It’s safe to say the weather conditions this spring have not exactly been conducive to outdoor events.
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, that is especially true when it comes to golf.
The sport has been plagued by rain which has led to soggy fairways and little roll.
Early season course prep, such as aeration of the greens, has made putting a challenge as well.
Given those challenges, Woodstock Academy coach Rich Garceau has been happy to see his team persevere thus far.
The Centaurs played two matches at Quinnatisset Country Club last week and posted a 5-2 win over Norwich Free Academy and opened their Eastern Connecticut Conference Division II play with a 3 ½ - 3 ½ tie against Waterford.
“The course conditions because of the rain we have dealt with this spring have been difficult,” Garceau said. “We are dealing with plugged balls and little to no roll off the tees.  It can be mentally exhausting playing in these conditions.  The boys are doing a great job adjusting.”
Senior Mason Stewart has been plugging along despite the obstacles.
He broke 40 for a first time this season against the Wildcats, leading the Centaurs with a 3-over par 39 and followed that up by going one stroke better in the tie with the Lancers.
“Mason Stewart is my old war horse.  He put up that 2-over against Waterford (April 25) but in many ways struggled to get around the course.  He scrambled more than once to get up and down but never gave up.  He fought the course all the way around but his performance really helped us avoid the loss,” Garceau said.
Garceau has been at the helm of the Centaurs for 16 years.
He has only been a part of two ties, something he admittedly does not enjoy see happen.
But he almost expected it.
“Coming in, their scoring average was a mere six-tenths of a stroke difference from the Woodstock scoring average.  When you divide that out by the four scores we use in a match, a tie was always a real possibility.  I told our guys the day before the Waterford match to expect a 9-hole fight to take a win,” Garceau said.
Ryan Sadosky, Waterford’s No. 1 player, could easily wind up as the Eastern Connecticut Conference champ.
He fired an even-par 36 at the Centaurs while the Lancers No.3 player, Caroline Petchark, who wanted to return to playing on the boys’ team this season after playing on the girls side last year (the Lancers are not fielding a girls’ golf team this season) added a 42. Petchark will play Division II golf for Eckard College in Florida next season.
The Centaurs (2-1-1, 0-0-1 ECC Division II) hung tough as their No. 2 man, Owen Borski, carded a 42 and won his match with Waterford’s Nick Hynes (47). Robert Mahue recorded a birdie and finished with a 44 to split his match with Joe Lathrop and freshman Kyle Brennan, who finished with a 9-over 45, downed Danny Torres.
The two teams finished even in aggregate score, 169 strokes each, to finish in the tie.
“It was a fun match to witness,” Garceau said. “I am always looking for improvement, regardless of our win/loss record.  We bested our best score of the season by 10 strokes and doing that on a wet course just shows the improvement of our golfers.”
The scores were a little higher against NFA.
Jake Starr followed Stewart with a 46 while both Borski and Brennan finished with 47s.
Girls’ Capture 2nd Win
The Woodstock Academy girls’ golf team was back on the road in their only match of the week.
The Centaurs first home match will be May 3 against Auburn, Mass., at Quinnatisset.
Kailey LaChappelle fired a 49 and Maria Santucci finished with a 53 to lead the Centaurs to a 210-232 win over Bacon Academy at the Chanticlair Golf Club April 24.
Katherine Harrington and Linda St. Laurent both pitched in with 54s for Woodstock Academy (2-0, 2-0 ECC).
Marc Allard
Sports Information Director
The Woodstock Academy

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Just over a month ago the Prep Basketball Twitter feed was set ablaze when senior forward Kareem Reid of Putnam Science Academy announced he would re-class into his original class of 2019.
This left the door open for Division 1 schools with scholarships still available to reach out regarding the lefty big man on the Mustangs. Since late March, Kareem has received offers from more than a dozen D1 programs looking for size around the rim. With open gyms in full-swing for PSA, coaches have been pouring in to take a look at present Mustangs while also getting a look at future ones as well.
A frequent flyer in the Putnam Science gymnasium has been St. Bonaventure out of the Atlantic 10 conference that currently have former Mustangs Kyle Lofton and Osun Osunniyi on the roster. Coach Mark Schmidt was in April 24 along with Fairfield University to watch Reid while Villanova stopped in to watch Junior guard Hassan Diarra.
St. Bonaventure’s Schmidt said he sees Reid’s length “is truly a gift, something we saw in Osun when we evaluated him.” Schmidt added:  “He can really finish around the rim and he’s intriguing that’s for sure.”
Atlantic 10 foe VCU (Virginia Commonwealth University) has been labeled as one of the front-runners to land Reid over the last couple of weeks along with the University of New Mexico. Following St. Bonaventure’s lead, Gardner-Webb, San Diego and Georgia all reached out to PSA about Reid and what he can bring to the table.
Former Mustang Jose Perez, who plays for Gardner-Webb, did his best to convince his former teammate to join him, saying on Twitter, “Come on, big fella, we already won one chip together, why not do it again?” There is no time-table on when Kareem Reid will make his decision but with the surprise announcement coming a month ago, several teams have flocked to 18 Maple St. in Putnam to see if they have a chance at getting not only a 6-foot, 10-inch big man with terrific basketball skills but an even better kid.
Josh Sanchas
Sports Information Director
Putnam Science Academy

