Roundup
Girls’ track
finishes 4th
in States
Woodstock Academy girls’ track coach Josh Welch had hoped to be in the top five teams at the finish of the Class MM state championship meet.
If everything went perfectly right, maybe even top three.
The Centaurs finished right between those two numbers as they placed fourth with 46 points and finished just behind Daniel Hand (64), Hillhouse (61) and Bethel (59) last week.
“We’re very happy,” Welch said. “We left a lot on the table so that is always a little disappointing and some of the girls were really upset with that. What it all comes down to is you are not going to have the perfect day every time. We were right in the mix for the whole meet, which was awesome, and a couple of teams just pushed ahead at the end. We learned a lot, including that we will be strong next year and there is a lot to be said for that.”
Sophomore Juliet Allard is one of the reasons why the Centaurs will still be good next year. She broke not one but two school records at the State meet.
“She’s an animal right now,” Welch said with a laugh. “She is just so focused and I know she is working on some summer training plans so I know she will come back even stronger next year.”
Allard finished in 46.03 seconds to take third in the 300-meter hurdles and break the school record, which she had already held, by a second.
She also finished fifth in the 200-meter in 26.1 seconds, which broke a record held jointly by Debbie Clark in 1983 and Sarah Swenson in 2014 by a ¼ of a second.
 “It was the 40th anniversary of the girls’ 200-meter record and she had a pretty decisive break with it. A quarter of a second in the 200 is a good chunk and there is more to come. Her 300-meter hurdle record time is getting to the point of being competitive with the boys. She’s knocking on the door,” Welch said.
The other school record eclipsed was by senior Bella Sorrentino who now owns the mark in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 16.13 seconds.
That broke the mark set in 2009 by Emily Swenson.
“It’s amazing, so awesome, so rewarding, I feel so happy,” Sorrentino said. “I had a pretty slow time in the prelims so I knew in the finals that I had to go out there and run my absolute best to do better than I did. That’s what got it for me.”
Sorrentino also finished fourth in the shotput (35-feet, ½-inch) and seventh in the long jump (15-4 ½).
“The long jump was just alright but I was happy with my shotput. I threw close to my personal best which is good,” the senior said.
There were two second-place finishes for the Centaurs.
Jillian Edwards tied for second in the high jump at 4-10.
“Jillian Edwards has had a tough time throughout the season of dealing with some lower leg injury stuff and the stress of the high jump but she dialed it in when it most mattered to get the second and a personal best for herself,” Welch said.
The girls’ 4x800-meter relay team had to have some last-minute adjustments made to it but the quartet of Julia Coyle, Olivia Tracy, Isabel D’Alleva-Bochain and Talia Tremblay also scored a second-place finish.
“Talia Tremblay stepped up, a little reluctantly, and she killed it and helped drive the team to a new season personal best by 12 seconds. They have a shot at New England’s if they can take a little more (time) off. They may be our competitors that go the furthest,” Welch said. “It will be exciting to see where that goes.”
Sophia Quinn finished fifth in the discus while D’Alleva-Bochain was seventh in the 800-meter.
Allard (200-meters, 300m hurdles); Tessa Brown (4x800m alternate); Julia Coyle (4x800m relay); D’Alleva-Bochain (4x800m relay); Edwards (High jump); Quinn (Discus); Sorrentino (shotput, 100-meter hurdles); Tracy (4x800m relay); and Tremblay (4x800m relay) all qualified for the CIAC State Open championship on Monday (which ended too late for this edition).

Boys’ Track
Senior Jared Eaton had defeated East Lyme’s Thomas Matlock in the ECC championship meet in the shotput.
Matlock repaid the favor in the Class MM state championship.
The East Lyme thrower finished first in 53-feet, 10-inches.
But Eaton was right behind him in second place with a throw of 51-2 which qualified him for the State Open competition on Monday (which ended too late for this edition).
Sophomore Christian Menounos saw his season come to a close but had to be happy as his seventh-place finish in the 800-meter was sub-1 minute, 59 seconds.
Menounos came home in 1:57.96. Senior Carter Saracina was 11th in the 200-meter.

