Williston Observer

By Mal Boright

Observer correspondent

The situation looked mighty grim Tuesday before the third-seeded Champlain Valley Union High baseball team rallied for two runs in the bottom of the seventh frame to score a 5-4 victory over visiting 14th seeded Middlebury Union.

Next up for coach Tim Albertson and his defending Division 1 champion 13-4 Redhawks will be a home quarterfinal contest Friday afternoon against sixth-seeded Bellows Free Academy of St. Albans—2012 runners-up—which blanked 11th-seeded Burlington High 5-0 Tuesday.

CVU’s winning hit was delivered by senior Brad Bissonette, who launched a looping single down the left field line for his third safety to score Kirk Fontana from third and give CVU its only lead of the day.

“I was looking for a fast ball,” said Bissonette, who cracked a double in a game late last week for his first varsity bingle.

“Coach put me in the lineup today and I’m glad I was able to come through,” said the lefty sweet swinger. Bissonette also socked a triple and single, driving in two runs.

“We thought he could help us toward the end of the year,” said Albertson, noting the work put in by the senior.

Middlebury (3-13) led from the second inning after snapping a 1-1 tie with three tallies in the top of the second, keyed by a single and three walks.

Albertson called on reliever Kyle Stanley with CVU down 2-1 and the bases loaded with Tigers and no outs. Taylor Patterson unloaded a double on Stanley’s third pitch that drove in two runs and put the visitors up 4-1.

For Middlebury’s offense, that dood it. Stanley took charge, getting out of the inning with a pop-up and a pair of whiffs. The junior right-hander then retired 13 of the next 15 batters, two reaching on infield miscues. In one stretch, he retired seven straight on infield grounders.

Big Davis Mikell retired the final two batters on a grounder and strikeout to get the victory.

CVU batters slugged 13 hits but left eight runners stranded and also lost two on the bases and another for interference with the Middlebury catcher.

The Redhawks drew to within 4-3 with two runs in the bottom of the fifth on singles by Mikell and Fontana (three-for-three), Rayne Supple’s RBI ground out and Bissonette’s loud triple to deep center.

The Tigers’ pitcher Tyler Provencher got out of the sixth without further damage when a CVU suicide squeeze went askew, leading to a double play, but Mikell stroked his second single and Fontana got plunked by a pitch to lead off the seventh and final raps.

Dylan Ireland sacrificed to advance the runners to second and third. Supple’s sacrifice fly to left scored Mikell to tie matters before the Bissonette winning blast.

By Mal Boright

Observer correspondent

Sports followers at Champlain Valley Union High have seen a lot of slogging going on in home contests—when not postponed—in recent years, and as a result a volunteer group is raising funds to help finance two artificial turf fields, lights and seating at the CVU athletic complex.

And according to committee spokesperson Kellie Stoll, the effort is coming along just fine.

“To date, we have raised over $160,000,” Stoll told the Observer during a telephone conversation Monday. “Our goal is $300,000 by the end of the school year.”

Ultimately, the group hopes to raise upwards of $1 million.

The total price tag for the proposed project is $2.6 million, with the turf installation phase one and the lighting and seating a second phase.

The basic problem has been the clay base of the fields, which drain poorly following rainstorms, leading to frequent postponements and interruptions to practice schedules. Fall sports of boys and girls soccer, field hockey and football have been especially hard pressed.

Stoll said the committee last week completed a series of three public meetings with a session in Charlotte. Previous meetings had been held in Hinesburg and Williston. Committee members will meet privately with potential contributors over the summer and then gear up for more public activity in the fall when school resumes.

Co-chairing the fund drive are Amy DuBrul and Kelly Austin.

The committee has a link (CVU Turf Project) on the CVU website which includes a color rendering of the additions.

Autumn Eastman. (Observer file photo)

With junior Autumn Eastman leading the way, the Champlain Valley Union High girls track and field combine took second place to Essex High in Saturday’s Division 1 Vermont State meet at Burlington High School.

Eastman shattered the meet record in winning the 800-meter run, helped break another mark in the 4 x 800 relay and also captured the 1,500-meter test in a busy but rewarding day of picking up feet and laying them down.

The CVU runner was top-seeded in the 800 and her time of two minutes and 13.06 seconds was some three seconds under her seed time.

Other members of last fall’s champion cross country team were prominent in the distance events, as senior Taylor Spillane took second in the 1,500 and third in the 3,000-meter run. Senior Julienne Devita came in third in the 800 and joined Spillane, Eastman and Rachel Slimovitch in the record-setting relay.

Other winners included:

Junior Haliana Burhans in the 200-meter dash after a second place in the 100.

Emily Geske with a 9-6 pole vault.

Brianna Hake in the javelin.

The boys’ team captured the 4 x 800 relay thanks to the work of Jared Keyes, Sean Delaney, Sam Logenbach and Zach Marshall.

Brian Boisjoli was third in the pole vault.

The girls were second to Essex High in the team standings. The champion Hornets had 156.5 points to CVU’s 126.5 in the 13-team event. The boys were eighth behind winning Essex.

—Mal Boright,
Observer correspondent