-The Vermont Soccer Coaches’ Association recently released its all-state teams for each of the state’s four divisions.
Leading the Division I girls team is Brattleboro senior forward Reese Croutworst. She finished her high school career as the school’s all-time leading scorer and helped the Bears earn their first playoff victory since 2007.
The Division IV women’s team included Leland & Gray freshman forward Addison Eldridge, who helped lead the Rebels to a surprising run to the semifinals this season that included an upset of No. 1 West Rutland in the quarterfinals, and Twin Valley senior center Alejandra Bevilacqua, a five-year varsity starter for the Wildcats.
Brattleboro junior midfielder Eason DeMarsico was selected to the Division I boys team, while Leland & Gray had two midfielders on the Division 4 boys team, junior Spencer Claussen and senior Ethan Clark.
Twin Valley, the Division IV state champions, are represented by senior forward Carson McHale, junior Brayden Brown and sophomore Alex Sullivan in midfield, along with senior center back Chris Eckert.
SVL names field hockey, football and cross country stars
The Southern Vermont League (SVL) recently announced its all-star teams for field hockey, football and cross country.
• Division II field hockey champion Bellows Falls saw Veronica Moore, Haven Harty, Avery Dole and Avery Maxfield all named to the Division A first team.
Jasmine Thibault of Brattleboro was also named to the A Division first team. Addie Bacon, Myleigh Illingworth and Brook Parker of Bellows Falls, as well as Suha Rifaiy, Mary Cady, Kylie Jarvis and Ericka Fletcher of Brattleboro received honorable mentions.
• In girls soccer, Brattleboro’s Reese Croutworst, Sadie Cheslawski and Naima Harris were all named to the Division A first team, while teammates Myah White, Emma Freshee and Jules Pals received honorable mention. Brattleboro’s Jay Cudworth was named coach of the year after leading the Bears to a top-four finish and an appearance in the Division I quarterfinals.
Addison Eldridge of Leland & Gray and Kaylee DeBartolo of Green Mountain were named to the Division C first team. Sophia Hallock, Nyah Ryan and Annabelle Brookes of Leland & Gray, as well as Isidora Gibson, Leah Cassin and Honore Hazen of Green Mountain received honorable mentions.
Bellows Falls’ Abby Nystrom, Natalie Douglass and Gracie Patterson, and Twin Valley’s Alejandra Bevilacqua and Scarlett Cimino were all named to the Division C first team. Bellows Falls’ Grace Hayes and Gwen Gould, and Twin Valley’s Ella Corbosiero, Joselyn Codogni and Nella Warner received honorable mention.
• On the boys’ side, Brattleboro’s Eason DeMarsico and Oscar Dawson were named to the Division A first team, while teammates Colby Robinson and Gordie Kalill received honorable mention.
Twin Valley’s Brayden Brown, Alex Sullivan, Carson McHale and Chris Eckert made the C Division first team, with teammates Tucker Magnant, Landon Brown and Niko Gerding receiving honorable mention.
After winning a Division IV state championship and his 500th career victory this year, Twin Valley’s Buddy Hayford was named Division C Coach of the Year.
Leland & Gray’s Ethan Clark and Spencer Claussen were named to the D Division first team, while teammates Ryder Butynski, Logan Plimpton and Kenrick Ewing received honorable mention.
• Brattleboro’s Nico Conathan-Leach, Liam Conathan-Leach and Willow Sharma were named to the All-A Division boys cross country first team.
Green Mountain’s Desi Broadley, the Division III women’s individual champion for the second year in a row, was named to the Division B women’s first team.
8-man football coming to Vermont?
• The Vermont Interscholastic Football League (VIFL) held its annual end-of-season meeting last week at Hartford High School and one of the hot topics was the possibility of bringing 8-man football to Vermont to bolster programs at small schools with declining enrollment.
Eight-man football removes two linemen and one skill player from the standard 11-on-11 lineup and is played on a shorter, narrower field (80 yards by 40 yards) than the traditional field (100 yards by 53 1/3 yards).
Unlike the 7-on-7 football we saw in Vermont during the 2020 Covid pandemic season — where there was no offensive or defensive lineman outside of a center to snap the ball, no blocking or tackling, and no running the ball — 8-man football looks and plays like the 11-on-11 game, just with fewer players on a smaller field.
