Roundup
Ericson throws no-hitter in win versus Lyman
It was about time. The Woodstock Academy baseball team was slated to play its opening game last Monday at Lyman Memorial, but rain got in the way.
The Centaurs were supposed to play in Montville on Wednesday but wet grounds forced postponement of that contest.
The Centaurs finally found their way to the field on Thursday in Lebanon and came away with a 5-0 victory over Lyman Memorial.
“It was just nice to get on the field for the season opener,” said Connor Elliott. “The season started (for most teams) last Saturday and our first game is the Thursday after. It’s definitely been a struggle to play. Fingers crossed. It looks like the weather may break next week and we will be able to get those games in and we will be rolling into our season.”
The Centaurs are scheduled to play against Coventry, South Windsor, East Lyme and Norwich Free Academy, all of those games at home, during the spring break week.
The wait didn’t bother senior pitcher Brady Ericson who picked up where he left off.
He didn’t allow the Bulldogs a hit and struck out 16 in going the distance 
for the win.
“It was cold,” Ericson said, “But, mentally, I felt good going into it, I was just excited to get going. I knew I had this start all along and I wasn’t going to let it get away from me. I felt really good.”
Ericson wasn’t perfect.
“He hit a batter,” Elliott said. “He was phenomenal and that’s what we’ve come to expect from him. He and (catcher) Tanner Graham work together and it’s a very hand-off game for us as coaches. The stat that really stands out to me was the walks. We expect the high strikeouts, at a 50 percent clip, you hit a kid with a curve ball, that can happen on a cold day because the ball slips out but controlling those walks and making (opponents) put the ball in play, that will be a huge key to our success as a team and his as a pitcher,” Elliott said.
Ericson failed to walk a batter.
The Centaurs got on the scoreboard with a two-out rally in the third inning.
Caleb Simoneau singled, stole second and scored on a Hayden Maloney base hit. Maloney then stole second and scored on a Matt Hernandez base knock.
The stolen bases were two of the 12 the Centaurs recorded with Simoneau getting three and Maloney two.
The Centaurs finished with just five hits.
“It was the first game. We hadn’t seen live arms yet except for the two scrimmages. I think we will be solid this year. It will take a lot of growth, people filling roles, running bases, doing the little things right but I think it will come around,” Ericson said of the offense.
Simoneau led the team with two hits and Will Bushey added the other.
Girls’ Tennis
The first week of the spring sports season was busy for the girls’ tennis team.
The Centaurs got on the court three times and were successful in a pair of those matches as they downed St. Bernard and Norwich Free Academy.
Friday, however, was a bit more of a challenge as the Centaurs lost their first on the road at Killingly.
“We are happy with the solid start, but in tennis, you are always cautious because it can change at any time,” said coach Dena Cocozza O’Hara.
The early part of the week proved to be a good time to stay indoors.
Fortunately, the team was able to do so. It opened its 2025 spring campaign inside at the Pomfret School tennis courts which helped the Centaurs be one of the few teams that were able to play.
The Centaurs celebrated with a season-opening, 7-0, win over St. Bernard.
With the exception of Catherine Trudeau at fourth singles, the singles matches were close.
Wynter Worth just got past Blake Murray of the Saints 6-3, 7-5 at first singles. Kerrigan Reynolds had a similar battle at third singles before she prevailed 6-3, 7-5.
“It has been wonderful to see the consistency of Wynter at No. 1 singles and Kerrigan at No. 3 singles. They have been our consistent beacons over the first three matches,” Cocozza O’Hara said.
Gianna Musumeci breathed a little easier at second singles where she posted a 6-2, 6-3 win and Trudeau won her match 6-0, 6-1.
The Centaurs also swept through the doubles matches with senior captains Linnea Barlow and Abby Buddy scoring a 6-1, 6-3 win at first doubles.
Delilah Kesselman and Madilyn Ead were also successful at second doubles, winning 6-2, 6-1 and Mary Oliinyk and Kennedy Xeller won their pro-set match 8-2.
The Centaurs followed that up with a 6-1 victory over Norwich Free Academy.
Worth, Musumeci, and Reynolds all recorded pro set victories on the Pomfret School courts and the Centaurs also swept the doubles matches.
Unfortunately while most look forward to spring break, athletic teams have to deal with the consequences.
The Centaurs were missing four players when they traveled to Killingly on Friday and saw this one slip away, 4-3.
Worth, Musumeci and Reynolds all posted singles victories but Woodstock Academy did have to forfeit fourth singles.
Barlow and Budd did come away with a victory at first doubles.
The Centaurs are now off until after spring break as their next match is April 22.
“It’s 11 days off from matches but we will not have 11 days off as a team. We will be practicing every day during break,” Cocozza O’Hara said.
Boys’ tennis
The boys’ tennis team had to change venues to get its season started as the wind and cold rendered outside courts useless.
Fortunately the boys’ tennis team has an indoor site available to them.
The Centaurs switched home dates with Norwich Free Academy and the two met at the Pomfret School.
It produced a nice result as the Centaurs came away with a 6-1 victory over the Wildcats.
