Local roundup: Lebanon girls tennis edges Bishop Brady in playoff opener

Staff Reports

Published: 05-26-2023 1:28 PM

NEW LONDON — The Lebanon High girls tennis team clinched a thrilling 5-4 win over Bishop Brady when the No. 1 doubles team of Aesha Soni and Adaa Karanwal won their match, 8-6, in the NHIAA Division III first round Thursday at Colby-Sawyer College.

The teams were tied at 3-3 after singles play that included a “gutsy win” by Soni, Lebanon coach Rob Johnstone said. Down 7-5, 40-15 to Bishop Brady’s Anya Koshy, Soni fought off two match points and ultimately won, 9-7.

Also winning at singles were Sophie Longacre and Hanna Rich. Mari Utell and Rich won their doubles match, 8-3.

The sixth-seeded Raiders (9-5) are at No. 3 seed Prospect Mountain (12-2) in the quarterfinals Friday.

Hartford 5, Mount St. Joseph 2

RUTLAND — After beginning the season at 0-4, the Hurricanes won five of their last six matches to finish the year at 5-5.

Against the Green Wave, Hartford got singles wins from Silvia Hale, Ceci Wendling, Larkyn Moodie-Hamilton and Nika DuMoulin. Jaklyn LaFountaine and Harper Fallon won their doubles match for Hartford.

Boys Tennis Lebanon 9, Hollis-Brookline 0

LEBANON — The No. 1 seed NHIAA Division II Raiders moved on to the semifinals after a dominant win over the eighth-seeded Cavaliers.

Nolan Arado, at No. 1 singles, set the tone with an 8-0 win that was followed by wins from Will Katz (8-5), Kyle Hines (8-1), Finn Ericson (8-1), Baden Schifferdecker (8-3) and Lucas Graham (8-5).

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Arado and Katz (8-0), Schifferdecker and Hines (9-7) and Ericson and Graham (8-2) were doubles winners.

Lebanon will host No. 4 seed Portsmouth in the semifinals on Monday.

Hanover 5, Nashua South 4

HANOVER — The No. 2 seeded Bears (13-1) got all they could handle from the No. 7 seed Panthers (10-4) in the NHIAA Division I quarterfinals but escaped with a narrow victory.

Hanover was missing Zach Pearson, its No. 3 singles player who also plays at No. 1 doubles, and lost the top three singles matches. But the Bears got wins from Henry Werner (8-2 at No. 4), Ian Holmes (8-2 at No. 5) and Alex Orsino (8-6 at No. 6).

That left the match up to doubles, where Hanover again relied on its depth. Nick Pais and Holmes picked up an 8-2 win at the No. 2 slot, and the No. 3 team of Ryder Wilson and Orsino clinched the match with an 8-3 victory.

“Their team was very strong at the top, but our team has a ton of depth and is solid all the way down the lineup, so I wasn’t terribly worried even though we were down at first,” Bears coach Kelly Finn said.

“In singles, really quick, decisive wins from Henry at line 4 and Ian at line 5 helped turn the tides. They really stepped up and took care of business. The same can be said for Nick and Ian at 2 doubles and Ryder and Alex at 3 doubles.”

Hanover will now face the winner of No. 3 Derryfield — a 6-3 winner over No. 6 Exeter — in the semifinals on Monday.

“They’ve shown a lot of mental toughness, today and throughout the season, and have consistently pulled out wins in high pressure situations,” Finn said.

Baseball Fair Haven 1, Windsor 0

FAIR HAVEN, Vt. — Johnny Clark pitched a four-hit, 10-strikeout gem for the Yellowjackets, but Fair Haven’s Alex Patch and Carson Babbie were just a little better.

Patch went five innings and Babbie two as the pair combined to allow one hit by Aiden Weld while striking out 10. The Slaters (8-7) pushed a run across in the fifth.

Windsor (2-11) concludes the regular season Saturday at Woodstock.

Pelham 6, Lebanon 3

PELHAM, N.H. — The Pythons scored four times during the bottom of the NHIAA Division II’s game’s sixth inning. Pelham (8-8) managed only four hits but drew eight walks from the Raiders (8-8) during the squads’ regular-season finale.

Lebanon scored a pair of runs during the fifth inning to take a 2-1 lead but fell into a 2-2 tie in the bottom half of that frame. The Raiders struggled on the bases for a second consecutive game, having a runner doubled off first base and another tagged out at second after an errant pickoff throw. Two other visitors were thrown out at home plate.

Lebanon’s Spencer Cunningham had one of his team’s six hits and an RBI. Raiders starting pitcher Dawson Bates allowed three hits and three runs, two earned, while striking out three Pythons and walking four during five innings of work.

Reliever Nick Brill went an inning and allowed one hit and three runs, all earned. Brill struck out one foe and walked four. Lebanon began the day tied for 10th place in a division that includes 13 teams in its playoffs, which begin next week.

White River Valley 14, Springfield 1

SOUTH ROYALTON — The Wildcats had 14 hits from nine different players and finished the regular season at 11-5.

