VERGENNES — The 2021 highlights for Vergennes Union High School spring sports were boys’ track and field’s third-place finish in Division III, including five event wins; semifinal appearances by the baseball and VUHS-Mount Abe girls’ lacrosse teams; and continued progress by the softball program.
It could look a little different this spring, as senior track, baseball and lacrosse stars have graduated, although there are reasons for either or both long- and short-term optimism for all those programs.
And softball looks to be continuing its upswing as reinforcements arrive to supplement a strong nucleus.
What to look for?
SOFTBALL
With a veteran core, deeper pitching and young talent, Coach Travis Scribner believes the Commodore softball team could break through in D-III this spring.
“I’m excited for this year because we have the depth. We have the veteran presence,” Scribner said.
Senior Sierra Bertrand returns after varsity appearances since her freshman year while serving as a pitching anchor over the years. This season she will share the mound with promising freshman Savanah Blaise. “We’ve got pitching depth this year,” Scribner said.
Another veteran, senior Felicia Poirier, can also spot in on the rubber, but she primarily brings a strong bat and defense as a first baseman. Bertrand can fill in there if Poirier does pitch.
Senior Kaitlyn Little returns behind the plate, with junior Samantha Hallock the backup.
VUHS VARSITY SOFTBALL
Scribner plans for Bertrand and Blaise to share the second base job, and senior shortstop Audrey Tembreull, like Poirier, is a multi-year starter. Junior Madison Perkins, sophomore Maci Forgues and freshman Rory Couture back up the middle infield.
Jasmine Little excelled in left field in 2021, but takes over third base this season, with freshman Katie Laberge available there if necessary. “Our infield is going to be solid,” Scribner said.
Scribner plans to deploy Laberge in left field, with Hallock in center field and the team’s other multi-year senior veteran, Audrey Scribner, in right field. Juniors Mckenzie Bell and Madison Laberge and freshmen Kira Emmons and Ava Mullin will also see time in the outfield, according to the coach.
In all, Scribner is looking forward to a competitive season.
“It feels good to be able to get back out on the diamond with the girls,” he said.
GIRLS’ LACROSSE
In 2019, Coach Marikate Kelley’s Vergennes-Mount Abraham cooperative girls’ lacrosse team went undefeated on the way to the D-II title.
But after graduation of a number of players in the past two years and the decision of a few seniors to forego their last season, only two athletes from that team return this spring, senior midfielders Txuxa Konczal-Doherty and Elena Bronson.
And only two other full-time players return from the 2021 team, which reached the D-II semifinal round a year ago: senior attacker Halle Huizenga and junior midfielder Cassandra Guillemette. Sophomore goalie Carley Cook also filled in at the end of last spring.
Nevertheless, Kelley liked what she saw this preseason, and not just because she was “really excited” about the growth in the younger players.
“The whole group is coachable,” she said. “We’re really having to start from scratch, and they’re really buying into it. And those kids who are upperclassmen are just really supportive of those players and showing good leadership.”
The roster includes Cook in goal and 13 field players: Kelley said all will see plenty of time playing games.
VUHS-MOUNT ABE girls’ lacrosse
On defense will be juniors Liana Gay, Francesca Nudo and Natalie Adams, and sophomore Nell Harvey.
Along with Konczal-Doherty, Bronson and Guillemette, Kelley said she’d probably rotate players at attack and midfield, including Huizenga and sophomores Annie Dufault and Emerson Rice.
Joining Huizenga, Dufault and Rice as attackers will be juniors Carlyn Rapoport and Reese Gernander and sophomore Anna Stillwell.
Kelley expects the team to improve as the season progresses, and cites that as her main goal this spring.
“When you have a young team, the growth over the course of the season is what you’re hoping for,” Kelley said, adding, “They’re working hard, they’re really coachable, and from what I’ve seen they really support each other so far. And for me those are the pieces that make success over time.”
The Commodores are playing a more challenging schedule, which could also improve their play.
“Play some tough games, and it will get you ready for the tournament,” Kelley said.
BASEBALL
After a number of years as an assistant, Andy O’Brien takes over as the Commodore head coach this spring. O’Brien has for years also coached VUHS middle school and area youth teams, and also assisted Middlebury Union High School varsity hockey.