Boys’ Golf
Simpson finishes 5th; Centaurs 6th in ECC Tournament
The course was difficult. The weather just made it worse.
Temperatures near or even exceeding 90 degrees greeted the golfers at the ECC boys’ golf championship tournament.
“The course wasn’t too bad, I thought the heat was the major issue,” said senior Davis Simpson said. “There was no breeze and I probably drank 10 bottles of water just to stay hydrated and finding some electrolytes here and there. It was more about the weather than the course.”
Although the course was not exactly set up easy.
“The course was really tough. The maintenance guys had warned me that they were going to put some tough pins out, they did, and triple-rolled the greens to speed them up. They wanted to challenge us. They did,” said coach Rich Garceau.
Only one player, Killingly’s Ethan Lackner, did not finish over par and even he, as the medalist, just broke even with a 72.
Simpson started out just about as hot as the weather.
He began his 18-hole journey on the par-5 sixth and got home in three for the eagle.
“I stuck it to two feet, had the tap-in eagle, no complaints. I went a little downhill after that but started to get it back at the end,” Simpson said.
Simpson finished fifth with a five-over par 77.
“One of the things a coach worries about is will his player think too much about that (the eagle)? His scores did elevate a little bit (after it) but he kept his head about him,” Garceau said.
The coach let Simpson play the next 12 holes unencumbered before he had a little chat with him when the senior reached the first hole.
He was confident. He seemed poised to do well and he did. He is a mature kid and that really showed. He only had one hole that he had a double bogey on and otherwise, it was a lot of birdies and pars. I was thrilled,” Garceau said.
Logan Rawson finished 18th with an 87 followed by Curtis Lefebvre in 35th, Don Sousa in 36th and Aidan O’Connor in 39th.
“Being here (at Quinnatisset), I think there was a little pressure on the guys to perform on their home course and a little of that pressure did show,” Garceau said.
Overall, the team finished sixth with a 351, well-behind winner Killingly (303) but right in the mix with Wheeler (343), Stonington (345) and NFA (346).
“I was really pleased with sixth. We had our struggles out there, certainly, but it was a warm day, a warm day for everyone. We’ve come a long way this year, honestly, from the beginning. A sixth-place finish - considering the level of talent because there are some really good teams out there in the ECC- I’m not upset about at all,” Garceau said.
The season is not over for the Centaurs.
Although they may grumble a bit about Monday.
The Centaurs qualified for the Div. I state tournament but had to be on the tee early on Monday at the Tallwood Country Club (the match ended too late for this edition).
The Centaurs were the 14th-seed.
“I think the guys will play a little more relaxed, a little easier, even though they aren’t too happy about the bus rolling at about 5:30 in the morning. The kids seem really positive, other than getting up early,” Garceau said.
It will be the last high school match for Simpson and his seven senior colleagues, Oleksandr Stasovskyi, Roodney Yee, Landen Kuchy, Lefebvre, Anthony Listro, Reed Magnan and Braiden Saucier.
“It’s going to be bright and early but we will get some breakfast on the way, have a lot of fun and, hopefully, do better than we did (Thursday),” Simpson said.
The Centaurs did honor the seniors following their last regular season match of the year which took place prior to the ECC tournament last week.
The Centaurs downed Waterford 6 ½- ½ to finish the regular season with an 8-8 record.

Softball
The statement was made early by the softball team early last week. The 10th-seeded Centaurs didn’t let their guests from Stratford settle in very much as they broke out to a four-run lead in the first inning and went on to post a 12-0, five-inning over the No. 23 Red Devils.
Unfortunately, that was the end of the good news for the Centaurs.
The reward for the win was a lengthy trip to Trumbull to play seventh-seeded St. Joseph last Wednesday.
The Cadets proved to be formidable as they posted a 16-1 win in five innings over Woodstock.
The loss ended the Centaurs’ season at 16-8.
The Centaurs could get little going against St. Joseph which scored two runs in the first inning, three in the second and then put the contest away with five more runs in the third.
The only Woodstock run came in the fifth inning when Sarah McArthur doubled and later scored on an error.
Delaney Anderson also had a double in the loss.
The tale was the opposite against Stratford.
Woodstock got out of the box early against the visitors as McArthur singled and stole second. She scored easily on a double by catcher Madison Martinez.
Lexi Thompson followed with a line drive to left field that cleared the fence and Anderson followed with her first career homer which was also a frozen rope to left.
“I feel like, at this point in the season, that we are really ready to make adjustments according to the pitching. I think (Stratford pitcher Morgan Letiza) threw with decent speed, not overpowering, and we made the adjustments. We stayed on top of the ball, didn’t get under it, hit a lot of line drives. Those two homers were some of the lowest line drives that I’ve seen (clear the fence). Everyone stayed disciplined in the box,” Gerum said.
The home run was the ninth of the season for Thompson and pumped up her teammate hitting behind her.
“I was really excited because I haven’t been hitting all that well,” Anderson said of her home run. “It was a state tournament game, my first at-bat; it was really nice to get us started. Lexi usually sparks me. I knew I had to get a piece (of the ball) and I did. It felt really great.”
Anderson was one who volunteered to stay a little later for a little extra batting practice on Monday.
“I had a chance to chat with her a little about her swing and a couple of little adjustments. We’re just trying to get a little more power out of her because she has a great swing. You have a good conversation and the next day, she does this. Hopefully, something clicked, maybe it wasn’t me, maybe it was just confidence and feeling good about batting practice,” Gerum said.
But the Centaurs were far from finished.
Woodstock had four consecutive hits to begin the bottom of the third with Thompson and Anderson leading the parade again.
Thompson doubled, Anderson singled and Elizabeth Morgis drove in a run with a single. Mia Pannone laid down a successful suicide squeeze, reaching base with what turned out to be an RBI single.
After a fly out, senior Avery Collin delivered her fourth double of the season, knocking in her 18th and 19th runs of the year to increase Woodstock’s advantage to eight.
“I was nervous because I had struck out in my first at-bat,” Collin said. “But everyone was up and energized and I just went to the plate with all that energy.”
After a walk, McArthur drove in her 18th run of the season with a single. Martinez finished off the rally with a two-run single that gave her a three-RBI day in the win.
Ainsley Morse guaranteed an early day for the Centaurs as her run-scoring single in the bottom of the fourth gave the Centaurs the 12-run advantage.
Thompson did the rest as the pitcher raised her record to 11-6 with a one-hitter with eight strikeouts in the circle.
“If everyone is clicking, which we were (Tuesday), we can do some damage,” Gerum said.
The game was the final game of the season at the Bentley for the Centaurs so for seniors like Collin, it will be a very good memory, winning the last home game of her high school career.
“It definitely brings the team spirit up. When you lose, it’s sad, so a win is good energy to finish with,” Collin said.

