Galen Carr to speak at Mountaineers banquet

First he spoke with MLB brass at Buster Olney and Sam Lincoln's benefit "Going to Bat for Vermont Farmers" at VTC. Now, Galen Carr will speak to the Vermount Mountaineers/NECBL brass at the team's annual Hot Stove Banquet in January.

Carr, a scout for the Boston Red Sox who lives in Burlington, will speak at the event at Montpelier's Capital Plaza opn Jan. 7, 2012. Carr travels extensively for the Red Sox, looking at and evaluating talent, helping the tradition-rich organization maintain its top-level personnel (yeah, I'm a Red Sox fan, I can talk them up!).

According to the release issued by the Mountaineers:

"Mountaineer fans will have a golden opportunity to learn about the closely held secrets, the behind-the-scenes discussions, and the untold strategic evaluation of potential major league baseball players when Galen Carr, special assignment scout for the Red Sox speaks at the Hot Stove Banquet, marking the 10^th Anniversary of the Vermont Mountaineers. Carr has been with the Red Sox for thirteen years and a scout for the last five years."

Welcome back, Galen, and welcome back talk of Vermont Mountaineers baseball.

-Anna Grearson

Cayole named NBL Player of the Week

I'll just say it and get it out of the way: I MISS FROST HEAVES BASKETBALL! But, knowing their former coaches Joe Salerno and Will Voigt are still coaching - and coaching very well - makes it a little better. 

This week former Rice/St. Mike's/Frost Heave Chris Cayole was named the NBL-Canada's Player of the Week. Here's the link. Congratulations, Chris!

-Anna Grearson

Montpelier's O'Regan named one of nation's top assistants

Montpelier native Sean O'Regan was named one of the nation's top assistant women's basketball coaches in the mid-major conferences in a release issued by James Madison University's athletic website last week.

According to the release, O'Regan has been with the Dukes for four years - all 20-win seasons.

Here's more on O'Regan's honor.

Congratulations! And a special thanks to my friend Mary Campo, O'Regan's sister-in-law, for posting the release on Facebook and therefore bringing it to my attention.

-Anna Grearson

Former Mountaineer makes Rockies' 40-man roster

Three former NECBL pitchers were added to three separate Major League Baseball 40-man rosters yesterday morning: Tom Koehler (Keene Swamp Bats 2005) was added to the newly named Miami Marlins, Jeff Beliveau (Newport Gulls 2006) was added to the Chicago Cubs and former Vermont Mountainer Christian Friedrich was called up by the Colorado Rockies.

In an NECBL release, Friedrich was listed as a 6'4" lefty who played his college ball at Eastern Kentucky and was drafted in the first round in 2008 as the 25th overall selection. He was a Mountaineer in 2006 and "left New England as one of the League's most highly anticipated prospects. He had a 36-to-5 strikeout ratio and a 1.41 ERA in his 32 innings of work for the Green Mountain State franchise."

Rockies.com was quoted in the release, saying: "Friedrich, the Rockies' top pick in the 2008 MLB First-Year Player Draft out of Eastern Kentucky, spent the last two seasons at Double-A Tulsa. After struggling through a series of injuries in 2010, he went 6-10 with a 5.00 ERA in 25 starts. Friedrich was named a Texas League All-Star at mid-season, when he was 6-5 with a 3.94 ERA, but did not win a game after June 26. Friedrich, however, entered the season as MLB.com's No. 50 prospect in all of Minor League Baseball."

Congratulations, Christian.

The release also noted that the NECBL has 77 alumni who have appeared in the MLB.

Longtime manager John Russo will be back with the Mountaineers for the 2012 season, and the Montpelier-based team will host the 2012 NECBL All-Star Game. Is it June 2012 yet?

-Anna Grearson

Youth sports on the rise in Cabot

I got a few responses to my On Deck column "Youth power" that appeared in Monday's print edition of The TImes Argus, and one of them, from Cabot, really stood out.

The text of the response follows. It's a different perspective on the "problem" of decreased enrollment and what some schools are doing to make sure school sports are still offered, and that they teams continue to have the opportunity to do well. Thank you for your responses!

