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12/22/2016 11:00 PMThe spring of 2016 saw the Valley Regional girls’ tennis team put together a campaign for the ages that included a Shoreline title, while the Warriors’ baseball squad reached the championship game of its conference tournament. Elsewhere, Valley’s boys’ tennis and boys’ lacrosse teams once again played their way into spots in the postseason, while Libby Spitzschuh made the State Open in the long jump.
Girls’ Tennis
The Valley Regional girls’ tennis team had a fantastic year that saw the Warriors go 21-2, while winning the Shoreline Conference title and making a run to the semifinals of the Class S State Tournament.
After finishing second in the conference behind Westbrook the past two years, Valley dominated the Shoreline by winning 19-straight matches that, including a pair of victories versus Westbrook in the regular season and then another against the Knights in the first round of states. The Warriors’ season concluded with a 6-1 defeat to Northwest Catholic in the Class S semis. Head Coach Erin Dayton’s squad was led by its five seniors, who were Maggie Klin, fellow captain Hannah Halsey, Maddy Ball, Caitlin Farley, and Amanda Joyce.
The Warriors’ varsity lineup primarily featured Halsey (who went 15-7) as the No. 1 singles player with Klin (10-7) at No. 2. Junior Callie Riggio (14-3) held down the role of the No. 3 singles player and sophomore Emma Hunt (14-6) was at No. 4. In doubles, the Warriors’ No. 1 team was Ball and sophomore Ellie Flynn, who went 20-3 on the year. Valley’s No. 2 pairing was the senior duo of Caitlin Farley (17-6) and Joyce (20-3), and the No. 3 spot featured juniors Lindsey Lent (17-3) and Jenna Farley (15-2). Halsey, Ball, Flynn, and Riggio each earned All-Shoreline Conference Second Team honors. Halsey was also named Valley’s Most Valuable Player with Flynn earning the Warriors’ Award. Sophomore Isabella Hansen took home the Most Improved Player Award. Joyce and Caitlin Farley earned the Points Winners Award for owning the biggest point differential in their matches.
Boys’ Tennis
The Warriors went 9-9 and qualified for the State Championship meet for the 12th-consecutive season with Head Coach Bunny Logan.
Sophomore Jeff Riggio took home the equivalent of Valley’s Most Valuable Player Award with the Most Wins in a Season trophy. Riggio, who finished with 10 victories, also was named to the All-Shoreline Conference Second Team for the second year in a row. Junior Ben Kilby was named the Warriors’ Most Improved Player, sophomore Kevin Baldwin won the Sportsmanship Award for the second-straight year, and freshman Jack Lima received Rookie of the Year honors. Riggio, the team’s No. 1 singles player, went 10-5 on the season, while senior captain Jason Simoneau won seven matches as the No. 2 singles player. Kilby and junior Hal Jones alternated at the No. 3 and 4 spots with Kilby going 9-8 and Jones posting six victories. At the No. 5 position, Baldwin had a 9-5 record. In doubles, Valley’s No. 1 team consisted of Lima and junior Jack Liggett. Lima was 9-6 overall and Liggett went 6-6. At No. 2, the duo of senior captains Sam Armenia and Alexander Tiezzi went 8-3 on the year. Junior Nate Gagnon played both singles and doubles and won three matches. One of the highlights of the season for Valley came at the Class S State Championship, when the Warriors’ top two singles players, Riggio and Simoneau, teamed up on the doubles court and made a run to the quarterfinals. Liggett, Lima, and Kilby all won a first round match in the singles bracket at states.
Baseball
Valley Regional posted an overall record of 17-8 and reached the championship game of the Shoreline Conference Tournament in its second season with Head Coach Gary Marineau.
The Warriors defeated Old Lyme (3-0) and Morgan (2-1) to reach the Shoreline final, where the Warriors took a 3-0 loss to Cromwell. Then in the Class M State Tournament, Valley’s season came to a close with a 5-3 defeat against Stonington. Senior captain co-aces Nash Eppard and Arik Sypher were both named to the All-Shoreline Conference First Team and the Connecticut High School Coaches Association Class M All-State Team. Sypher, who also made the New Haven Register’s All-State Third Team, finished the year with a record of 4-2 and an earned-run average of 1.27. Eppard, who made Honorable Mention for the Register’s All-State squad, was 4-2 with an ERA of 1.73. Additionally, Eppard hit .391 and Sypher had 18 RBI and an average of .410. In terms of team awards, Valley named Sypher as its Most Valuable Player, while Eppard was the club’s the Pitcher of the Year. Other key players on the team were junior captain pitcher/first baseman Fletcher Suedmeier, junior captain shortstop Matt Robida, sophomore second baseman Chase Morris, senior center fielder Michael Martorelli, senior Jacob Meketa, junior Ryan Kelly, sophomore Colin Sparaco, and freshman catcher Josh Ross. Meketa won the team’s Sportsmanship Award and Ross took Rookie of the Year honors.
