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Centaurs fall
in baseball
championship
The baseball team continued to have its troubles against East Lyme this season as the Vikings scored six runs in the first inning and handed the Centaurs a 9-3 loss in the EaCC tournament championship game at Dodd Stadium.
It was the third win by the Vikings over the Centaurs this season.
“We’ve had a great year and they are a class act,” said coach Brian Murphy. “We know we have to play a clean, good, game against them. We know we have to pitch well, field well and hit well against them. We just can’t give a good team like that a 6-0 jump on us.”
The Vikings loaded the bases in the top of the first inning and a bases-loaded walk to Alex Dreyfus brought home the first East Lyme run.
Three more would follow when Owen Elmer laced a triple to center field and Quinn Killoy knocked him in with a single.
A Blake Biggs’ double brought home Killoy with the sixth and final run of the rally.
The Centaurs didn’t give up as they put together a 10-hit attack and scored the three runs.
Eric Mathewson had an RBI single in the first inning; Brady Ericson added an RBI fielder’s choice in the third and Caleb Simoneau had a pinch-hit RBI single in the seventh. Mathewson finished with three hits and Maxx Corradi had a pair of hits including a double.
There was a bright spot. Freshman Logan Coutu was brought on in the fifth inning and needed just 25 pitches to record eight outs, giving up just one hit, and striking out one.
“He had a good year on JV and I’ve seen him pitch before but you never know what you are going to get when you put a freshman in that position. He did a tremendous job and we’re really impressed. He pounded the zone. He’s going to have a great future at Woodstock Academy. We’re excited for him and he’s not done yet. Hopefully, we make a run in the States and now we have an idea of how he competes,” Brian Murphy said of the youngster.
The Centaurs (19-4) was scheduled to play on Tuesday (the game ended too late for this edition) in a Class L state tournament first-round game against Masuk from Monroe.
The Centaurs are the fourth seed in Class L while the Panthers are No. 29. Masuk finished with an 8-12 record but lost five of its last six regular season games.
Earlier in the week, the top-seeded Centaurs advanced to the ECC championship game with a narrow,7-6, victory over the 13th-seeded Fitch Falcons.
Marcus McGregor knocked in three runs for the Centaurs while Riley O’Brien and Keon Lamarche added two RBI each in the win over the Falcons. O’Brien, Mathewson and Ericson each contributed two hits to the Woodstock Academy 10-hit attack.
Ericson gave up his first earned runs of the season on the mound, four, to the Falcons but still improved to 6-0 while Mathewson picked up the save.
On Wednesday, Woodstock advanced to the semifinals with a 5-1 win over No. 8 Bacon Academy.
The Centaurs followed the formula against the Bobcats that has seen them win 19 games this season.
Strong pitching with some timely hitting and they never turn down a little help.
Senior Kaden Murphy improved to 7-1 on the mound this season as he pitched six innings, allowing just the one run and four hits while striking out six Bobcats.
Mathewson came on to record the final three outs in succession and pick up the save.
The Centaurs only mustered four hits but were helped by eight Bacon Academy errors.
Those miscues by the Bobcats began to come into play early as Corradi led off the bottom of the first inning by reaching on an error. He stole second and advanced to third on an error, coming around to score when Ericson reached on an error.
Ericson went to third on the play when another error ensued and he came around to score on a wild pitch.
Murphy held the 2-0 advantage intact before getting a bit more of a cushion in the fifth inning.
A triple by Corradi and two walks loaded the bases.
A ground out forced Corradi at home but Carter Morissette followed with an RBI single. O’Brien made it 4-0 with a run-scoring single of his own and Lamarche reached on an error which allowed McGregor to score the final run of the game for Woodstock.
The two wins meant the Centaurs had to play three games in three days which is never easy.
“It’s something all the (ECC) teams have to do. The ECC did it for a reason, so that we would have games the week before the state tournament. As you get into it, we all want to win it. It’s a tough conference. I have a lot of respect for all of the teams in the conference, East Lyme especially and we just fell a little short again. That’s two years in a row, which hurts, but I can’t fault the kids for their effort. They gave us everything they had,” Brian Murphy said.
Tennis
The end of the season came fast.  “It did,” said boys’ tennis coach Siana Green. “I feel like every year it goes by faster and faster and this year was a short year for us, match-wise.”
The boys’ team played only 14 matches, only 13 in the regular season as opposed to the 18-to-20 regular season matches that the program usually plays.
The Centaurs boys, seeded 12th, finished their season down by the shoreline against a familiar foe, No. 5 East Lyme, in a Class M state tournament first round match.
With only eight players, the Centaurs had to forfeit two of the seven matches that comprise a high school match.
That was tough in most cases, impossible against East Lyme which downed the Centaurs, 7-0.
The loss meant the Centaurs finished with a 7-7 record.
The Vikings won in straight sets in all five matches that were played and pitched shutouts in two of them.
Woodstock senior Cormac Nielsen won a game, but lost his No. 1 singles match to Jairui Peng, 1-6, 0-6. Tyler Chamberlin also won a game, but lost to Ajay Rana 0-6, 1-6 and Diego Rodriguez fell to Eric Lovering, 0-6, 2-6.
Now, comes the offseason work for Green: Finding more players. “I know I have one eighth-grader, possibly two, who take lessons. I’ve also been trying to talk a former player to come back so I’ve been working on a few things,” she said.
The girls' tennis team didn’t have to travel down to East Lyme on Friday like their boys counterparts did.
They did, however, still have to play the Vikings.
The 10th-seeded Centaurs hosted No. 23 East Lyme in a Class L state tournament qualifying round match on Friday .
While it was at home, the results were the same as East Lyme posted the 7-0 win.
The Vikings took all but one of the matches in straight sets.
The team of Gianna Musumeci and Kerrigan Reynolds fought hard at second doubles and forced a third set. But Kylee Johnston and Gracie Davis were up to the task for East Lyme as they held on for a 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 victory.
Peyton Bentley battled hard but lost at fourth singles to Avery Rindel, 6-2, 7-6.
