CLAREMONT – Saturday’s showdown in the baker final at Maple Lanes featured the Yellow Jackets and Cosmos, with the Yellow Jackets rolling their way to a second-consecutive victory, tying the Cosmos for third in the state in the process.
Windsor earned the number one seed for the day, and beat White River Valley 146-117 and 191-102 to advance to the final against Springfield, while the Cosmos (No. 2 seed) beat No. 3 Brattleboro in three games (158-116, 119-161, 138-122).
In the final, Windsor beat Springfield 196-146 and 189-143 as the Yellow Jackets are trying to find their groove at the right time of the season.
“We’re six weeks in and it’s been going pretty good,” said Windsor head coach Steve Bly, whose team has three first-place finishes, two second-places and a third-place finish this season.
“Today was hands down our best day of the year,” continued Bly. “… We’ve been averaging in the 140s and we were in the 180s [on Saturday]. The goal is to progressively keep getting better and at the end of the year be at our peak performance for states and it looks like were heading towards that.”
Windsor, after winning a state title in 2016, has had to work hard to get back into a position to compete with the best in the state.
Coach Bly called it a “rebuild phase” and the Jacks are starting to see light at the end of the tunnel after going two years without any wins.
A big part of the rebuild for Windsor is the development of Rayce Gilbert, a junior who has the highest average score in the state at just above 210. Gilbert has only been rolling for a couple years and has seen drastic improvement, going from scoring in the low 100s as a freshman to being the top-dog in Vermont. But, his best quality is his leadership, according to coach Bly.
“These kids are clicking now and getting a lot better. The chemistry with them is really good… Rayce has been a good leader he’s been getting the kids pumped up. They get along great and have really positive attitudes,” said Bly.
On the Springfield side, head coach Mike Mullins has a young up-and-comer in Dylan Foster, who is currently in the top 12 in the state as just a sophomore.
Springfield also has two other bowlers in the top 32 in the state, which is good enough to compete in the individual championship at the end of the season, in Haley St. Louis and Meghan Power.
On the Cosmos’ season thus far, Mullins said, “This season’s been really good. They’re right up there. The kids are fantastic… they mesh well together and support each other. Even though we were losing [on Saturday], they didn’t give up and tried to fight through it.”
“Windsor just bowled better than us… we need to have some key spares, which would’ve made things a lot closer. They got a good team over there,” said Mullins.
SATURDAY’S INDIVIDUAL SCORES
Springfield: Haley St. Louis (136, 191); Cierra Howe (161, 151); Meghan Power (145, 159); Dylan Foster (194, 162); Tony Thibodeau (125, 92); Wesley Feickert (145, 151); Richie Ryan (81, 99); Austin LaPlante (90, 74).
Windsor: Rayce Gilbert (230, 195); Grayson Frazer (166, 193); Brayton Bailey (142, 165); Samm Erskine (124, 101); Patrick Kelley (125, 125); Jacob Underhill (116, 180).
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