NORWICH—The Savings Institute Foundation has awarded $3,000 in grant funds to The Arc Eastern Connecticut’s Community Life & Advocacy program to support its Empowerment/Enrichment component. CL&A serves over 165 people with intellectual and developmental disabilities each year and is the only program of its kind in the region. The Empowerment/Enrichment component offers self- advocacy/support groups, civic engagement activities including a Volunteer Corps, workshops on presentation skills for employment and professional settings, and transition programming from school to adult/community.


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The Woodstock Academy softball squad was just happy to be able to get out on the field.
 “It was great to play. We had way too much time off since the end of preseason. Missing the game (against Bacon Academy April 4 due to wet field conditions), not getting it in, we’re glad to be out here,” said Centaurs coach Jay Gerum said under sunny skies April 6 at Roseland Park.
Even if it did result in a losing effort.
The Centaurs fell to the Fitch Falcons, 7-6.
“It’s disappointing,” designated player Maia Corrado said of the loss. “I thought we were going to come back in the end. This is a good team that we usually lose to every year so I’m glad that we stuck with them.”
Corrado had a lot to do with that early.
The Falcons (1-2, 1-0 Eastern Connecticut Conference Division I) took the early 1-0 in the top of the first when Karly Morales (4-for-4, 2 runs scored, two doubles, two RBIs) ripped a two-out triple. The Fitch catcher scored when Allison Georgetti singled to right field.
But the Centaurs rallied quickly, taking the lead in the bottom of the inning.
Hannah Burgess, as is normal, got the ball rolling.
The Colgate University-bound senior’s first at-bat of the season resulted in a double to the opposite field, left, and was the first of her four hits in four trips to the plate.
“Typical Hannah,” Gerum said. “Hannah is doing what she always does. She is a machine.”
Burgess advanced to third one-out later on a single by Hannah Chubbuck and the two executed a double steal with Burgess scoring on the play to tie the game.
Corrado then stepped up and quickly broke the tie, taking Fitch pitcher Ellie Hohlfelder deep to right-center field for a two-run homer and a 3-1 Centaurs lead.
“I actually didn’t think it was going out, I didn’t think I hit it. I think I closed my eyes,” Corrado said with a laugh. “Usually I don’t hit the outside pitch, so when I got a hold of it, it felt good.”
Gerum wasn’t surprised by Corrado’s power.
“Maia swings the bat as good as anybody. She just has a great swing. That is her second or third (homer) this season, she had a couple in the preseason. That’s not unusual. She has a great bat and any time she makes contact with that swing, there is a good chance that it’s going out,” said the Woodstock Academy coach.
The Centaurs went up 5-1 in the fourth when Cami Corrado, a Burgess disciple, slapped a single to left. Burgess moved her up to third with her second double of the day and both would score on sacrifice flies by Julianna Nuttall and Chubbuck.
Fitch did reach Woodstock Academy starter Mackenzie Leveille in the fifth when Maddy Southers, the ninth batter, singled to right and stole second. One out later, Hohlfelder singled and Morales followed with an RBI double. Allison Georgetti also knocked in a run with a double but Leveille settled down and got an infield line out and ground out to end the threat.
It remained 5-3 until the top of the seventh and Gerum was concerned.
The Falcons had the top of the order up.
The Woodstock Academy coach’s worries were well warranted.
Hohlfelder, Morales and Georgetti, the Falcons’ 2-3-4 hitters, finished with nine hits in 12 trips to the plate against the Centaurs.
“The whole game was them,” Gerum said. “They’re great hitters, they all returned and we’ve been seeing them for years. I thought Mackenzie did a decent job as a sophomore, but those are big-time hitters that have been great players in their program,” Gerum said.
Lead-off hitter Casey Flax reached on an error to lead off the seventh, Hohlfelder singled and Morales made it in a one-run game with an RBI double to right.
Georgetti did ground back to Leveille who cut down Hohlfelder at the plate, but Olivia Carney followed with an RBI single to tie the game up.
Alyson Cabral singled to put Fitch ahead and Carney scored on a wild pitch to the Falcons up, 7-5.
The Centaurs looked like they were going to go meekly into the night after a pair of flyouts to open the bottom of the inning.
But Leveille singled and Megan Preston followed with a base hit. An error allowed the run to score and a wild pitch and a walk put runners on first and third.
Unfortunately for the Centaurs, a fly out ended the threat.
“We played a good softball game. We were up the whole game. We haven’t been able to say that in years against Fitch, maybe ever. We were right there, a 5-3 lead going into the seventh, and the tough thing was meeting the meat of their order. They came up again, did some damage, and that was the game,” Gerum said. “The kids played well (Saturday). This was a good softball game. We’re not happy we lost, but I’m really happy that the kids are working hard and we’re competing with good teams, quality teams in the ECC. We just have to keep on staying focused and growing.”
Marc Allard
Sports Information Director
The Woodstock Academy