The Centaurs top singles player Ellie Bishop-Klee and top doubles team of Paige Owens and Stella Atchinson fell short in their final matches of the season and for Owens and Atchinson, the only seniors on the team, the final match of their high school career.
Woodstock ended the season with an 8-6 record.
Softball
Winning an ECC softball tournament game is no easy task. Just ask coach Jason Gerum.
“I can’t remember the last time (Woodstock Academy) has won an ECC tournament game and, to be honest, I haven’t won an ECC tournament game since I finished at Griswold in 2005. It’s good for the program. We’ve worked really hard over the years. That was what was great about winning the Divisional championship. There have been a lot of firsts this year,” Gerum said.
The Centaurs did win an ECC tournament first-round game.
Unfortunately, that put the Centaurs into a semifinal game with top-seeded Waterford last week. The Lancers ended Woodstock’s hopes as they posted an 11-1 victory over the Centaurs at Griswold High School.
But it was fun while it lasted.
Senior Elizabeth Morgis has been one of the most consistent bats in the Centaurs lineup all season. She hit .435 and drove in 13 runs in the regular season for Woodstock and the hot bat, fortunately, did not go cold as the postseason got underway.
In the first-round ECC tournament game, Morgis delivered a pair of two-run singles to lead the fourth-seeded Centaurs to a 6-2 win over No. 5 Ledyard.
Woodstock dodged a bullet in the first inning against the Colonels as a lead-off double and a pair of walks failed to result in a run for Ledyard.
Centaurs’ catcher Maddie Martinez made the play of the inning when she dropped a pitch from Lexi Thompson, quickly retrieved it and managed to tag out Ledyard’s Faith Dalton attempting to score.
Woodstock then gave Thompson a little cushion as Sarah McArthur (3-for-4) singled and later scored on a passed ball.
Martinez reached on an error, Delaney Anderson walked and Morgis delivered the first of her two-run singles.
“I’m pretty happy. I just had to stay level on the pitcher, both of them actually (The Colonels started Kyra Manning and brought in Madi Miller in the second inning). I just watched the ball come in and watched it go out,” Morgis said.
She came back up in the fourth inning with pinchrunner Campbell Favreau and Delaney Anderson on base and delivered again, another two-run single, to left field.
Avery Collin added an RBI single in the third inning.
“One of the things that has kept us alive - and we have a pretty good team - is having bats step up one through nine. We have Liz in the five spot, Avery steps up in the bottom of the order, Ainsley (Morse) has stepped up at different times this season. We have some good senior bats that even if they weren’t in the top four (of the order), they are getting it done,” Gerum said.
Thompson picked up the win as she allowed just four hits, struck out four and walked six.
Woodstock (15-7) looked like it was going to get something going early against Waterford.
McArthur and Thompson both singled in the first inning but a double play ended the threat.
Waterford quickly took the lead in the bottom of the first inning when it posted four runs.
The Lancers added another in the third and six in the fourth to guarantee themselves a berth in the ECC tournament championship game.
The only run for the Centaurs came in the fifth when McArthur singled, advanced on the throw, went to third on a ground out and scored on a Thompson single.
McArthur and Thompson both finished with two hits in the game.
The Centaurs didn’t have too long a wait to get back on to the field as they hosted Stratford in a Class L first-round state tournament game on Tuesday (the game ended too late for this edition).
Girl’ Golf
Woodstock successfully defended the home turf last week with a pair of wins.
The Centaurs downed Stonington, 222-232 and followed that up with a 205-250 win over Bacon Academy.
The win improved Woodstock’s record to 11-3 overall and 9-2 in the ECC.
Senior Maya Orbegozo had one of her better days of the season against the Bobcats.
She fired a five-over par 41 to take medalist honors.
It came on a nice day to do so as the Centaurs also celebrated Senior Day after the match with Bacon Academy.
Orbegozo, Shannon Cunniff and Ella Musumeci were all honored by their teammates for their dedication to the program.
“We had a nice little celebration and recognized the kids for their contribution to the program. Shannon and Ella played all the years that they could. They contributed to the team and really enjoyed the experience. Maya was our best player this year and I had a long conversation with her as to where I felt she could have been had she played last year (Orbegozo chose to play spring soccer),” said coach Earl Semmelrock.
Lily Bottone finished with a 52 in the match while Musumeci, Cunniff and Bella Mawson all carded 56 totals.
“We’re getting a contribution from some of our younger players now. That part of it is good. Bella has been coming on and is one of the girls who will most likely play (in the upcoming ECC championship match). She’s a really good athlete, a really good soccer player, she wants feedback all the time and wants to get better,” Semmelrock said.
Orbegozo was also the medalist early in the week against Stonington as she was the only golfer to break 50, carding a 49 for the Centaurs.
Musumeci added a 55 and Sophie Gronski carded a 57 in the win over the Bears.
The Centaurs finished up this week with a match against Killingly (the match ended too late for this edition).
That match could be very important for the Centaurs if they want to play beyond the ECC tournament.
Woodstock is on the outside looking in at the state tournament right now.
“We have to put our best score of the year up. We brought our differential down two shots posting our best score of the year (the 205 versus Bacon Academy). If we can do better a little than that, we need something around 195, it could happen,” Semmelrock said.
His Centaurs go right back to Connecticut National on Wednesday for the ECC championship match.
“We will see how they perform on Tuesday and then we play the ECC’s which is where we all hope we have a chance to beat Norwich Free Academy,” Semmelrock said. “I don’t know what to expect because I’ve never played the women’s tees at Connecticut National. I don’t know how difficult or easy the course is. I have no frame of reference.”
Boys’ Lacrosse
Jared Nielsen recorded his 100th career point and Zach Gessner had a goal and two assists for the boys lacrosse team but it fell short to North Haven in a Class M state tournament qualifying round match Friday, 9-4.
It was the final match of the season for the Centaurs who finished 7-10.
Dylan Phillips and Lucas Theriaque (1 assist) also scored for the Centaurs.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy