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caption:

Striding In
Tommy Li strides safely into third base in a 6-1 win over Ellis Tech last week in Danielson. Photo by Marc Allard.



Eric Preston knew the first ball he hit was going to go a long way.
He was hoping the second one would as well.
The senior catcher for the Centaurs muscled not one, but two balls, over the fence in left field at Ellis Tech in Danielson and his two homers led Woodstock Academy to a 6-1 victory April 23.
The Centaurs also played two tight games against Bacon Academy and Waterford last week, but ended up on the wrong side of both and will go into a relatively light week with a 7-4 record. The Centaurs play only two games this week against New London on Tuesday (the game ended too late for this edition) and Fitch May 3.
Last week’s game with the Eagles was moved to Ellis Tech due to wet grounds at the Bentley Athletic Complex.
That was fine with Preston who feasted on the shorter porch.
“I hit one home run last year, but not two in a game,” Preston said with a smile. “I’m pretty happy about it.”
The Centaurs took the early lead when winning pitcher Tommy Li singled, was sacrificed to second, moved to third on a Luke Mathewson base hit and scored on a Nathan John (13 RBIs this season) single.
Ellis Tech starting pitcher Cameron L’Heureux kept the Centaurs at bay until the third inning when Preston got a hold of a two-strike pitch.
“I knew that was gone for sure,” Preston said.
Three innings later, with the Centaurs up 4-0, Preston took Ellis Tech reliever Codi Beshaw deep for a two-run homer.
“I was a little nervous, it started dipping a little, but it went over,” Preston said.
Preston said he is getting more comfortable at the plate.
He was hitting over .400 until an 0-for-3 effort against Waterford dropped him back to .375.
“It’s nice when he relaxes at the plate, because then the ball travels. He gets in trouble if he tries to do too much,” said Woodstock Academy coach Brian Murphy.
Li did the rest against the Eagles.
“He’s been key for our team and for him to come out and deal for our team like he did is all we can ask for,” Preston said.
Li allowed the Eagles (6-2) just four hits and struck out six.
“He pitched well,” Murphy said. “He was around the plate all day, worked his breaking pitch nice and obviously, his fast ball looked better after the breaking pitch. It was a good team win.”
The junior added RBI singles in the fourth and sixth innings to back his pitching effort.
“Tommy helped himself out. He had some big hits and he’s a gamer. It was Tommy Li’s day,” Murphy said.
It was a game that scared Murphy.
The Centaurs were coming off a long spring break trip to Myrtle Beach, S.C., and had the tough games against Bacon Academy and Waterford still to come.
Fortunately, Woodstock Academy did catch a break when rain postponed its scheduled game against Fitch, moving it May 3.
“That would have stretched our pitching out a lot,” Murphy said.
Instead, he was able to throw Mathewson (4-1) against the Bobcats.
Mathewson allowed only one earned run, but mistakes cost the Centaurs.
Bacon Academy scored three unearned runs in the fifth inning and Woodstock Academy was not able to recover, losing 4-3.
Preston. Mathewson and John knocked in the runs for the Centaurs.
Preston is best known as a catcher.
But he’s done pretty well on the mound this season.
Preston has got the call in, arguably, the two toughest games of the season for the Centaurs and he has shown up.
The offense just has not backed him up.
He suffered a 2-0 loss to Ledyard, one of the top-ranked teams in the state earlier in the season, and  April 25, he held Waterford to three hits only to suffer a 2-1 loss to the Lancers.
Jacob Hernandez singled and scored the only run for Woodstock Academy on an RBI single by John in the fourth inning.
Marc Allard
Sports Information Director
The Woodstock Academy

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