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Roundup
Girls’ tennis
team begins
with wins
The singles players on the Woodstock Academy girls’ tennis team had a pair of nice matches to start the season.
For the second day and second match in a row, the four singles players all scored victories early last week leading the Centaurs past Lyman Memorial, 5-2.
The win raised the Centaurs record to 2-0 overall and in Div. II of the ECC.
All four won in straight sets with Ellie Bishop-Klee handing Nina Gardella a 6-2, 6-1 defeat at first singles.
Freshman Wynter Worth was a winner again with a 6-3,6-4 decision over Emma Collins and Emma Massey posted a 6-2, 6-2 win over Naomi Duhaime.
Maeve Lusignan joined the singles against the Bulldogs and posted a 7-5, 6-2 win over Nevaeh Shifrin.
Woodstock also got a win in doubles from senior captains Paige Owens and Stella Atchinson who downed Aria Nowosaid and Amelia Wentworth at first doubles 6-1, 6-4.
The other two doubles teams took their opponents to a tiebreaker. Gianna Musumeci and Kerrigan Reynolds fell 6-0, 6-7 (1), 10-3. Kate McArthur and Linnea Barlow were just nipped 4-6, 6-2, 10-8.
The win over the Bulldogs followed on the heels of a 5-2 win over Norwich Free Academy in the Centaurs’ season opener.
Bishop-Klee, Worth, Massey and Peyton Bentley all scored single victories for Woodstock.
That’s especially true for someone like Worth who is a freshman this season playing second singles.
The lineup is basically set as the switch of Bentley to Lusignan at fourth singles was due to spring break issues as Bentley was not available for the Lyman match but was key against NFA.
Bentley had the toughest test as she just got past the Wildcats’ Vianey Hinostratz 3-6, 6-1, 10-8. Musumeci and Reynolds also scored a 6-1, 6-1 straight-set victory in third doubles.
Softball
Woodstock senior Lexi Thompson may be better known for her pitching. But her bat is pretty potent as well.
Thompson proved that again on Wednesday as she hit a three-run homer and a run-scoring double to lead the Centaurs softball team to a 9-6 win over Stonington.
It was one of four games the Centaurs played during a busy spring break week.
Woodstock opened the week with a 13-1 win over Griswold, followed by the Stonington victory and then posted a 15-2 win over East Catholic on Thursday and an 11-7 win over Montville Saturday. The Centaurs are now 5-2 overall.
Their reward for all that work: They get to go back to school this week.
Stonington had taken a 4-3 lead in the top of the fourth inning Wednesday, but it was to be short-lived. Ainsley Morse drew a walk and Mia Pannone beat out a bunt to put runners on first and second.
Maddie Martinez, with two outs, hit a line drive that caromed off a Stonington infielder’s glove and into the outfield which allowed Morse to score the tying run. Thompson then put the Centaurs into the lead for good.
She took a pitch to the yard, sending it over the fence in left field for a three-run homer that put Woodstock up, 7-4.
It was Thompson’s third home run in the first five games for the Centaurs.
Thompson also later added a run-scoring double as the Centaurs added a couple of runs in the sixth inning to give them a little additional cushion.
The Bears made Thompson work in the seventh inning when they scored a pair of runs. Thompson only allowed four hits, but walked eight, and threw 148 pitches.
She finished with 10 strikeouts.
Elizabeth Morgis had two hits and two runs batted in and Sarah McArthur added a pair of hits and a run batted in as well as playing solid defense at shortstop.
For the Centaurs, it was their fifth game in 10 days.
Woodstock opened the week by making the most of its six hits in Jewett City as it rolled to the one-sided win over Griswold. Savannah Schley and Thompson led the way offensively as both drove in a pair of runs for the Centaurs while McArthur was the only player in the lineup with two hits.
Thompson allowed only three hits in the circle and struck out 16 Wolverine hitters.
The Centaurs were also dominant against the Eagles in Manchester on Thursday.
They opened a 7-1 lead by the fourth inning thanks to contributions from several seniors. Morse had four hits in five trips to the plate with two runs scored and two runs batted in.
Martinez was 3-for-3 against the Eagles including a double and an RBI while Avery Collin hit her second home run of the season, a solo shot in the second inning.
The Centaurs added eight more runs in the fifth and sixth innings, getting some help from East Catholic pitching which provided seven walks and hit three batters in the two innings.
Thompson got a break on Saturday from the pitcher’s circle as sophomore Grace Delsanto got a chance to start. Delsanto went the distance against Montville, giving up just five hits, while striking out 12 and walking only two.
It was not a pretty game as the Centaurs committed six errors and of the seven runs Montville scored, only one was earned.
Montville’s defense was even more suspect as it committed 13 miscues in the game leading to a host of the 11 Woodstock runs.
Thompson had two hits and two RBIs while Pannone scored three times in the contest.
Baseball
Two pitchers with almost the exact same pitching line. That’s what Woodstock hurlers Kaden Murphy and Brady Ericson did on Thursday and Saturday respectively.
The really nice thing for Woodstock coach Brian Murphy was that the line both shared was pretty impressive.
Kaden Murphy went the distance and allowed just two hits, two runs, struck out 12 and walked one in a 7-2 win over Bacon Academy on Thursday.
Ericson’s line was almost identical. The sophomore also pitched a complete game, gave up two hits, struck out 12 and walked one although he did pitch the shutout in a 3-0 win over Killingly Saturday.
