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Senior Day
From left: Everett Michalski, Jonah Libby, Zach Girard, Tyler Green, John Pokorny and Will Chambers were all honored on Senior Day for the Woodstock boys’ lacrosse team prior to its match with Montville. Photo by Sean Saucier/Woodstock Academy.
Girls' Golf
The Woodstock girls' golf team was all smiles after its first win of the season last week against Bacon Academy. Photo by Adam Bottone/Woodstock Academy.
captions, page 11:
Girls' Golf
The Woodstock girls' golf team was all smiles after its first win of the season last week against Bacon Academy. Photo by Adam Bottone/Woodstock Academy.
Gets Ready
Sydney Schuler gets ready to return a volley against Lyman Memorial. The senior and her teammates were all successful in a 7-0 win over the Bulldogs. Photo by Marc Allard.
On 8th Hole
Senior Kyle Brennan tees off on the 8th hole at the Norwich Golf Course in a match against NFA, Stonington and Montville. Photo by Rich Garceau/Woodstock Academy.
It was not a good beginning of the season for the Woodstock girls’ golf team. The Centaurs lost senior Mia Dang, the defending Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference Division II individual state champion to season-ending hip surgery after she suffered an injury in hockey.
Add to that another senior who transferred and one who did not decide to come out and the team was left with one returning varsity player, Jillian Marcotte.
But things have gradually filled in and the Centaurs picked up their first win of the season last week when they got past Bacon Academy, 242-273.
“The progress is coming along nicely,” said veteran coach Earl Semmelrock. “Although the weather has not been cooperative this spring, we have been able to get to the range and work on things. I think that is where we are seeing the most improvement. More reps will lead to more consistency and better scores.”
The Centaurs (1-2) had three players all come back to the clubhouse as medalists against the Bobcats.
Marcotte, and juniors Shannon Cunniff and Ella Musumeci, all carded 57s for the Centaurs. Two late-arriving newcomers helped the team earlier in the week. Marcotte led the way with a 56 in a 217-255 loss to NFA. But Lily Bottone, in her first competitive round of golf, finished as the No. 2 player on the team with a 64. Musumeci was a stroke back of Bottone but she was followed by another freshman, Sophie Gronski.
Semmelrock was not only concerned about the performance of his team this season but also whether he would have a team at all.
The Centaurs still have 11 matches in the month of May.
But for the young team, it will still be a case of the little things first
Boys’ Golf: Busy Week after Break
It was a busy return from spring break for the Woodstock boys’ golf team. Cold temps, a heavy mist and gusty winds affected play.
The Centaurs posted mixed results in the five matches they played in the three days.
They put together a pair of wins over Stonington including a 5-2 victory April 28, bringing their record to 4-4.
Senior Kyle Brennan shot a 39 and junior Davis Simpson added a 44.
Logan Rawson also added a team point and the Centaurs picked up two more team points as they edged the Bears in strokes, 181-182.
Woodstock also downed Stonington, 4 1/2- 2 1/2 in a quad-match April 27.
Brennan finished with a 41 and Simpson a 43 in that match.
The Centaurs also squared off against Montville and NFA but lost both those matches by identical 5-2 scores.
The team began the week with the match against E. Lyme, losing 6-1. Simpson scored the only point for Woodstock as he won his match and finished as medalist in the match with a 40. Brennan added a 42 for the Centaurs but lost by a stroke to Tyler Moore.
Woodstock also lost the two team points, but also by a slim margin, 180-184, to the Vikings.
Girls’ Tennis: Centaurs Back on the Court
Prior to spring break, the Woodstock girls’ tennis team had played one match and that was back on April 5.
“We had a lot of matches postponed because of COVID on the team and issues like that, but we’re going to get out there and play strong now,” said senior Alexa Fernandez.
“The downside is that we haven’t played a lot of matches, but the plus side is that we were able to practice a lot. We’ve worked on a lot of skill stuff and strategy and those kinds of things. I talked to the girls (Friday) about being to take what we’ve been practicing and apply it to a game which is a unique skill set in itself,” said coach Keith Atchinson.
Atchinson said the team has also been working on certain skills, especially in singles.
“We’ve been hitting a lot of balls at our opponents and haven’t tried to move them. We’ve been talking about not hitting down the middle of the court too much and when we have the opportunity to put shots away and finish points, we have to take advantage of those,” Atchinson said.
The girls put together 7-0 victories over NFA and Lyman Memorial. April 30 the four singles players were dominant.
Addy Smith, Jackie Trudeau, Sydney Schuler and Alexa Fernandez all won in straight sets and the four only surrendered two games in the eight sets played.
Atchinson anticipated his singles group would be strong.
