Putnam Science Academy starts with wins and losses
PUTNAM — The Putnam Science Academy baseball season started with some wins and some losses in its first week of competition.
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. — The baseball team traveled to South Carolina for its opening week of the season.  Post Grad John Devine pitched a gem leading the Mustangs to a 3-1 opening day victory over South Allegheny. Devine pitched 7 innings with 14 strikeouts and didn’t allow a run in the win.  Luca Almonte went 3 for 3 at the plate including an RBI for PSA (1-0).  
MYRTLE BEACH — Janvier Diaz pitched 6 innings, striking out 11 batters and only allowing 1 run as PSA baseball won over Patrick County 8-2 and improved to 2-0 the season.  Denzel Rincon went 2 for 3 from the plate and knocked in 3 runs for PSA. 
MYRTLE BEACH — The team dropped a tough one, 13-2, to Bethel Park.  Denzel Rincon had one hit and drove in both runs for PSA who lost their first game of the season to fall to 2-1.
MYRTLE BEACH — Denzel Rincon had 3 hits and drove in 2 runs and Yeongha Yoon added 2 hits and drove in 1 run but it wasn’t enough as the Mustangs lost 8-5 to Karns City. 
MYRTLE BEACH — Thursday afternoon the PSA Mustangs took on Severn School to finish up the trip to Myrtle Beach but lost 9-8 to fall to 2-3 on the season. Janvier Diaz and Yeongha Yoon both had 2 hits and 2 RBIs for the Mustangs but the defense had 4 crucial errors on the day and PSA couldn’t pull out the win.
WILLIMANTIC — John Devine pitched six strong innings, striking out 8 and only allowing 2 hits but it wasn’t enough as the Mustangs lost to Eastern CT State University 7-4 yesterday afternoon on the road.  Janvier Diaz had a home run and drove in 2 runs and Denzel Rincon added a hit and 2 RBI’s for the Mustangs.
WILLIMANTIC — Jayson Serrano started on the mound and pitched 3 strong innings but ECSU topped Putnam Science 10-1 to fall to 2-5 on the season. Sebastian Garcia and Justin Dejesus also pitched for the Mustangs in relief.  Denzel Rincon and Billy Rodriguez each had a hit for PSA in the loss.
NORWICH — PSA took on Commonwealth Academy (Mass.) but lost 8-6 in the Prep League opener.  Janvier Diaz pitched a nice game going 5 innings while striking out 6 batters.  Lucas Almonte had a home run in the sixth inning but PSA fell to 2-6 on the season.

.
caption:

Janvier Diaz, left. Photo by Rebecca Tow

Offense will have to carry early
Abby Converse has been a three-sport athlete for all four years she has spent at Woodstock Academy. This spring will be the senior’s last.
For a second year in a row, Converse will serve as a captain for the Centaurs’ girls’ lacrosse team, joining four others in that role.
“It hasn’t kicked in yet but I think once we get halfway through the season, it will be like ‘Oh man, it’s senior year of high school and it’s almost over,’” Converse said.
She will not be the only one in that category.
Maggie Marshall, Abby Houle, M.J. Banderas and Kaelyn Tremblay are also waiting for June 14 to come around when they will don the cap and gown and move on to the next step in their lives.
But for the next couple of months, lacrosse will occupy a lot of their spare time.
Second-year coach Heather Miller has 30 players out for the two programs, varsity and JV, this season which is just about enough for both.
But it may have to be the offense that will have to shine early.
The defense is young and untested so it will be up to the likes of juniors Kaylee Saucier (11 goals, 7 assists), and Clara Dowdle (7 goals, 3 assists) as well as Converse (6 goals, 2 assists) to not only score but to maintain possession of the ball and take pressure off the defense. The three will serve as captains alongside Avery Nielsen and Houle.
“We definitely put a lot on our defense last year and like coach has said, ‘It starts with the draw.’ I know myself and a couple of others will be working hard to win more of those and just maintain possession,” Saucier said.
That is something that was questionable last year.
“I have every confidence and faith in them. I’m excited to see Kaylee and Clara grow more into leadership roles, because this is the first time they’ve both been captains. They are talented. They have the knowledge and speed. They have strong stick skills and I think it will be good with them, Kaelyn, and Maggie up front. Even in preseason, their throwing and catching — which was a problem last season because we dropped too many balls — has improved,” Miller said.
Saucier, who also plays soccer and basketball, said she has put more time into the sport.
Miller is giving her attack players a little more flexibility this season.
“I’m giving them creative space at practice to make up their own plays, be creative, have fun with it, but also take ownership of it so we aren’t the same as everyone else,” Miller said.
Woodstock did struggle a bit last season as it had just one win in 16 games. So there is room for some experimentation.
Miller is a trying something to shore up the defense a bit as she has decided to employ a backer zone strategy.
The Centaurs will need a steadfast defense as Houle, their only experienced keeper, suffered a preseason injury and is hoping to play as soon as possible. Freshman Grace Audet has stepped into that role for now.
“The girls set the goal for four wins. For us, that would be great. I think it’s a very realistic goal and one that they can make,” Miller said.
So far, so good. “I’m really liking what I’m seeing. We worked on draws, our new backer ‘D’ which is looking very nice so far and we already have some plays made up in our attack,” Converse said. The journey begins on Saturday as the Centaurs go on the road to play at 10 a.m.  At Killingly.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy

caption:

The girls’ lacrosse team will not lack leadership as it will have five captains including, from left: Avery Nielsen, Abby Houle, Abby Converse and Kaylee Saucier. Clara Dowdle was not available for the photo. Photo by Marc Allard/Woodstock Academy.

Hope ball bounces their way a bit
The goal every year for Jason Tata and the Woodstock Academy boys’ lacrosse team is the same. Put, at least, another match on the schedule.
“Every year, we want to make the state tournament, get that unscheduled game. (Woodstock Academy athletic director) Sean (Saucier) gives me 16, I want 17. It’s partially for me, I want to push the program as far as humanly possible, but it’s also for the seniors, like Keegan Covello who comes out here and grinds his butt off every day. I want to give him an extra game as a senior as well as all the other seniors,” coach Jason Tata said.
Woodstock snuck into the postseason with seven wins last year.
“If we look back at our games from last year, a couple of games could have bounced our way. We had Waterford here and it went to overtime (a 7-6 loss) and NFA here (a 10-9 loss) and that would have changed a 7-win season into a 9-win one and right there, you qualify with maybe a more favorable seed. Instead, we squeak in and have to go down to East Lyme,” Tata said.
A third meeting with the Vikings in one season is not something to look forward to.
The Centaurs will have to try and improve upon that record that this year without their top scorer. Jared Neilsen, who finished with 43 goals and 17 assists, has graduated.
The Centaurs also lost assist machine Henry Wotton.
But talent does return. “We have a really great attack line with Gunnar (Basak) and a couple of other players who will get the job done,” Covello said.
Basak, who plays the X behind the opponent’s goal, finished with 20 goals and three assists last year despite being bothered by an injury.
“That’s my spot,” Basak said of hanging out behind the opponent’s goal. “Without Jared there, it will be a little tougher.”
Phillips finished with 21 goals and six assists a year ago and is the top returning scorer but his style and that of Nielsen differs grea
Tata added that he liked what he has seen from his defense which will be led by David Genay this season, the only returning starter in the back.
“The defense is young. We have a lot of talent but we will need to do a lot of fine tuning. We have some kids who have never stepped on a varsity field before but I have faith in them,” Basak said.
The Centaurs could use a few more long pole defenders with Genay and Jacob Say comprising half of them.
“Midfield is always a question mark. You never know because there are so many things that can go wrong in the midfield. I think I have a good balance on guys who saw quality minutes on varsity and others who played a lot of minutes on JV,” Tata said.
Behind them all will be junior goalie Quan Sangasy.
“He’s steady, rock solid. Quan impresses me every year. He keeps getting better, he keeps grinding to get better and he will be the real anchor to the defense,” Tata said.
One factor that could weigh in the Centaurs’ favor is hunger. Many of their number also play hockey and last year, the team was coming off a state semifinal run.
The season ended much earlier than that this past winter leaving players like Covello hoping for better this spring. “We’ve been knocked out of the (state tournament) early in the past few years and we’re hungry for more. We want it this year,” Covello said.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy

caption:

Seniors Keegan Covello, left, and Gunnar Basak. Photo by Marc Allard/Woodstock Academy.