Outfielder Keon Lamarche gets ready to round first on a fly ball which was, unfortunately, caught by East Lyme.
 in the Eastern Connecticut Conference baseball championship game Friday at Dodd Stadium in Norwich.

Freshman catcher Tanner Graham crosses home plate at Dodd Stadium.
 in Norwich with one of Woodstock Academy’s three runs in a 9-3 loss to East Lyme in the Eastern Connecticut Conference baseball championship game Friday

Sophomore Brady Ericson is thrown out at first base.
 trying to prevent a double play from being completed by East Lyme in the Eastern Connecticut Conference baseball championship game Friday at Dodd Stadium in Norwich.
Photos by Marc Allard)

ECC baseball all-stars, from left: Jack Tyler (ECC Sportsmanship Award); Riley O’Brien (ECC Div. II Honorable Mention All-Star); Brady Ericson (ECC 1st team Div. II All-Star); Carter Morissette (ECC 1st team Div. II All-Star and ECC Scholar-Athlete); Eric Mathewson (ECC 1st team Div. II All-Star); Marcus Mcgregor (ECC 1st team Div. II All-Star) and Kaden Murphy (ECC 1st team Div. II All-Star) were honored prior to their semifinal game with Fitch at Dodd Stadium last week. Photo by Brian Murphy.

First doubles team of Stella Atchinson and Paige Owens get ready for a serve from East Lyme in Class L state tournament play.

Ellie Bishop-Klee returns a volley in the No. 1 singles battle of the Class L state tournament qualifying round match versus East Lyme Friday at the Pomfret School Courts.
Photos by Marc Allard.


The girls’ golf team honored its three senior players, from left: Ella Musumeci, Shannon Cunniff and Maya Orbegozo last week. Photo by Earl Semmelrock.

Softball catcher Maddie Martinez blocks the plate as Ledyard’s Faith Dalton attempts to score. Photo by Marc Allard.

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