Ericson has gone out and got it in his three appearances this spring on the mound.
He has a 2-0 record and has not allowed a run in 15 innings of pitching. The lefthander has allowed only six hits with 26 strikeouts and three walks.
He also came into the game hitting .500 in the first five games.
He didn’t get a hit but he did give himself a 1-0 lead over Killingly in the first inning when his sacrifice fly scored Eric Mathewson who tripled.
The Centaurs (5-1) got another run in the third inning with Ericson playing a key role again.
Maxx Corradi singled and stole second and, after a pop out, came around when Ericson reached on a Killingly error.
The only other run came in the fifth when Mathewson singled, advanced on a passed ball, went to third on a ground out and scored on a Marcus McGregor single.
There was a tense moment in the seventh — Ericson went into the seventh inning with a no-hitter.
Brady Zadora led off for Killingly with a short pop into right field.
Unfortunately, Ashton Goodwin lashed a ball hard into the hole at third to break up the no-hitter for Killingly. Andreas Lopez followed with a single to center and Mason Frazer reached on an error to load the bases.
The coach went with his gut. Ericson stayed in and struck out the next two hitters to record the win.
There was a little more breathing room in the win over Bacon Academy.
The Centaurs scored four first-inning runs and Kaden Murphy made sure those held up in the win in Colchester.
It was the first win of the season for Woodstock in Div. II of the ECC.
The Centaurs broke out to the early advantage thanks to a pair of singles by Mathewson and Ericson.
McGregor knocked the first run home with a single and Carter Morissette was hit by a pitch to load the bases.
Lamarche made it 2-0 when he drew a bases-loaded walk and Kaden Murphy helped his own cause with a two-run single to center.
Kaden Murpy’s only rough patch came in the bottom of the first inning when he yielded both runs scored against him.
The Centaurs got one back in the second inning on back-to-back doubles by Mathewson and Ericson.
McGregor knocked home his second run of the game when he doubled scoring Corradi, who was one of four Centaur batters who finished with a pair of hits, in the fourth. McGregor came around to score the final run of the game for Woodstock on an error.
It was a much better outing than the first game of the spring break week for Woodstock.
The Centaurs fell behind early against East Lyme and never recovered as the Vikings posted a 12-3 win Tuesday.
East Lyme (4-0) scored five runs in the first inning and one each in the second and third innings.
Woodstock tried to fight its way back in early.
Ericson reached on an error in the bottom of the first inning and scored on a double by Morissette.
The Centaurs got another run in the bottom of the third when Mathewson doubled, advanced to third on an Ericson single and got himself in by stealing home plate.
Woodstock did cut it to just a four-run deficit when Caleb Simoneau reached on a dropped third strike with two out. Corradi reached on an error with Simoneau going to third on the play. The freshman came home on a Mathewson single.
But the Vikings put the contest away with four runs in the top of the sixth.
Boys’ Tennis
The number of players available continues to be a challenge, but despite being down two singles players, the Centaurs boys’ tennis team was able to finish the spring break week with a 1-1 record on the court.
The Centaurs ran into another ECC team suffering from a similar numbers crunch, Norwich Free Academy.
It worked out to be an even match, numbers-wise, as neither the Centaurs nor the Wildcats could field second and third doubles teams.
As far as results, it was one-sided as Woodstock swept all five matches that were played to improve to 5-0 on the season.
Cormac Nielsen, Owen Rigney, Tyler Chamberlin and Eli Staples all prevailed in their singles matches for the Centaurs.
The doubles team of Ryan Chabot and Quentin Paterson also came out winners to complete the sweep.
It didn’t go quite as well in Uncasville where the Centaurs met up with another school without a home court currently, Montville.
The two played their match at St. Bernard with Montville pulling out a 4-2 victory Friday, the first setback of the season for Woodstock Academy which now sports a 3-1 record.
The Centaurs cannot field a third doubles team meaning they go into a match against a fully-staffed team down one match.
Montville (2-3) took the first two singles sets before the Centaurs picked up two of their own as Tyler Chamberlin and Eli Staples both captured victories.
Chamberlin downed Benny Wu6-4, 6-2 while Rigney defeated Matt Malbaurn in a tiebreaker 4-6, 6-4, 10-7.
Montville, however, picked up a crucial victory in first doubles and also received a forfeit from the Centaurs in second doubles to record the victory.
Woodstock will get two of its players back after spring break as James Le and Diego Rodriguez left the area for the vacation week.
Girls’ Lacrosse
Joanna Lin finished with a hat trick for Woodstock but it was not enough as the Centaurs lost to Griswold/Norwich Tech in Jewett City, 11-7.
The Centaurs fell behind, 3-0, in the first 13 minutes but rallied back to make it a one-goal game after tallies by Kaylee Saucier and Lin.
Hadley Grether would get a third goal for Woodstock before the half but the Wolverines scored five to take an 8-3 lead at the break.
The Centaurs got as close as 9-6 on goals by Lin, Lennon Favreau and Caroline Harris but could not catch the Wolverines.
The Centaurs followed that up with a 19-2 loss to Bacon Academy in Colchester on Saturday.
Harris and Grether both scored again with Favreau providing an assist but it was not enough to catch the Bobcats.
Harris leads the Centaurs with six goals this season while Lin has five.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy
Lexi Thompson strokes a home run against Stonington last week.
Ainsley Morse rounds third on her way to home, scoring a run for Woodstock. Photos by Marc Allard