He inherits a team that has contended the past couple seasons in D-III, but was hard-hit by graduation, including losing its entire 2021 starting pitching rotation.
But O’Brien said intangibles should help the Commodores make the most of their talent.
“There’s sort of a change in mindset, getting them to buy into what we’re teaching them. Every practice is organized. Every drill is timed,” he said in the preseason.
“And we’re trying to build a team mentality, not individual. You can’t win as one person on a baseball team. You’ve got to win as nine. Only nine come to the table, but everyone on the team has got to be a contributor… almost everyone has a defined role on the team right now. They’re all buying into that.”
O’Brien acknowledged some roles could change, but shared an outline of how things could look.
VUHS VARSITY BASEBALL
He foresees a pitching staff that includes juniors Nate Muzzy, Peyton Paquette and Elijah Duprey, sophomore Tyler Kimball, and at least in relief, freshman Gabriel Scribner.
“We’re a young pitching squad, but they all saw time at the JV level. And in the three weeks we’ve had them, they’ve come a long way,” O’Brien said.
Senior Kyle Bacon, junior Parker Kayhart and freshman Reese Paquette could all put on the catching equipment.
Around the infield, O’Brien said first base is a bit of a question mark, with juniors Jacob Aunchman, Zeke Dubois and Xavier DeBlois and sophomore Tyler Kimball among the candidates.
DeBlois is more likely to see time at second base, with Scribner and Peyton Paquette also available there. Duprey is the shortstop when not on the mound, with Scribner the most likely backup, and sophomore Eyon Tembreull the probable starter at third. Kayhart and Reese Paquette could also see time in the infield, according to O’Brien.
Senior Richard Cosgrove and sophomore Logan Becher are outfielders, with Bacon, Scribner, Aunchman, Muzzy, Kimball and Dubois also in the outfield mix.
Defensively, O’Brien expects the Commodores to be solid. At bat and on the basepaths, he said they’ll have to be aggressive.
“We’ve got to create our runs. They’re not going to come easy, so we’ve got to create our opportunities, and make the most out of those opportunities,” O’Brien said. “If that happens, we’ll have success offensively.”
TRACK & FIELD
Another new coach takes over the Commodore track and field program: VUHS teacher Charlie Kornman, a former track and field and football coach elsewhere who specialized in throwing events as a competitor.
Meanwhile, VUHS varsity cross-country and indoor track and field Coach Mary Neffinger will take over the VUHS middle-school program, which features 31 athletes, offering promise for the future of the varsity program.
Kornman is overseeing a varsity team with low numbers — 10 athletes, few with varsity experience.
Despite the athlete count, he’s working with Neffinger to add more options to a program that has largely focused on running. Several Commodores have picked up either the discus or the shot this past winter and notably this spring, plus some have looked at jumping, at least on the middle school side.
“Some of the specialty sessions, for jumping and throwing, we may mix up middle school and high school,” Kornman said.
Meanwhile, he said the Commodores have come in with positive attitudes and open minds.
“They’re excited about the season, and they’re really excited about trying some new things,” Kornman said.
The team has two seniors: Madeline DeGraaf in the preseason was eyeing running at 200 and 400 meters, while Christopher Therrien is an experienced distance runner who will likely run at 1,500 meters and could stretch out to 3,000.
Sophomores Calvin Gramling, Ryder Messinger and Calder Rakowski all have experience at middle distances and could run the 400 and 800; Gramling and Rakowski are among those experimenting with the discus.
Sophomores Riley Gagnon and Ethan Croke are candidates to run at 200 and 400 meters, at least to start out with, and will join the sophomores in the competition to form a new VUHS four-by-400 boys’ relay team.
Freshman Grey Fearon is a middle-distance and distance runner who also threw the shot this winter and might start hurling the discus as well, according to Kornman.
Joining DeGraaf on the girls’ side are freshmen Rory Couture, a sprinter, and Torrey Hanna, who Kornman said could run the 800 and throw the discus.
Kornman is looking forward to working with the Commodores this spring.
“It’s not a huge group, but they’ve been doing cross-country and track together, many of them for years now,” he said. “It’s a great group.”