"Ms. Grearson,

Chairman- Cabot Recreation Department"

I agree with your passionate support of the value of youth sports programs. I also was an active participant of youth sports as a child. I have made youth sports one of my priorities as a mother of 5 and a member of a very small community.

 

I would liked a chance to clarify some facts about Cabot's youth sports in reference to your article in The Times-Argus on  Monday November 14, 2011. This year Cabot High School only has 20 female students. In order for the school to field a varsity girls soccer team almost every one of those students would have had to have been an athlete and wanted to play soccer. In contrast to that there are 40 boys in the high school and 17 of them played on the varsity boys' team. That team had a very successful season. The Cabot Middle School fielded 2 soccer teams this fall, one for girls and one for boys. Based on that there is a very good chance that Cabot High will have a girls soccer team again in the future.

 

As for the youth program, the Cabot Recreation Department  took over the sports program for grades 3 through 6 after Town Meeting in March of 2010. That is when due to budget cuts the school eliminated elementary sports. Prior to that the recreation department had already instituted a skills program in soccer and basketball for our Pre-K to 2nd grade students. That program continues and had 24 participants for soccer this fall. We were also able to field a 5th/6th grade co-ed team of 16 players and two 3rd/4th grade teams that had a total of 16 players this year.

Our basketball teams have also been playing with a large number of participants in the past few years. Last year's co-ed 3rd/4th grade team had 16 players and there were separate girls and boys teams for 5th and 6th grade.

 

We also have a very solid group of volunteers to coach, schedule games, run concessions stands, drive players to games and every thing else that needs to happen in order for a program to run.

Thank you for the chance to highlight some of the positive aspects and strengths of Cabot's youth sports programs.

Rebecca Nally

-Anna Grearson

Ravens earn NEFL awards

Ahead of this weekend's New England Football League all-star game held in Lawrence, Mass., NEFL officials announced more awards for the central Vermont-based semi-pro football team.

Named Most Valuable Offensive players for the Western Division were Ravens quarterback Guerschom Jean-Gilles and running back David Maxfield. Jean-Gilles played his collegiate career out at Norwich University and is now an assistant with the Cadets while he finishes up academic requirements. Maxfield hadn't played football prior to joining the Ravens and went to high school at Randolph Union High School.

Head coach Mike Foster and his coaching staff were named Coaching Staff of the Year after going 6-2 in the regular season, capped by the organization's first-ever Western Division title since joining the NEFL four years ago.

The Ravens as an organization earned the league's Organization of the Year. According to a release from owner Mike Salmon, "This is a cumulative effort with consistent growth both on the field and in the community working to provide the central Vermont area with organized adult football."

The team and award winners will be honored at a banquet following the all-star game this Saturday.

Again, congratulations Ravens!

-Anna Grearson

A not-so-quick look around the state colleges for local athletes

I figured this wouldn't take that long to do, but apparently we have more college-level athletes who stayed in-state than I thought. And in my line of work, that's a good problem to have.

I received an email from a reader alerting me to the fact that Benjamin Smith, a former athlete at MSJ in Rutland, will be running in the Division III NCAA cross country championships hosted by St. Lawrence University in New York. He's a sophomore on the Manhattanville College cross country and track teams.

But as many schools are nearing/starting their winter seasons, here's a look around the state at various Vermonters who will be competing at the college level at home in Vermont:

NORWICH

Men's Basketball: Spaulding's Evan Tullar will begin his freshman season under coach Paul Booth, joining Ian Marquis, a junior from Twin Valley. Men's Hockey: Zac Fulton (junior) and Bryce Carrier (freshman) are both from Vermont but played previously other places. Wrestling: Freshman James Triebe of Barton will join former Harwood wrestler Josh Kernan, now a junior. Women's Basketball: The Cadet roster is full of Vermonters, including Williamstown's Kristin Brown and Oxbow's Erin Clark. Both are sophomores and join seniors Karissa Doyon of Canaan and Kelsey Knapp of Otter Valley. Volunteer assistant coach Megan Gingras is also from Williamstown. Women's Hockey: There are no Vermonters on the roster, but Sophie LeClerc of Barre is listed as an assistant coach.

