Richards Qualifies for State-Am

by Ken Brown

BRANDON – Former Craftsbury Academy (CA) great Pete Richards qualified for the upcoming Vermont State-Amateur and will compete at his home course at the Country Club of Barre next week.

Richards locked up one of the final 25 spots with his oldest son Bryson on the bag, firing a six over par 78 at Neshobe Golf Club in Brandon. Bryson is a 2021 Vermont State-Am champ and recently graduated from the University of Rhode Island after a decorated collegiate career on the links. The talented lefty won his third individual title for the Rams this past spring at the Rutherford Intercollegiate and was named to the Division I Ping Northeast All-Region Team. Pete’s youngest son Riley just finished up his freshman season for Franklin Pierce, recording three top 20 finishes for the Ravens.

The 2023 Vermont State Amateur will be held this year at the Country Club of Barre from July 4 to July 6.

Vermont Pummels N.H. in Twin State Baseball

NORTHFIELD – Vermont dominated New Hampshire on the mound and at the plate over the weekend in the Twin State Baseball Classic at Norwich University.

Blue Mountain’s Evan Dennis took home Vermont Most Valuable player honors, earning the win with two scoreless innings and driving in a pair of runs with a triple as the Green Mountain state dominated the rain shortened nine inning contest 18-0. Lyndon Institute’s Austin Wheeler, CVU’s Chris Robinson, South Burlington’s Evan Lamothe, and MAU’s Connor Hannan each twirled a pair of scoreless innings to preserve the first Twin State shutout between the two teams in eight years. U-32’s Shane Starr belted a three-run homer in the rout. Hazen Union’s Tyler Rivard was on the 18-man senior roster for Vermont, the school’s first Twin-State representative since Rob Montgomery in 1990. White Mountain Regional’s Karter Deming took home MVP honors for New Hampshire.

Locals Earn Little League All-Star Honors

CRAFTSBURY – Craftsbury’s momentum to bring baseball fever back to the community continued to surge last week with several local selections to the Lamoille area all-star team.

Craftsbury’s Jacob Haefs, Avery Boyce, Jonah Walberg, and Dustin Sargent earned Little League All-star honors last week after their stellar performances on the baseball diamond. Shaun Allen, John Amell, Mark and April Royan, along with countless volunteers brought youth baseball back to the Craftsbury community over three years with the creation of Craftsbury Baseball. Participation numbers have been robust, allowing them to make the switch to the Lamoille Little League last year, expanding their area of play against stiffer competition. Hill and William Garske also rebooted the high school program this past spring at Craftsbury Academy after almost a five-year absence and hope to field a varsity team in the Mountain League as soon as next April.

“Switching to the Lamoille area has taken a lot of stress off of those who run the Craftsbury Little League. It has made the scheduling aspect much easier and the tougher teams in the Lamoille area and the overall level of play has been good for our kids’ development. The future is bright for baseball at Craftsbury as I’ve watched the younger kids rising up through the ranks. There will be some growing pains as always with a small school, but I’m excited for the program and confident that we’re off to a great start,” said Allen.