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Spring in New England means local high school athletic teams never know what kind of conditions they will face.
Cold, rain, sometimes snow, can all present yet another challenge to young athletes in addition to the competition against one another.
Wind was the complicating factor for the Woodstock Academy girls’ tennis team April 4.
The Centaurs raised their record to 1-1 with a 6-1 victory over Killingly, but it wasn’t easy with the wind gusting over 30 miles per hour on a regular basis.
“A couple of people struggled,” said Woodstock Academy girls’ and boys’ tennis head coach Ann Rathbone. “The wind was howling. Keeping the ball in was difficult, especially (for Killingly), they could not pull back. If you took a full swing, the ball was just gone.”
Fortunately for the Centaurs, they had just come off a 6-1 loss to defending Class M state champ, Joel Barlow, and that match may have steeled the nerves a bit.
“We knew we were a bit more ready for Killingly, having faced Barlow. That could be the toughest team we face all year,” said Rathbone.
The singles players are prevailed in straight sets.
Number one singles player Mari Ruggieri downed Sabrina Berard 6-1, 6-2; Morgan Bassett handled Alyssa Blade 6-2, 6-3; Hannah Darigan prevailed over Isabel Tang, 6-0, 6-0 and Rachel Holden bested Madison Rattray, 6-1, 6-1.
“They needed that sweep,” Rathbone said. “You always want them to play as hard as they can and a couple of them dialed it back a bit, but they had to with the wind.”
The Centaurs also captured two of the three doubles matches with junior Caitlin Sroczenski and freshman Adeline Smith holding court over Allison Levesque and Mackenzie Chatelle in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2 in No. 1 doubles.
The third doubles team of Izetta Asikainen and Emma Durand also posted a 6-0, 6-2 win over Julia Purcell and Taylyn Lemoine.
It was the duo of Sroczenski and Smith that caught Rathbone’s attention in the first week of play.
“I’m thinking that No. 1 combination is maybe set for the year – they play like a No. 1 team,” Rathbone said. “(Smith) has so little experience, but she plays like a No. 1 so why fool with it.”
Sroczenski and Smith had to rally to produce the only victory against Barlow.
They fell behind Claire Lamb and Kaela Klein who captured the first set, 6-3. But the Centaurs duo won the second, 6-2, and then survived a 7-5 tiebreaker to win the third set, 7-6.
“Unbelievable,” said Rathbone. “They played out of their minds. It was incredible to watch. That was a seasoned No. 1 doubles team. They knew exactly what they were doing and we have this freshman, who just started playing this year, making some unbelievable shots. It was the most encouraging part of the day.”
Holden battled at No. 4 singles where Olivia Sassman from Barlow barely held her off, 5-7, 6-4, 10-8.
Ruggieri, Bassett and Darigan all lost in straight sets.
“I felt like we were ready to play them and I was happy with some performances. I thought we could have done better, though. It wasn’t like we couldn’t hit with them, we were hitting with them. We just didn’t play some of our better tennis. I was just hoping for a closer result.”
Rathbone added she didn’t know if her team understood just how good the squad from Redding was.
“I don’t know if the kids really knew (that Barlow was a defending state champ), I mentioned it. I know the parents knew. I would rather see (Barlow) early because if we see them again, it might be later on in the state tournament. I don’t mind playing a tough team like that,” she said.
Boys’ Tennis
The weather also played some tricks on the Woodstock Academy boys’ tennis team.
The Centaurs were supposed to play Bacon Academy April 5, but had the match moved to April 11 due to the threat not only of rain, but ice and snow.
It meant the Centaurs had only one match in the opening week.
Fortunately for Woodstock Academy, it was a good one.
The Centaurs downed Montville on the road April 3, 7-0.
It wasn’t as easy as it sounds.
Two of the Centaurs singles players had to recover from opening set losses.
Matt Tiffany found himself down to Jason Chen of the Indians after falling, 6-3, in the first set. Tiffany was able to do so with a 7-5 victory in the second set and a 6-0 win in the third.
“Matt has never played a singles match. It was his first true singles match (in high school) so he’s still learning to play singles. He’s probably our best doubles player, but that’s where he is on the ladder. Hopefully, he will have a lot of wins,” Rathbone said.
Riley Douglas, at No. 2 singles, was in similar straits when he lost to Ryan Gallagher in the first set, 6-2. He also rallied for a pair of 6-3 victories to win his match.
Luigi Boselli celebrated his birthday with a straight set 6-2, 6-2 win over David Baukus.
“Luigi is from Italy and he’s going to do wonders for us. He is an incredibly great kid to have on the team. We’re really enjoying him and I expect him to get some wins for the team,” Rathbone said.
David Fleck won his match by shutout, 6-0, 6-0, but Rathbone knows that will not always be the case. “David is going to face a couple of tough players, like from East Lyme and Riley is right there, too. We’re pretty solid. I like our chances of doing better,” she said. Aidan Stewart and Stefan Chervenkova won in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3, over Jae Seung Kim and CheukHei Chan. Connor Quinn and Jai Abrams were challenged by Tony Lin and Ethan Thomas in the first set, but they prevailed 7-5 and won the second much easier, 6-2. Evan Haskins and Joe Zhou downed Aaron Nonalya and Aiden Meislitzer, 6-1, 6-1, to conclude the doubles sweep for the Centaurs.
Marc Allard
Sports Information Director
The Woodstock Academy

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