T O D A Y - Berwick Academy

Individual or Relay champions: SeniorCaroline Seekins – 100 Breast, 200Medley Relay and 400 Free Relay; JuniorKelsey Hayden – 200 Medley Relayand 400 Free Relay; Junior WilliamReis – 50 Freestyle; Sophomore JennaHayden – 100 Freestyle, 200 MedleyRelay and 400 Free Relay.EIL MVP (Female): Izzy Reis ‘15MVP (Female): Izzy Reis ‘15MVP (Male): Will Reis ‘13EIL All-League: Caroline Seekins ‘12, KelseyHayden ‘13, Will Reis ‘13, Jenna Hayden ‘14,Izzy Reis ‘15, Gage Anderson ‘16Coach’s Award (Female): Olivia Richter ‘14Coach’s Award (Male): Connell Altschiller ‘14SPRINGBOYS VARSITYBASEBALLNEW ENGLANDCHAMPIONSHIPCoach Mike HannonAssistant Coaches Paul Brooks andBob SantulliIt was a beautiful evening on May 25in Salem, MA. The Berwick AcademyBaseball Team was one strike awayfrom completing a dream season.There were well over 150 fans that28had traveled to see this team completetheir mission and win the New EnglandSmall School Tournament Championshiptitle. The Berwick pitcher, RickyKramer, was finishing off a stellar performanceon the mound, dominatingthe King School. The final pitch was astrike, and the Berwick team swarmedtheir pitcher on the mound. The lastchapter was complete and the Bulldogscaptured their first NEPSAC Baseballtitle in 19 years.This was season a of firsts forCoach Mike Hannon. This was thefirst time winning the NE Small SchoolTournament, the first time winning theEIL Tournament, the firsttime being 10-0 to start aseason, the first time hostingtwo NEPSAC tournamentgames, and finallythe first time being in 80degree weather duringspring break in Maine. Itwas truly a season to rememberfor this incredibleteam. The team’s successwas built around avery talented player in JuniorRicky Kramer. Thisdoes not diminish theimportance of a supportingcast, which was vital to the successof this championship team. This teamwas far from a one-man show, but statistically,Ricky was not only the bestpitcher, but he also led the team offensivelybatting .435, including manykey situational hits to either begin arally or to sock opponents their finalblow. Ricky’s play in the field cannotbe overshadowed, especially in theplayoffs, where he showed range andeffectiveness at the shortstop position.The team was fortunate to have astrong #2 pitcher in Conor McFarland.In fact, Conor struck out 17 batters ina game this spring, and in the very nextgame Ricky struck out 15 of the 18batters he faced. This was a devastatingone-two punch for the Bulldogs. Itwas no surprise that Ricky Kramer wasvoted by his teammates as the MVP,but the icing on the cake was when thebaseball coaches of the EIL recognizedhis talent and ability and also namedRicky the EIL MVP.The Berwick community ralliedbehind this team during the spring,drawing huge crowds to our last twoNEPSAC tournament games. TheBrewster game was never in doubt,and Berwick ran away with the victory.The Pingree game was the match-upof the season. We had lost to Pingreeat the end of the regular season, andmany of the boys wanted another shotat seeking revenge. They did not seePingree in the EIL tournament becausethey had been upset by Concord in thesemi-final game, so the Bulldogs wereanxious to avenge their only leagueloss during the season. With the gametied in the bottom of the seventh,Blake Downey scored the winning runin walk-off fashion, earning the victoryand sending the team to the championshipgame.This team had tremendouschemistry and made their season anenjoyable experience. Coach MikeHannon shared his insight to theteam’s success: “They set their egosaside and fed off each other’s competitiveness.They respected each otherand enjoyed each other’s company.They did what it took--the little thingsto succeed.”Team MVP: Ricky Kramer ’13Coach’s Award: Alex Hoyt ’12EIL MVP: Ricky Kramer ’13EIL Coach of the Year Award: Coach HannonEIL All-League: Ricky Kramer, Conor McFarland‘13, James Winkler ‘14, Neil Maietta ‘13EIL Honorable Mention: Blake Downey ‘13,Alex Grammenos ‘13Girls Varsity LacrosseCoach Kyle RidgwayAssistant Coach Mackenzie LangstonIt was a breakthrough year for theGirls Varsity Lacrosse season, qualifyingfor the EIL “A” bracket play-off forthe first time in ten years. There weremany exciting games for the Lady Bulldogs,and their style of play was fastpacedand aggressive. From the startof spring break training through