Tyler Chamberlin was challenged early at first singles before pulling out a 6-3, 6-0 win. Ashley Abrams followed with a shutout victory, 6-0, 6-0, and Owen Murdock won in a pro set match, 8-5.
Woodstock did forfeit a singles match but swept the doubles to account for the final.
The rest of the week was a different story as Montville held off Woodstock, 5-2.
The second and third doubles teams pulled out the victories for the Centaurs with Cayden Worth and Heath White winning at second doubles and the tandem of Leo Larkin and Stevie Wilmot winning at third doubles.
With snow falling outside, the Centaurs played East Lyme inside on Saturday and lost to the Vikings, 7-0.
Softball
It wasn’t a pleasant week to play games outside but the softball team plowed its way through, getting the bats going in each of their outings against Montville and Lyman Memorial.
The Centaurs took a little while to get rolling against the Wolves on Thursday. They fell behind 1-0 in the first inning and that’s where the score remained until the third inning when Woodstock took the lead for good.
Campbell Favreau reached on an error and freshman Ella Chitmanotham singled with both runners moving up on an errant throw.
Madison Bloom and Ellary Sampson put the Centaurs ahead with back-to-back RBI singles.
The Centaurs added another run in the fourth and Sampson led off the fifth with a first pitch home run to make it 4-1. Faith Sortwell later added an RBI groundout.
Montville did score twice in the sixth to cut the deficit to a pair of runs but the Centaurs answered with seven runs in the bottom of the inning to guarantee themselves the win.
Sampson finished with four hits and three runs batted in while Caroline Ethier, Favreau and Sortwell each drove in two.
Favreau, Chitmanotham and Madison Bloom had two hits each.
It was a long but satisfying contest for the Centaurs who rallied from an early 6-2 deficit to score a 22-8 win over Lyman Memorial on the Commons field.
Everybody had a hand in the win as the Centaurs pounded out 14 hits with Sampson getting three of them, including a homer and a double, to drive in three runs. 
Bloom, who also hit a home run and Maci Corradi each drove in three runs. 
Winning pitcher Kaya Nichols had two hits and drove in two runs to help her own cause and Favreau added three hits and two RBI.
Boys’ Lacrosse
If anyone ever wanted evidence that a shot clock is needed in boys’ high school lacrosse in Connecticut, they could use the Woodstock-Waterford match as an example.
The Lancers were masterful in controlling the clock, limiting the Centaurs possessions, holding them to three second half shots, and posting a 7-4 win.
The Centaurs are now 1-2 on the season.
“Give credit to Waterford, they know how to stall the clock. I’m sure if we look at possession time, it was outrageous. That’s Waterford’s game. They run their subs through the mid-line and that allows them to burn up the clock. It’s one of the big reasons, I would like a shot clock in high school,” coach Jason Tata said.
The Centaurs defense did try and get more aggressive in the fourth quarter to try and take the ball away from the Lancers offense but gave up two goals in the process.
“It’s a real tough balance that relies on a few things, the personnel on the field for both teams; where they are putting their players which forces us to move ours and then slides can come from so much further away,” Tata said.
The two teams played even in the first half with Dylan Phillips getting two goals and assisting on the third by Gunnar Basak.
“His stat book was phenomenal but so were things not in the stats. He was working his butt off for ground balls, was looking for his teammates, helping out on our clears, he was kind of our utility guy for the day,” Tata said.
He also assisted on the Centaurs only second half goal by Sam Desmond.
The game did carry a similar theme as for a second contest in a row, the Centaurs were held to just one second half goal.
The same happened against Ledyard/Griswold earlier in the week when the Centaurs fell to the Colonels, 13-6, in Ledyard.
“Both of those games just slipped away. I’m sure there are multiple things I could find where we could have done better like our transition game. It really hurts when our defense holds, we get a save or a turnover, and then we immediately hand it back. It catches up to you. Your defense and midfielders get gassed and you can’t sub, guys are trapped out there,” Tata said.
Phillips had three goals for the Centaurs while Corey Lafond assisted on four of the tallies
.Seamus Coleman added a goal and an assist against Ledyard/Griswold.
Girls’ Lacrosse
It was almost a miraculous finish for the girls’ lacrosse team in New London. 
The Centaurs were down by three goals with 1 minute, 18 seconds left when they started a comeback.
Kaylee Saucier took a pass from Clara Dowdle and scored to cut the deficit to two.
Woodstock won the face off and then, just 19 seconds later, closed to within one when Emma Forcier got the ball to Saucier who converted again.
After a New London timeout, Woodstock was able to tie the game when Dowdle took a pass from Saucier from behind the net and put it home with 45 seconds to play.
Unfortunately, all the hard work went for naught as the host Whalers scored the game winner at the buzzer for the 7-6 victory.
Saucier finished with a hat trick while Dowdle had a goal and three assists. Forcier and Abby Converse also scored.
Coach Heather Miller was happy with how her defense stepped up against New London while freshman keeper Grace Audet made nine saves.
“She is starting to find her way. It’s a completely different world to be a goalie. It takes certain people, not everyone can do it. It takes a lot of courage. For never having played lacrosse before in her life and volunteering as a freshman to step up and help us- that’s phenomenal,” Miller said.
