunately, RHAM scored four goals in the last 19 minutes and kept the Centaurs out of the net.
“I knew they had a good goalie but if she had been any lesser, I think we would have had that game. We had so many shots on goal, the most for us this season and more than (RHAM) had. We were doing the right thing, the ball just wasn’t going into the net,” Huntt said.
The Centaurs also have to work a bit on their ball security.
“We have to not be anxious with the ball but also can’t hold on to it for too long. Every time we held it running to the sideline, we lost it. The times we moved it up well was on quick passes, precise, when we were talking and communicating and that led to goals,” Huntt said.
Earlier in the week, the Centaurs, who are now 1-9 overall and 0-3 in Div. I of the ECC, ran into the undefeated East Lyme Vikings and the result was predictable as the Vikings shutout the Centaurs, 18-0.
The Centaurs have not been the only team to fall in a one-sided loss to East Lyme. The Vikings, in their eight wins, have outscored opponents, 123-37.
Boys’ Lacrosse
The boys’ lacrosse team had just one match last week. That’s good for those on the team who needed a little break.
It’s bad because the team had to wait for a week sitting on a loss.
The Centaurs traveled to NFA and fell to the Wildcats, 15-7.
Woodstock got to within four goals in the second half but could not catch the Wildcats.
Zach Gessner and Will Basiliere each scored two goals while Jared Nielsen had a goal and two assists in the loss for Woodstock.
The Centaurs come into the week with a 4-5 overall record and a 0-4 mark in Div. I of the ECC.
Girls’ Tennis
The girls’ tennis team improved to 4-0 in Div. II of the ECC with a 6-1 win over NFA Wednesday.
Ellie Bishop-Klee, Wynter Worth and Peyton Bentley all scored straight-set singles victories for the Centaurs who also swept all three doubles matches to prevail over the Wildcats.
On Tuesday, the Centaurs took five of the seven matches in straight sets and posted a 7-0 win over Killingly.
There was a battle at fourth singles where Peyton Bentley of Woodstock scratched out a 2-6, 6-2, 10-3 victory.
The other three set match took place in first doubles with Stella Atchinson and Paige Owens pulling out a 6-1, 5-7, 10-1 win.
The Centaurs are now 4-2 overall on the season.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy
captions:
Liam Wilcox clears one of the last hurdles against Fitch last Wednesday.
Runners Vincente Bastura, left, and Colton Sallum, behind, challenge Fitch’s Ryan Dunning in the 1600-meter race.
Sophomore Sophie Gronski tees off on the second hole in a match against NFA.
Senior Ella Musumeci putts on the scenic third green in a match against NFA.
Senior Kaden Murphy had a dominant pitching performance against Fitch last week as the Centaurs improved to 10-1. Photos by Marc Allard.
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