By David Miles
Sports Correspondent
Several of Woodstock’s stellar high school athletes played “one more time” this past weekend, competing, for the most part, in the annual Vermont vs. New Hampshire All-Star games for their respective sports. Local seniors represented their school and their state on the field hockey, lacrosse and baseball fields as well as on the track.
Blake Wardwell was Woodstock’s representative in the Twin State Field Hockey All-Star Classic at Colchester High School on Sunday. And, just like she did so many times for Coach Wendy Wannop’s Lady Wasps, she rushed down the field as part of a 2-on-1 break early in the game and scored the only goal that Vermont would need in the contest.
The goal came less than seven minutes into the game. She slid past the final defender and drilled a low liner past Courtney Duquette, the New Hampshire goalie. The Vermont team added an insurance goal late in the first half for a 2-0 lead and that would prove to be the final margin.
Wardwell had a good chance at a second goal late in the half, but a nice kick save by another New Hampshire goalie, Jackie Goodell of Lebanon, denied her.
This may have been Wardwell’s final high school game, but her career is far from over. She will be attending Castleton State College this fall and will be seeking to play field hockey as well.
Another Woodstock athlete also had a goal against New Hampshire over the weekend. In the girls lacrosse contest at Hanover, NH, the Granite Staters won handily by a 22-5 score. But Woodstock’s Sarah Andrews netted a first period score for the Green Mountain team. Andrews was not the only Wasp connected with the game either; the Vermont team was coached by Woodstock head mentor Lucinda Hewitt.
Three Woodstock track stars qualified for the first annual Twin State track meet, also held in Hanover, but two, Rodrigo Matos and Chloe Dickinson, were unable to participate. That left Kyler Huffert to carry the banner for Woodstock. His best effort of the day was joining runners from Oxbow, Randolph, and Rice on the 4 X 100 meter relay team that finished in second place with a time of 45.51
The final two athletes to play were not in Vermont-New Hampshire tilts, but rather in the North-South Senior Baseball Series featuring players from the two regions of the state of Vermont against one another. Both ends of the doubleheader were played in a steady rain at Colchester High School on Saturday afternoon.
Woodstock’s Jon Ferrero and Justin Pierce joined players from diamond rivals Windsor and Springfield, as well as a host of other schools, to comprise the South squad.
In the first game the North beat the South 5-4, with Ferrero playing several innings at third base and Pierce doing likewise at third. Ferrero also came in to relieve in the sixth inning and took the loss.
The nightcap found the result reversed as the South triumphed by a 9-4 score. The South was clinging to a narrow 4-3 lead before putting together a five-run outburst that clinched the win. Both Woodstock players had key hits in the rally. Ferrero first laced an r.b.i. single and then Pierce followed suit, knocking in two runners, including his teammate, with another single.