Fernandez said playing away at Killingly High, due to the fact that the courts at the Bentley Athletic Complex are unplayable, has not been such a bad thing because Killingly High has six courts.
The lone blemish of the return was a 5-2 loss to Fitch earlier in the week.
The first doubles team and the third doubles team of Stella Atchinson and Emma Massey delivered the only successes the Centaurs experienced against the Falcons.
The results left the Centaurs with a 3-1 overall record and 1-0 in Div. II of the ECC.
Boys’ Tennis: Centaurs Squeak 1 Out
Woodstock coach Siana Green was thinking it would be a relatively short Friday afternoon. After all, their new home away from home at Killingly High School boasts six courts, meaning all but one of the matches, can be played simultaneously.
But in the unpredictable world of high school athletics, expect the unexpected.
Three of the matches went to third sets and the first singles match took three hours to complete.
When all was said and done, the Centaurs escaped with a 4-3 win over Waterford.
“We figured Waterford was the same skill level as us; we both beat Montville 4-3. It was very nerve-wracking going into this because we felt this was the team we had to beat this year,” Green said.
The win raised the Centaurs’ record to 4-3.
Evan Haskins, who recently committed to play tennis next year for the University of St. Joseph’s in W. Hartford, had quite the tussle with Ian Balfour at first singles. “Every single set was 3-3, 4-4, etc.…It was a nail biter in every set,” Green said.
Haskins pulled out the first set 7-6 thanks to a 7-5 tiebreaker. Balfour captured the second set 6-4, but Haskins came back to win by taking the third set, 6-4. He capped off the victory with an ace on his final serve.
While Haskins had to battle, Gabriel Viau had a walk in the park, winning 6-0, 6-1.
Joe Zhou lost in one of those three sets battles, 2-6, 7-5, 3-6 while Jai Abrams delivered a much-needed 6-3, 6-1 win at fourth singles.
The second doubles team of Ari Abrams and Tyler Chamberlin posted the other win in another marathon, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (8-6). That second doubles team posted the only victory in the other match of the week for the Centaurs. Chamberlin and Ari Abrams posted a 0-6, 6-4, 10-7 (pro-set tiebreaker) win over Malloch Allison and Noah Freeman of Ledyard. Unfortunately, the Colonels won the rest and posted a 6-1 victory.
The loss dropped Woodstock to 1-2 in Div. II of the ECC.
Baseball: Ericson blanks E. Lyme
Sometimes, it’s not bad to be a freshman. Take Brady Ericson for example.
Against E. Lyme, “He’s just taking the ball and pitching,” said coach Brian Murphy. “Sometimes, the less thinking, the better. All of our kids work really hard at this and he’s one of them. I tell them all the time, ‘Just go out there and play.’ Go hit, go pitch, go field- relax and play. That’s the spot he’s in. He’s just an unbelievable addition to the team.”
Ericson delivered 6 2/3 innings and allowed just three hits and struck out 11.
His effort led the Centaurs to a 2-0 win against the team that knocked Woodstock out of the ECC tournament last year.
April 27 Woodstock (8-3) had a less than stellar game in a 13-1 loss to Fitch.
“I didn’t pull any punches,” Murphy said. “We didn’t play with heart.”
Twenty games may not seem like a long season. So Murphy reminded his team how to warm up, how to celebrate, congratulate each other and he made some changes in the dugout with the bench players.
“I mixed up the lineup. I took some people out of their comfort zone,” Murphy said.
Ericson shut down the Vikings (7-5) and the Centaurs came up with the only two runs the freshman needed.
With two outs in the fourth, Zach Roethlein singled to right field. He advanced to third on a Jackson Goetz single to left and came around on a Marcus McGregor single to center. Woodstock added an insurance run in the fifth, again with two outs. Maxx Corradi singled to right and stole second base. Ethan Davis followed with a single to left that plated Corradi for his ninth run batted in of the season.
After committing six errors in the loss to the Falcons, Murphy considered the “D” April 30 to be “spectacular.”
Boys’ Lacrosse: Tournament Bound
There was plenty of motivation April 30 for the Woodstock boys’ lacrosse team.
When it took the field, the Centaurs wanted to make up for a loss to NFA in their previous match. It was also Senior Day.
And a win meant they qualified for the state tournament.
The Centaurs shook off any distractions and walked away with a 15-3 win over Montville to raise their record to 7-4 on the season and guarantee themselves a Class M state tournament berth.
“We want to extend the season for as long as possible and we just gave our seniors more games to play before they graduate,” said coach Jason Tata.
Prior to the match, the Centaurs honored seniors John Pokorny, Jonah Libby, Zach Girard, Tyler Green, Will Chambers and Everett Michalski.
They have only one more match that will come up on May 10 against Waterford.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy
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