Baseball
Centaurs fall in 1st round
The Woodstock baseball team had high hopes coming into the Class L state tournament. Unfortunately, those hopes were dashed early.
The fourth-seeded Centaurs didn’t get much help from the draw as Masuk, from Monroe, proved to be a very difficult 29th-seed and posted a 5-0 win over the Centaurs in a first-round game.
The Centaurs finished the season with a 19-5 record.
“We did great. We really bonded as a team and it sucks to go out like this but there is no one I would rather play this game with so that makes it a little better,” said senior second baseman Carter Morissette.
Coach Brian Murphy ranked the Panthers on the same par as East Lyme, a team his Centaurs had lost to three times this season.
But he also praised his team. “This loss shouldn’t detract from what these guys did this year. We were 19-5. I would venture to say it was the most wins in school history. We won the (ECC Div.) II championship which was huge for us. We wanted the other two, too (ECC Tournament and Class L state championships). It didn’t happen but these kids gave me everything they had, they left it out on the field,” Murphy said.
The Centaurs will also only be losing five players from the squad, Morissette, Josh Hernandez, Kaden Murphy, Jack Tyler and Marcus McGregor.
“Some of the younger players have learned some things. We talked about that (after the Masuk game). The five seniors did a nice job leading this team and mentoring the younger players,” Brian Murphy said.
Woodstock found itself down early to the team from the South-West Conference.
Greg Nivison drew a leadoff walk and one out later would score on a single by Colin Hope and an error.
Hope made his way to third on the miscue and scored on an Andrew Scalia single to right.
The pressure was on the Centaurs’ shoulders.
“It’s tough, but you can’t give up. You just have to hope you can come back like last year versus Wethersfield when we were down even bigger than (Tuesday) and came back within a couple of runs. We knew we could do it, just didn’t work out” Morissette said.
Masuk’s starting pitcher Justin Feinstein had other ideas as he kept the Centaurs off the scoreboard through 5 2/3 innings.
“He had a great offspeed (pitch),” Morissette said. “If he got ahead of you in the count and you had two strikes, you were going to chase it. That was a really good curve ball.
The Panthers added another run in the third on an RBI double by Carson Falcone. Three consecutive singles and an outfield error in the fourth made it 4-0 Masuk and the Panthers drew a bases-loaded walk in the seventh to account for the final.
“The teams they play are tough and (Masuk) is well coached, well-disciplined. They are a good team. We had to play a clean game and we didn’t,” Murphy said.
The Centaurs did have eight hits with Maxx Corradi, Morissette and Keon Lamarche each getting two.
They just couldn’t push a run across.
“In the games we’ve lost, we just haven’t been able to string hits together. Baseball is a game of streaks, you string things together, three or four hits, it’s contagious. It just wasn’t meant to be,” Murphy said.
For Morissette, who has played football, basketball and baseball in his career for the Centaurs, it was the end of the four-year road.
“It was kind of surreal, playing my last high school game for any sport right now. It’s off to college,” said Morissette who will attend UConn in the fall.
Two Centaurs will play in the Connecticut High School Coaches Association Senior All-Star baseball game in Plainville at 4:30 p.m. on June 13.
Kaden Murphy and Marcus McGregor will be part of the team comprised of seniors from the Eastern Connecticut, Shoreline and Connecticut Technical School conference.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy

Junior Talia Tremblay competes in the 4x800-meter relay where she was a key part of a second-place finish for the Centaurs at the Class MM state championship meet. Photo by Michelle Verilli/Woodstock Academy

Logan Rawson putts out on the always difficult 16th green at the Quinnatisset Country Club during the ECC championship tournament.

Davis Simpson blasts out of the sand behind the 14th green and was able to par the hole during the ECC championship tournament.

Senior pitcher Kaden Murphy, who will play in the CHSCA Senior All-Star game next week, throws to first base on a pick-off attempt in a loss to Masuk.



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