New Canaan Sports Digest Aug 8

New Canaan defeated Exeter, N.H, 5-2 on Sunday to advance to the winner's bracket final in the 11-year-old Cal Ripken New England Regionals in New Milford.

New Canaan faces Newtown on Tuesday in the winner's bracket final in a rematch of the Connecticut state championship, won by Newtown.

Mikey Pelli pitched four innings, allowing only two hits and one unearned run. Robby Jones pitched the final two innings, giving up one run.

Jones hit a monster three-run home run to centerfield that cleared the 245-foot fence by at least 30 feet. Dillon Abate and Pelli scored on the blast that put New Canaan ahead 3-0 in the third inning.

Exeter answered with an unearned run in the bottom of the third as the catcher's throw on a steal of third went into left field and the runner scored.

Justin Stemerman had a big two-run single in the fifth inning to put New Canaan ahead, 5-1. Exeter scored a run in the sixth, but New Canaan got a great defensive play by Justin Greco, who threw out a runner at second base on a hit to right field.

Trevor Donnelly also made a great play on a short hop throw at second in the inning.

Pelli was named player of the game as he had a single, two walks and was hit by a pitch. Matt Evans was 2-for-3 with a double.

The New Canaan YMCA will be well-represented in this week's world junior swimming championships with five participants taking part.

Maddie Rusch will swim in four events (50 freestyle, 100 freestyle, the 100 butterfly and the 200 butterfly) while John Santoro is entered in three events (100 breast, 200 breast and 200 freestyle).

John Forese will compete in the 100 and 200 freestyles. New Canaan's other entrants are Kaitlyn Moss (200 breast breaststroke) and Austin Wolff (100 butterfly).

Moss finished 25th (2:32.96) in last week's senior national championships in Palo Alto, Calif. The junior national championships are set for Monday through Friday, also in Palo Alto.

Gold medal for U.S. rowing

Southport's Lucy Grinalds won a silver medal in the women's four at last year’s world junior rowing championships. A year later, she did even better than that.

The team of veterans Chandler Lally (Bryn Mawr, Pa.), Grinalds and Jessica Eiffert (Honeoye Falls, N.Y.) and rookie Mia Croonquist (Vashon, Wash) led wire-to-wire Saturday in winning the goal medal in the women's four in Eton, England.

It marked the first time the United States has won gold in the event since 2000.

“I’m ecstatic right now. I can’t believe it all came together. I’ve been nervous about it for the past month, but I’ve been visualizing it every day,” Grinalds, a four-time junior national team member, told USrowing.org

"When we started, I was like, ‘Is this actually starting.’ After we crossed the first 500 and saw that we were up, we were so happy. We just kept pushing it and pushing it, and we had open water going into the last 500. It just feels like my four years have paid off.”

In the heat, the crew used a strong first 250 meters to establish its lead, and Saturday’s race was no different. Once again, the U.S. grabbed an early lead on the field and continued to build on its margin through the 1,500-meter mark.

Holding nearly a three-second advantage going into the final 500 meters, the U.S. watched both Great Britain and New Zealand try to mount challenges down the stretch, but the crew was able to maintain a safe lead and came home with a 1.76-second victory over the host nation.

In the end, the U.S. finished with a time of 6:48.77, with Great Britain taking silver in a 6:50.53. New Zealand won bronze in a 6:51.36.

While the women’s four was the only medal of the day, the women’s quadruple sculls just missed the podium, finishing a best-ever fourth, only 0.56 seconds behind Romania.

The crew of Nancy Miles (Bainbridge Island, Wash.), Lizzy Youngling (Westport, Conn.), Erin Reelick and MacKenzi Sherman (Los Alamitos, Calif.) got off the line in sixth position and was still trailing the field as it entered the second half of the race.

That’s when the U.S. boat made its move, clocking the fastest third 500 meters of the field and moving into a virtual dead heat with The Netherlands for third as the crews entered the final quarter of the race.

The Dutch boat and the U.S. continued to battle each other and push Romania for second place through the final 500 meters. At the line, The Netherlands took silver, while Romania held off the U.S. for bronze. Germany controlled the race from start to finish, winning gold in a time of 6:31.07. The Netherlands finished in a 6:34.48, with Romania clocking a 6:35.23. The U.S. boat finished with a time of 6:35.79.

The U.S. men’s eight of coxswain Max Blumenthal (Oklahoma City, Okla.), Alex Perkins (Westport, Max Meyer-Bosse (Westport), Patrick Eble (Fort Washington, Pa.), Zach Hershberger (Los Gatos, Calif.), Harry Holroyd (Piedmont, Calif.), Stephen Podwojski (Cincinnati, Ohio), Greg Schneiter (Latham, N.Y.) and Hunter Leeming (Sarasota, Fla.) finished fifth in its final.

In the final of the women’s pair, Rosie Grinalds (Southport) and Corinne Bozzini (Lafayette, Calif.) finished sixth.

Prior to Saturday’s finals, three U.S. crews raced in semifinals with the hope of advancing to Sunday's finals.

In the women's double sculls, a slow start doomed the andem of Hannah Solis-Cohen (New York, N.Y.) and Maria Maydan). Racing in the first semifinal, Solis-Cohen and Maydan dropped to sixth in the first 500 meters and were never able to get back into contention for a spot in the final. Canada clocked the quickest second half of the race to move from fifth to first, crossing the line in a 7:16.96. France and South Africa finished second and third, respectively. The U.S. finished with a time of 7:27.58 and will race in the B final on Sunday.

The men’s double sculls tandem of Graham Anderson (Weston) and Charles Campbell (New Canaan) finished sixth in the C final for an 18th-place finish overall. In a tight race, all six crews were within 2.55 seconds of each other going into the last 500 meters. Norway won the race in a 6:46.97, with the U.S. finishing in a 6:52.68.

On Sunday, for the first time in the history of the regatta, a U.S. women’s double sculls crew recorded a top 10 finish. Hannah Solis-Cohen (New York, N.Y.) and Maria Maydan of Ridgefield finished third in the B final for a ninth-place finish overall.

The race was tight the entire way down the course, as all six crews sat within just over three seconds of each other entering the final 500 meters. Solis-Cohen and Maydan crossed the 1,500-meter mark in sixth place but passed Romania, Brazil and Sweden to finish third. The Netherlands won the race in a 7:28.91, with Norway finishing second, 1.65 seconds behind. The U.S. finished with a time of 7:33.03.

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