Eight-man football is popular in the Midwest and football hotbeds like Texas and California. The eight-man game is also played at the college level in rural schools in Maine, a state facing similar demographic problems as Vermont, and in some New England prep schools.
There are currently 30 high school football teams in Vermont and the number of participants in these sports is declining. This reflects the fact that there are fewer and fewer students in Vermont schools.
Bellows Falls, the Division III champions, began the season with 39 players on the varsity roster, but that included 10 ninth graders who played primarily JV games. Brattleboro, which finished its Division I season with a 1-7 record, began its season with 40 players. That’s barely enough to finish a season, even with players putting in time on both offense and defense, as we saw with these two teams.
Some Vermont junior varsity teams that were short on players played 8-on-8 games last season. This allowed young players from teams with smaller squads to gain some experience. Can this work at the college level for schools that want to keep their football programs? This is currently under discussion in VIFL schools.
VA’s McCarthy picks Tennessee for baseball
• Chester’s Kaiden McCarthy may have two seasons of prep school baseball left at Vermont Academy in Saxtons River, but he’s already decided where he wants to play college baseball.
McCarthy, a right-handed pitcher, recently committed to the University of Tennessee, which won the NCAA Division I College World Series in 2024 and has one of the top baseball programs in the Southeastern Conference.
He is one of the best pitchers in the country, with a fastball that has been clocked at 97 mph, but McCarthy recently told the Herald of Rutland that he committed to Tennessee early so he could focus on his studies and baseball during his final two years at VA.
While his fastball attracted the attention of college and professional baseball scouts, McCarthy told the Herald that he realizes that “everyone is throwing hard today. Last year, I was a little heavy on my fastballs. I want to work on my secondary pitches and mix it up more.”
It helps that he gets good coaching. His father, Matt McCarthy, is the pitching coach at VA and he has a good track record of developing pitchers.
Brattleboro swim team seeks new coach
• The Brattleboro Swim Team (BST) is in the process of recruiting a new head coach for the 2026 summer season.
BST is accepting applications for Head Coach and Assistant Coach positions on a rolling basis through January 2026. Coaches work with swimmers ages 5-18 to develop their stroke technique for competitive swimming and build/support a positive team culture. The head coach will plan practices, supervise 1-3 assistant coaches depending on team size and coordinate meetings.
Practices take place at the Living Memorial Park pool weekdays from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., June 22 to July 31. The season includes 4-5 swim meets within the Southern Vermont Swim League and the state championship meet for qualified swimmers.
Interested candidates should submit a resume and cover letter with a statement of interest and references to (email protected).
Senior bowling overview
• Week 12 of the Brattleboro Senior Bowling League fall/winter season at the Brattleboro Bowl on Nov. 20 saw first place Wayne’s World (40-20) begin to pull away from second place 3 Plus One (34-26). Pinocent Bystanders (33-27) moved into third place, followed by Lucky 7 (32-28), Slo Movers and Strike Away (both 30-25), Ricochet (29-31), Stayin’ Alive (28-32), SOS (26-34) and Strikers (18-42).
Shirley Aiken had the high handicap women’s match (240) and Candida Wall had the high handicap series (663), while Kevin Napaver had the high handicap men’s match (267) and series (728). Pinocent Bystanders again had the high team handicap match (890) and series (2,639).
Napaver had the men’s high scratch series (728) with games of 267, 246 and 215, while John Walker had a 664 series with games of 245, 236 and 183. Chuck Adams had a 655 series with games of 224, 223 and 208, Robert Rigby had a 601 series with games of 224, 189 and 208. 188, Warren Corriveau Sr. had a 516 series and Gary Montgomery had a 511 series. Notable games included Stan Kolpa (186) and Wayne Randall (185).
Aiken won the women’s series with a high score (468) with a match of 179, while Carol Gloski won the match with a high score (180).
Randolph T. Holhutassistant editor of this newspaper, has written this column since 2010 and has covered sports in Windham County since the 1980s. Readers can send him sports information at (email protected).
This Sports column by Randolph T. Holhut was written for The Commons.