UVM

Men's Basketball: Candon Rusin of Wilmington transferred from Marist and will have to sit out this season. Pat Bergmann of Burlington/Rice will play out his senior season, as will Matt Glass of Mount Mansfield. Clancy Rugg or Burlington will play his sophomore season. Women's Basketball: Tonya Conley of Burlington will be a sophomore for the Catamounts, and Ashley Hoyt of Arlington will be a senior. Men's Hockey: Just like the Vermonters on the Norwich roster, these players last played NOT at a Vermont high school - Pete Massar and Ben Albertson of Williston and Ben Albertson of South Burlington. Women's Hockey: Montpelier's Amanda Pelkey and Berlin's/Spaulding's Kaitlyn LaGue will start their collegiate careers for the Catamounts after playing non-high school hockey last season. Nordic skiing: Waitsfield's Caitlin Curran joins three other Vermonters on the Nordic team while three Vermonters compete in Alpine skiing for Vermont.

LYNDON STATE

Men's Basketball: St. Johnsbury's Mike Sullivan will join sophomores Richie Hackett and Travis Terrell - both of Lake Region - and junior Jason Gray of Thetford and senior Ben Sackett of Lyndon Institute. Women's Basketball: The Hornets are mainly Vermonters, including Twinfield's Dannika Dobrowski, who will make her collegiate debut this winter. Danville's Naomi White will complete her career this winter as a senior.

JOHNSON STATE

Men's Basketball: Spaulding's Bryan Hickey will be a sophomore for the Badgers this winter, as will Danville's Patrick Rainville and Hazen's Billy Boyd. Joining Boyd once again will be freshman Ryan Tatro, also of Hazen. Women's Basketball: Burlington's Brittany Robertson will start her collegiate career as a Badger, and Peoples Academy's Amber McCullock will be a sophomore.

VERMONT TECH

Men's Basketball: Spaulding's Lucas Dutil will play for Green Knights coach John Dyer this winter, as will sophomore Cody Chamberlin of Northfield. Women's Basketball: Williamstown's Heather Gonier joins the Green Knights, which include junior Kelly Vellek of Burlington and senior Abby Fusco of U-32.

ST. MICHAEL'S

Women's Basketball: Northfield's Kaitlyn McMullen landed a spot on the D-II Purple Knights' squad as a freshman.

-Anna Grearson

VT Heisman winners announced last Friday

So I'm a little behind on putting this up. But, in my defense, the winners aren't from the central Vermont area, so I didn't see the rush.

Black River's Dakotah Chambers and BFA-Fairfax's Eli Philips won the respective girls and boys awards for the Green Mountain State, and Wendy's High School Heisman announced it last Friday afternoon.

I didn't know a thing about either athlete, truth be told, so I did a search of our archives and learned a few things about each.

Chambers plays soccer and basketball for the Presidents in the fall and winter but dominated the golf course this past spring, taking medalist honors in the Division II state championships last fall. She's the lone Presidents' girl golfer.

Philips is a runner for the Bullets, and was the school's top finisher (30th) in this fall's U-32 Invitational. He was ninth overall at the D-III cross country championships.

Congratulations to both winners, and good luck in the national part of the competition. Go Vermont!

-Anna Grearson

Miles Levine sees game action vs Duke

Former U-32 three-sport athlete Miles Levine has accomplished a few of the goals he set for himself after achieving the "big" one - making the University of Miami football team as a walk-on (he's a graduate student there). On Saturday he played in the Hurricanes' 49-14 victory over Duke at Sun Life Stadium in Miami, Florida.

He texted the following to me Sunday morning:

"I played. Go Vermont!" and "It was great, a lot of adrenaline, never ran so fast in my life. I just want to play more now!"

He also sent two photos, including this one: (He's #53, he was #57 earlier in the season)

Levine has also made the Hurricanes' travel team, another of his pre-season goals.