Softball
The Warriors posted a record of 6-14 and played much better in the second half of the campaign by winning three-straight games and four out of five at one point to remain in playoff contention.
Left fielder Kaleigh Caulfield was the Most Valuable Player for Head Coach Ken Wilson’s club, while fellow senior captain Katie Amara took home the Sportsmanship Award. Caulfield, who was named Second Team All-Shoreline Conference for the second year in a row, batted .323 with 15 runs scored, 10 RBI, and had 21 hits with three doubles and a triple. Amara finished the campaign with 16 hits, including two triples, with 11 RBI, and 10 runs scored en route to batting .267. Amara was an All-Shoreline Honorable Mention selection. For the other team awards, sophomores Grace Martorelli and catcher Rylee DaRe were the recipients of the Coaches’ Award and the Warrior Award, respectively, plus freshman first baseman Olivia Kollmer was named Valley’s Most Improved Player. Other notable contributors to the team were junior shortstop Julia Jenkins, sophomore center fielder Alex Figuenick, sophomore right fielder Bonnie Caulfield, and junior pitcher/third baseman Morgan Bakoledis.
Boys’ Lacrosse
The Warriors posted a regular season record of 8-8 and qualified for the Class S State Tournament in 2016.
Two of the Warriors’ biggest wins came against North Branford, which Valley defeated 11-8 at home in its season opener and 12-8 on the road a month later. Valley clinched its spot in states by prevailing at Fitch 14-3 in its third-to-last regular season game. The Warriors’ season ended with a 12-7 loss to Haddam-Killingworth in the Class S bracket.
Freshman Bradley Rider led the Warriors with 51 goals, 30 assists, and 81 points and won the team’s Offensive Player of the Year Award. Junior goalie Jacob Azzinaro finished with 199 saves on 350 shots for a save percentage of 57 and was named the Warriors’ Most Valuable Player, while junior Hunter LaPlace earned the Defensive Player of the Year Award. Junior midfielder Jonathan Brophy had 28 goals with 21 assists and was selected to the All-Shoreline Conference First Team and also presented with the Warrior Award from Head Coach George Hudson. Valley was captained by seniors Jonathon Lacoske, an attacker who had 25 goals with 22 assists; and Will Doane.
Girls’ Lacrosse
Valley Regional welcomed a new head coach in Cory Needleman and went 1-15 with the victory coming against RHAM at home by the score of 10-9 on April 30.
Junior captain Brianna O’Brien was named the Warriors’ Most Valuable Player. Sophomore Jamie Jaillet was the Defensive MVP, senior Gabby Giangrande earned Midfield MVP honors, and sophomore Kathryn Burr was selected as the Attack MVP. Junior goalie Rhyan Nedobity was named to the All-Shoreline Conference Second Team. Freshman Alexandra Ruel received the Sportsmanship Award, Attacker Julia Hammond and defender/midfielder Hunter Hosley, both seniors, captained the squad alongside O’Brien.
Girls’ Outdoor Track
Junior Libby Spitzschuh qualified for the State Open Championship in the long jump and finished 20th for the event on behalf of the Warriors.
Spitzschuh had previously placed fifth in the long jump at the Class M State Championship and was fourth in the Shoreline Championship. Spitzschuh also finished fourth in the 100 at Shorelines, a meet at which Maleena Frazier took fourth in the 300 hurdles. Frazier captained the Warriors alongside Francesca Daniels and Emily Trezza and the team was coached by Brent Ali.
Boys’ Outdoor Track
Valley saw two athletes post a 10th-place performance at the Class M State Championship.
Senior Ben Toles was 10th in the 1,600, while junior Alex Lepore took 10th place in the triple jump. Previously at the Shoreline Conference Championship, Lepore placed third in the triple jump and fifth in the long jump. Also at that meet, freshman Jason O’Brien finished third in the 300 intermediate hurdles, fourth in the 110 high hurdles, fifth in the triple jump, and sixth in the long jump. Daniel Stecher took fifth in the 300 hurdles and Gregory Magruder was fifth for the javelin.
The captains for Head Coach Tim King’s squad were Toles, Mitchell Conrad, and Jacob Beaulieu.
Golf
One of the highlights of the year for the Valley golf team came on May 5, when junior Cory Craco used a 7-iron to sink a hole-in-one on the par-3, 117-yard, fifth hole at the Black Birch Golf Club during the Warriors’ match against Haddam-Killingworth.
Four days later, Valley earned its first win of the season by defeating East Hampton at Black Birch. The Warriors also picked up a win against Hale-Ray during the regular season, after which they competed at the Shoreline Conference Championship at Stanley Golf Course in New Britain and finished in eighth place. Jake Patterson had the best round for Valley that day by shooting an 84. The team’s other competitors were Alex Fortier, Craco, and Eric Petroka.