By Adam Aucoin
THE RUTLAND HERALD
The fall high school sports season has its first games coming up next week, but before those leaves change colors, let’s enjoy the final bits of summer that we can.
In Vermont sports, there were many teams that grabbed our attention throughout the summer and made the bridge between one school year and the next, so fun to track.
Let’s take a look at the moments and the people that defined the last few months in Vermont sports.
Golf: Jared Nelson had the summer of his life on the golf course.
The Rutland Country Club golfer became the 12th RCC golfer to win the Vermont Amateur and just the fourth golfer from the Green Mountain State to win the Vermont Amateur and New England Amateur in the same summer.
He went on to make to the Round of 64 in the U.S. Amateur in New Jersey and even regained his spot atop the Pierce Invitational ladder with Drake Hull.
It’s tough to script a better summer. Nelson lived it.
On the women’s side, Ralph Myhre Golf Course’s Mia Politano won the big one.
The Otter Valley graduate earned her way into the final group for the second time in three years and this time around she finished the job, winning the Vermont Women’s Amateur.
She wasn’t the only Politano making saves. Her younger brother Lucas competed in national tournaments and continued to build on already impressive golfing resume.
Shrine Game: Fans of old school, smash mouth football would love this game. It was all about running plays and who could beat who at the point of attack.
While points were hard to come by, it made for an intriguing battle of who would break first.
A rare pass in a sea of runs ended up being the lone score for New Hampshire in a 7-0 win.
The game-deciding play also came on a passing play. Vermont quarterback Ben Serrantonio spotted wide receiver Slade Postemski open and he hit the Gatorade Player of the Year in stride, but waiting for Postemski was Justin Decarlo who made the tackle and caused a fumble that iced the Granite State win.
Little League: Brattleboro was a force that couldn’t be stopped on the Vermont 10-12 year old Little League tournament.
Their all-around game helped them cruise through the District 2 tournament and pushed them all the way to a state title.
Things don’t go as smoothly in the New England regionals, but Brattleboro lost those games by just three and two runs respectively.
At the younger age groups, history was being made.
Addison County Little League became the first Vermont 11U team to ever win a regional game when it beat a team from New Hampshire.
Addison won its second straight state tournament. Last year. regionals were canceled, but this time around, they got the full experience they were looking for.
In Rutland, the 10U team did something that no other Rutland County Little League team had ever done, which was make it to the district championship game.
No longer is RCLL just happy to be there. They are there to make their mark.
Legion Baseball: Essex Post 91 displayed dominance in the Vermont American Legion baseball state tournament held at Castleton University, with some help from St. Peter’s Field.
Dominant pitching and potent hitting was the recipe and it tasted real good for Post 91.
Essex went undefeated and earned its second straight Legion state title. Post 91’s goal once winning the state title was winning a game at regionals and they did just that.
The state tournament was filled with plenty of intrigue outside of the champions.
There was another gutsy run by South Burlington, just like it had last year. The Wildcats fell behind in both of their games on Saturday to make to it Sunday’s final against Essex.
NECBL: The Vermont Mountaineers put together arguably the greatest regular season in the history of the New England Collegiate Baseball League.
The Mountaineers tied a NECBL regular-season wins record and had stretches of dominance, like their two-loss June, that dazzled fans.
Not having some key pieces in the championship series was costly for Vermont and resulted in the Mountaineers not finishing the job, but the team put together a season that will be hard to match for NECBL teams moving forward.
adam.aucoin @rutlandherald.com
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