The Centaurs lost to Ledyard, 13-3, earlier in the week in their season home opener.
Although the score was not what Miller and the team wanted, how the Centaurs played was a positive.
“We had opportunities, but we just had to take care of the ball a little better, be patient, and be disciplined with our decision-making,” Miller said. “I’m very proud with how the girls on the attack are moving the ball around. We just need to keep working on the cutters when we have them so we have a little more depth and dynamic. I’m proud of the draws. We’re winning more than what we used to and the defense in the zone is a completely new concept for them but in the first few weeks, they are doing an excellent job.”
Saucier had two goals and assisted on the other by Converse.
The game was played in less than ideal conditions with temperatures in the mid-30’s and the wind blowing at near 40 miles per hour.
“The wind was affecting the ball. You had to anticipate the ball and the bounce more. But the confidence that they’re getting and being able to trust one another because lacrosse is a game of decision-making and instinct because lacrosse is a game of both and they will build upon that with experience.”
The Centaurs were coming off a 10-8 win over Killingly in their season opener.
“That was huge for us,” Miller said. “This is season 2 and every year, I have a vision for the entire season. We were just trying to build a strong foundation last year and now we’re just trying to build on that.”
Woodstock finished off the week with a trek down to Stonington to play the always difficult Bears.
Stonington dropped the Centaurs to 1-3 on the season with an 11-3 victory. Saucier scored two goals and assisted on the other by Dowdle. Audet made eight saves in goal while Anna Hernandez fielded seven ground balls.
Boys’ Volleyball
Coach Adam Bottone knew it was not going to be an easy week.
The Centaurs had to travel to Glastonbury and Farmington and then hosted South Windsor. They were able to pick up the 3-0 victory in their home opener after a pair of 3-0 losses on the road and are 2-2 going into spring break week.
“I’m happy with that,” Bottone said. “I honestly didn’t know what to expect from South Windsor. I knew they were an established program and came in 2-0. I knew we probably were not going to beat Glastonbury or Farmington, but we were able to compete with them. I’m totally content with being 2-2 right now. I still feel confident that we can make it back to the state tournament and do well in the Connecticut Volleyball League and make some strides. We’ve been making steady progress. Every game is a little bit better.”
The Centaurs had a balanced attack against South Windsor where they posted wins of 25-21, 25-13 and 25-22 in the three sets played.
Brayden Bottone had 10 kills while Evan Chernik (13 service points) and Owen Budd added nine each.
Jake Henderson tossed in 14 assists and Christian Hart had 10 digs.
“It was a balanced effort. We did a lot of nice things Friday,” Adam Bottone said. “We passed well. Our receive was very effective. We were able to hit from all positions. The serving was OK. The serving game with boys is different than the girls. Service errors are just more common because they tend to be more aggressive but I thought we did well. Pretty good stuff.”
It was a focused effort as well which may have been just as nice as it did come when everybody was leaving school for a week for spring break.
“People were leaving. We had some JV kids leave which takes away from the continuity of the program because these kids are always together regardless of what team they are on. We’re losing Evan (Chernik) for the week as he is going on vacation so being able to get that win with all the chaos that was about to ensue with break was good,” Adam Bottone added.
Glastonbury downed the Centaurs in straight sets, 25-18, 25-20 and 25-19. Brayden Bottone had 13 digs while Budd offered up five kills and Weston Mission had 10 assists.
Farmington got the jump on Woodstock Academy early as it won the first set, 25-13. The Centaurs made it closer the rest of the way as the hosts won the next two sets, 27-25 and 25-22.
Brayden Bottone had eight kills and Chernik added six while Henderson had 20 assists.
Girls’ Golf
The boys’ and girls’ golf teams have not even had a practice on their home course yet.
That’s because the Centaurs play at the Quinnatisset Country Club and that facility was not scheduled to open until this past weekend although the weather rendered that opening moot.
The girls’ golf team did get a chance to play, however, as it took on ECC newcomer, Quinebaug Valley, a Putnam/Tourtellotte co-op team, at the Raceway Golf Course.
The Centaurs prevailed 236-257 in cold and windy conditions as sophomore captain Reagan Scheck finished as medalist with a 44.
Lily Moran added a 60 while Bella Mawson contributed a 61.
Quinebaug Valley was paced by Sadie Murray who shot a 46 and Mabel Perreault who carded a 66.
The boys’ team scheduled season opener against Fitch at the Shennecossett Golf Course in Groton was postponed due to course conditions.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy

caption, page 10:

Kaylee Saucier tries to work her way upfield in lacrosse match. 

captions, page 11:

Ella Chitmanotham scores the first run of the season for the softball team. 

Senior Kaya Nichols pitches against Lyman Memorial in the softball season opener. Photos by Marc Allard/Woodstock Academy.

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