Tattin Griffin, Wyatt Cadwell, Ty Couture, Donovan Craven, and Brayden Russ had two hits each against the Cosmos (4-10).

Cadwell and Sonny Snelling had two RBIs each, and Cadwell scored three runs. Russ, Jacob Benoit and Robby McShinsky scored two runs apiece.

On the mound, Robby McShinsky allowed four hits over four innings while striking out two, and Cadwell threw a hitless fifth.

Woodstock 14, Leland & Gray 11

TOWNSHEND, Vt. — The Wasps improved to 5-8 with a win over the Rebels (9-6). Woodstock hosts Windsor on Saturday.

Souhegan 11, Hanover 1

AMHERST, N.H. — The Bears, who were 13-0, dropped two of their last three games to finish the season at 14-2 and will now await their NHIAA Division II playoff seeding.

Otter Valley 12, Hartford 2

WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — Otter Valley (8-7) jumped out to a 3-0 lead then scored nine runs in the fifth to beat the Hurricanes at Maxfield Sports Complex. Hartford (9-3) will wrap up the regular season on Saturday night when it hosts Burr & Burton.

Spaulding 18, Oxbow 3

BARRE, Vt. — The Olympians fell to 2-13 with the loss and finish the regular season Saturday at home against U-32.

Softball Hartford 16, Otter Valley 5

BRANDON, Vt. — Marina Grassi went the distance in the circle with 11 strikeouts, and the Hurricanes had big RBI days from Harper Robinson with four and Faith Brown and Paige Vielleux with three each.

Becca Keelty, who along with Vielleux and Madison Willey had four hits, drove in two runs. Logan Evans also had a pair of RBIs, and Willey and Serenitee Martel added one each.

Hartford (12-3) got two runs in the first and added five in the third and three in the fourth.

“The girls impressed us tonight in every aspect of the game,” Hartford coach Danielle Tenney said. “Our goal for the season was to win league, and they showed up ready to play and did just that.”

The Hurricanes finish the regular season on Saturday at Burr & Burton.

Fair Haven 10, Windsor 7

FAIR HAVEN, Vt. — The Yellowjackets jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first and took a 7-4 lead in the fourth before the Slaters came back to take an 8-7 lead after four, then tacked on two in the fifth.

“Defensively, we made some costly errors and let the lead slip away,” Windsor coach Wendy Moody said.

Windsor finishes the regular season at 5-11.

Hanover 13, Souhegan 0 (5)

AMHERST, N.H. — In their final game of the year, the Bears picked up their second win and finished at 2-14.

Jess Lobb pitched a one-hitter for the Bears, striking out five and walking one, and Hanover played errorless ball.

Hanover had 10 hits and was ahead 5-0 after the first inning. Abby Campfield and Emma Campfield each had multiple hits for the Bears.

Oxbow 17, Spaulding 0

BARRE, Vt. — The Olympians, ranked No. 1 in Vermont Division III, got a complete game from Anastase Bourgeois in the circle. Braylee Phelps, Faith Eastman, Brianna Gray and Mazie Bourgeois all had RBIs in a six-run fourth.

Bourgeois gave up two hits and struck out eight with no walks and her teammates played errorless ball behind her. Makenna Simmons, Hadlee Allen, Phelps, Mazie Bourgeois and Maggi Ellsworth each managed multiple hits for Oxbow.

Oxbow finishes the regular season Friday at home in a doubleheader against U-32.

Pelham 12, Lebanon 2

PELHAM, N.H. — Raiders pitcher Ava Kaercher struck out 11 Pythons and walked three while surrendering 12 hits during the NHIAA Division II teams’ regular-season finale.

Lebanon’s Aylah Salls had a double and an RBI and Rya Wykes smacked a triple for Lebanon (3-13). The Pythons (7-9) broke the contest open with nine runs during the fifth inning.

Lebanon graduates seniors Ashlee Blashock and Natalia Somoff. The Raiders did not qualify for the upcoming playoffs and have won a combined 13 games during their last eight seasons, split between Divisions II and III.

Girls Lacrosse Lebanon 8, Campbell 7

LITCHFIELD, N.H. — Maddie Jewell had five goals and an assist to lead the Raiders, who finished the season at 5-9.

Lindsey Start, Audrey Newton and Hadley Rich each scored once for Lebanon and Drew Kantor had eight saves. The Raiders now await their playoff seeding.

Hartford 23, Milton 8

MILTON, Vt. — Madison Barwood, Addison Cadwell and Audrey Rupp had five goals and two assists each to the lead the Hurricanes, who are now 15-0. Nedra Bowen added three goals.

Hartford hosts Spaulding on Saturday to finish the regular season.

Hanover 23, Pembroke 0

PEMBROKE, N.H. — The Bears finished the regular season at 13-1 and will go into the NHIAA Division II playoffs as the top-ranked team.

Boys Lacrosse Gilford 14, Stevens 0

CLAREMONT — The Cardinals conclude the regular season at 0-13.

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