Twin Valley softball on a roll!

After a rocky start to the season, the Twin Valley softball team is now beginning to gel. Most impressive this week was the great team effort versus Windsor. The Yellowjackets are the top team in the Marble Valley Conference and the Wildcats are near the bottom. With great offense, low errors, and superb pitching by Katelyn Boyd, the Wildcats defeated the top-ranked Yellowjackets, 7-2. 

Then came West Rutland. A relatively unknown team, the Wildcats had no problems defeating the Golden Horde, 5-2. Offense produced the runs but once again, Boyd stole the show. TV coach Danny Birch said Boyd struck out nine batters and her change-up pitch has progressed a lot since the beginning of the season. 

So they have pitching. They have the hitting and they can now compete with the best in division III. All they have to do cut down on errors.... and stay away from one-inning debacles. All season long, the Wildcats have struggled in one inning where they get into trouble, load the bases, and opponents score multiple runs. Birch calls it the "one-inning curse but personally, I think it's gone now. Wanna know why? Here's my theory. Ever since Sam Bernard's mom starting keeping score, the Wildcats won two games, back to back. Coincidence? Luck? You decide. As for me, I'll side with the latter. 

GO WILDCATS!

KKKKKKKKKatelyn taking care of batters versus West Rutland

Safe at the plate!

Co-captain Natasha Aekus makes it to third base versus Windsor.

Bonnie Boliver and Alyssa Bartlett search for the ever elusive foul ball.... 

... and they're still out there looking for it!

Introducing.... Twin Valley Lacrosse!

So I thought I'd highlight Twin Valley's lacrosse program this week. This is their first official varsity lacrosse team, spearheaded by Twin Valley Middle School teacher Yolanda D'Alessio. D'Alessio brings years of experience to the team and will work on basic fundamentals with the team. Yolanda also brought lacrosse to Twin Valley Middle School and hopefully in a few years, the Twin Valley Wildcats will be a top contender in division II. 

Good luck to Yolanda D'Alessio and the 2008 girls lacrosse team!

The inaugural Twin Valley girls varsity lacrosse team!

Devon Logan, the Wildcats' future star

The name of the game is.... ground balls

Amber Pike defends the goal from Hartford striker

Freeze Ball: Twin Valley style!

April 30, 2008 will go down as one of the crummiest days for playing softball/baseball. Yet both teams played. 

Twin Valley softball had the lead going into the seventh inning but gave it up on errors. Green Mountain won the game, 7-6, but there was definitely time for laughs.  

Kylie-blu: "Sam.... I'M FREEZING!"

Sam: "Oh whatever!"

Coming home.

"Come on Kylie! Quite hoggin' the blanket!"

Bad day for umpiring. 

 

TV baseball loses 15-3 to Green Mountain Union High School. Record now 1-5.

I think this is one of the best photos I've taken. George Molner at bat.

Junior Smith's pitching debut.

Candon & Conor: DON'T GO!!!

There's a rumor going around that Twin Valley basketball superstars Candon and Conor Rusin will not return to Twin Valley High School for 2008-2009. Candon, the VBCA player of the year and Conor, a freshman rebounding sensation are pondering whether to attend prep school for the remainder of their high school careers. This will have a significant impact for the boys varsity basketball team. The team chemistry will be back at square one and may not be as strong as this year's team. 

Nothing's been confirmed. All I can say as The Deerfield Valley News sports writer, it will be sad to see them go. Next season won't be the same.

Candon Rusin drives to hoop vs. Lake Region

Conor Rusin 

Play Ball!!

Long time no see, eh? Glad to be back blogging. 

Here are your 2008 Twin Valley baseball and softball teams. Lots of changes. First let's start with baseball. 

Forty-eight hours before their first game of the season, head coach Robin Kingsley resigns. No one knows for sure why that is but the timing of his resignation sounds pretty sketchy. Good luck Robin. You've been an asset to the school.

Taking the reigns is math teacher Larry Auer. Auer played college ball at the University of Vermont and was a star pitcher at East Hartford High School, East Hartford, CT. He's also coached junior varsity and varsity baseball in Windsor, CT and specializes in pitching. Pitching will be the key to winning this season but in the meantime, Auer's still getting to know his players. 

This just in! The TV baseball team lost their first game of the season. The Wildcats traveled to Arlington and lost in extra innings, 8-7. Senior Derek Cipriano got the nod but was roughed up early. Freshman George Molner came in relief and stopped the bleeding. Molner had a solid first appearance pitching varsity and that wasn't the last we saw of him.  Down early, the Wildcats stormed back. Ryan Dix and Skyler Duncan came up big on offense while Molner tied the game in the bottom of the 7th inning. The Eagles did prevail in the end but Auer was relieved to finally know he's got a competitive team this season.

Danny Birch and the girls softball team is back. After a rough 2007 season, veterans Natasha Aekus, Molly Corse, Kaitlyn Boyd, Meg Jutras, Jess Bolognani, Liz Degnon, Laura Jipson, and Ashley Lawless will lead a batch of rookies that make up most of this year's roster. Aekus and Boyd were named captains for this year and Birch sees lots of potential from this year's newcombers. Standouts include Sam Bernard, Bryer-lyn Crawford, Kylie-blu Crawford, Bonnie Boliver, and Alyssa Bartlett.

Wildcats beat Eagles in slugfest! This too just in. The Twin Valley girls softball team beat Arlington on their hometurf, 21-13. Down 9-2 in the top of the fourth, the Wildcats bats came alive and overpowered the Eagles pitching. Meg Jutras, Bryer-lyn Crawford, and Ashley Lawless has solid performances at the plate while Kaitlyn Boyd got her first win of the season at the mound. 

Both teams will travel to Leland & Gray High School next week and hopefully both teams will come out with a win. Stay tuned! Glad to be back blogging. 

Welcome to Deerfield Valley Sports!

Hi everyone. This is Christian Avard of The Deerfield Valley News. I've been wanting to start a blog for some time now and with basketball playoffs finally over, now I can hunker down and get to it.

I'll primarily focus on Twin Valley High School sports, followed by special sports events in the valley, features, photos, and lots more. Nothing is etched in stone and this blog could look completely different months from now. The main thing is... this blog is officially launched. I can't wait to hear from you all and I'm open to all kinds of suggestions. The goal is to get some great conversations about Deerfield Valley sports and to show others what a great sports community we have. 

Looking forward to meeting you all.... and GO WILDCATS!

Christian Avard

Staff Reporter

Deerfield Valley News

Wilmington, VT