thelast weekend of play-off lacrosse, thisgroup of girls played with a sense ofurgency and pride. The team was ledby Seniors Shannon Farrell and LyndsayBrattan, both doing the bulk ofthe scoring. The defensive end of thefield was led by Kaitlyn Wurzer in thecage and supported by Alex Wood andCora Ordway.The 2012 Girls Varsity LacrosseTeam ended the season with 11 winsand three losses. We beat three teamsthat had beaten us last year, and webeat Newton for the first time ever.The team scored 166 goals in 14games, averaging 11.9 goals per game.There were 111 goals against us in 14games, an average of 7.9 goals againstper game. Statistically, the team had66 total assists and 121 saves, an averageof 8.6 saves per game. The pointspread for wins was 6.8. The pointspread for losses was 4.2.MVP: Shannon Farrell ‘12Coach’s Award: Cora Ordway ‘14EIL Coach of the Year Award: Coach RidgwayEIL All-League: Shannon Farrell,Lyndsay Bratten, Kaitlyn Wurzer.EIL Honorable Mention: Alex Wood,Cora OrdwayNEPSWLA All-Stars: Shannon Farrell,Lyndsay BrattanBoys Varsity LacrosseCoach Bill ClappAssistant Coach Andrew KasprzakThe Boy Varsity Lacrosse Team endedthe season 7 and 9, with a league re-cord of 4 and 3 and thirdplace in the EIL. We hada great win over Tiltonand some tough lossesagainst some of the bestteams in NE. We hadsome close games withBrooks and Proctor anda tough loss to our rival,Pingree. The players onthis team demonstrateda continued desire toplay their best to the final minute, nomatter the score.There were 13 seniors on the teamthis year. This meant two things: one,that there are lots of spots open fornext year, and two, we had many experiencedplayers who will be missedas they move on from Berwick. Theseplayers set a tone that balanced funwith seriousness of purpose. Throughtheir efforts they were able to continuallyimprove into a successful team.This year six seniors were recognizedwith All-League awards for theirsignificant contributions to the team,both in performance and leadership.Brian O’Day was recognized for histremendous success as a face-off midfielder;John Reinhardt, for outstandingperformance and team leadership;Saul Groman, for steadfast defensiveperformance; Mitch Rodgers, for leadingthe team in scoring and consistentlygenerating offense. Honorablementions went to the two assistantcaptains, Parker Woolley and GrahmMcGlinchey.MVP: John Reinhardt ‘12Coach’s Award: Liam Darcy ‘15EIL All-League: John Reinhardt, Mitch Rogers,Saul Groman, Brian O’Day.EIL Honorable Mention: Parker Woolley,Grahm McGlincheyGirls Varsity SoftballCoach Tammy MyersAssistant Coach Becky EnrightWe had a challenging start to ourseason due to injuries to key players.Luckily, we were able to overcomethis, thanks to the non-injured playersreally stepping it up. Our gameopener was a very tough loss to PortsmouthAbbey 18-4, but then we wenton the road for a few games and hada winning streak of three games, includinga great win at home againstWinsor, beating them in the bottom ofthe seventh 10-9. Unfortunately, wedidn’t see another win until the endof the season at the tournament. Wewent into the tournament as the eighthseed and finished the tournament inseventh, losing a very close game toBancroft 5-3, and then beating PortsmouthAbbey 16-2.MVP: Kristen Sanborn ‘12Coach’s Award: Juliana Blais ’12EIL All League: Rebecca Siegel ’14EIL Honorable Mention: Kristen Sanborn ’12Boys Varsity TennisCoach Ted SherbahnThis year’s team faced the challenge ofhaving only three of the team’s 10 playersreturn this year. With seven playersnew to the team (four of them playingtennis in the Upper School for the firsttime), we were challenged with havingto make adjustments to the levelof play and the expectations around allthe rules of the Code of tennis. Witha final record of five wins and sevenlosses, considering the circumstances,the team performed well, includingputting together a 3-2 record outsideof the league (We finished fourth inour league of six schools). This yearwe said goodbye to only three seniors,Ben Siegel, Nate Winters, and TaylorScanlon, so we look forward to anotheryear of progress leading to the 2013season and moving up in the leaguestandings.MVP: Tristan Dardani ‘13Coach’s Award: Ben Siegel ‘12Girls Varsity TennisCoach Donna CullenThis team had a great season. All theplayers really stepped up this year.29