While my family is a big group of Florida State fans, I'll be sure to pay closer attention to Miami games the rest of the season.

Congratulations, Miles!

-Anna Grearson

PREVIEW: D-III soccer finals

Tomorrow's Division III boys and girls soccer championships should be quite good - I'm hoping good enough to make me forget how cold I am going to be while watching back-to-back title tilts.

The games are hosted by Randolph Union High School, and the boys game kicks off at 10 a.m. between No. 7 Northfield and No. 8 Peoples Academy. Now don't let the middle-of-the-pack seedings fool you: These teams are definitely worthy of being the last two standing. The Marauders and Wolves are both 10-5-2 and both knocked off a pair of higher seeds: Northfield beat No. 2 Thetford and No. 6 Windsor while Peoples Academy ousted No. 1 BFA-Fairfax and No. 5 Enosburg. The first in each being in the QUARTERFINALS. Impressive. The two teams played to a 0-0 tie in Northfield on Oct. 12, and both lost to Thetford in their respective regular-season finales.

But here's where we get some differences: Northfield will be gunning for its seventh title and Peoples Academy for its third. The Marauders last won in 2004 with a 3-2 win over South Royalton. The Wolves haven't won since 2002, with a 3-0 win over Stowe. They also won in 2000 with a 2-1 win over - you gussed it - Northfield. That one went to PKs. But, the Wolves have lost the last three titles they competed for: 1-0 and 3-2 to Stowe in 2008 and 2007 and 4-3 to Burr and Burton in 2003. But, in the last 11 years, they've made six title appearances and stand at 49-36 overall in tournament play. The Marauders are 66-33 overall and 6-10-2 in the finals. Last fall they lost to Peoples Academy 2-1 in the quarterfinals. 

During the 2011 regular season, Northfield scored 33 goals and allowed 20, registered seven shutouts and were blanked twice. Peoples Academy put up 27 goals and allowed 12, only allowing two goals once. The Wolves have posted three shutouts but were shut out six times.

So whenever that game is decided (I am putting it out there right now that I don't plan on enjoying a regulation-time finish), the Peoples Academy girls will take on Oxbow in their final, slated for 1 p.m.

The top-seeded Wolves and second-seeded Olympians are both 16-1 but did not meet in the regular season. Peoples Academy has posted seven shutouts and Oxbow has held opponents scoreless nine times - and both were shut out just once apiece: The Wolves to Montpelier 1-0 and the Olympians to BFA-Fairfax, also 1-0. Oxbow, however, capped the regular season with four straight shutouts. Both teams put six goals on the board in the semifinals with the Wolves winning 6-0 over Hazen while the Olympians ousted Bellows Falls 6-1.

Oxbow has put up 55 goals and allowed just six in the regular season while PA scored 56 and allowed 11, again in the regular season. Oxbow is 12-16 overall in postseason play while PA is 37-18. This is the Wolves' fifth appearance in the finals in the 2000s and sixth overall. They are aiming for title number four, having won in 2009, 2008, 2006 and lost in 2005 and 1989 (the last three, interestingly, to Northfield).

Oxbow, on the other hand, is shooting for its first-ever girls soccer state championship in just its second-ever title appearance. Now, that may make it seem like the Olympians have little experience so deep in the postseason. So not true. Oxbow girls teams made it to at least the semifinals in all three seasons last year: soccer, basketball and lacrosse, with the latter being a state championship appearance. These girls know what the big stage is like despite what looks like a lack of exposure. The last time they played for a soccer championship was in 2007 when they fell 2-1 to Twin Valley.

And it's not like there isn't recent playoff drama between Oxbow and Peoples Academy. The Olympians, as a No. 6 seed, took care of No. 3 - yep, Peoples Academy - last fall 1-0 in the quarterfinals, on PKs.

Alphabetically, the two schools are one right after the other. In the pairings, they're Nos. 1 and 2. I don't think this one will be decided in regulation, either.

Good luck to all four teams. See you in Randolph!

-Anna Grearson