Belmont High Graduates Remember Building Connections, Life Beyond BHS

June 6, 2016 By Franklin B. Tucker Leave a Comment

Photo: Class President Richard “Trey” Butler speaking at Belmont High School’s graduation ceremony on Sunday, June 6. Behind Butler is (left) Belmont High Principal Dan Richards and Belmont Superintendent John Phelan.

When Richard “Trey” Butler was in elementary school, his father made a request: spend half of recess meeting classmates he didn’t know.

An athletic kid who would rather play wallball or be in a pickup game of football – he became Belmont’s all-time career points leader in lacrosse – Butler said he would “appease” his dad and talk to the other students at recess.

Whether it was the classmate who knew how to whittle wood or foster care an ant farm or traded rubber band bracelets – which Butler showed the field house he was wearing – it was there he began to “build connections with classmates that I may not have otherwise made,” said Butler, telling his story to a packed Wenner Field House that included 302 of those classmates he first met nearly a decade ago and who he was graduating from Belmont High School on Sunday, June 5.

And through their 12 and sometimes 13 years together, “it was our ability to see past our own interests and open ourselves and respect the wide variety of passion” in each graduate, said Butler at the afternoon commencement.

Beach balls were bouncing around the field house – could this be the start of a new “tradition”? – as the ceremony moved along smartly finishing in a relatively quick 90 minutes, all the more remarkable since the class graduated 303 students, a high-water mark not seen for decades.

Belmont High Principal Dan Richards said curiosity, character and community were the attributes found in the Class of 2016.

“We hope that your education at Belmont High School will enhance your lives and provides the blueprint for the work that lies ahead for we know that you have the heart and power to accomplish great things,” he said.

Carly Tymm, who with Emma Pierce-Hoffman, is a recipient of the School Committee’s Outstanding Achievement in Scholarship Award, focused on her class’ commitment to camaraderie, demonstrated at sporting events where the level of participation did not reflect that likelihood of winning the event or remembering to come back from Starbucks with a coffee because someone was having “a rough day.”

“As one teacher told me ‘The leadership and camaraderie of our class have truly left a positive legacy on Belmont High School.'”

Pierce-Hoffman recalled the difficulty moving from Pennslyvania to Massachusetts, and how a second move in the state to Belmont made her “so much more open to the change,” allowing herself to explore new experiences such as theater and to change as a person.

“Whatever the future holds for us, whether it’s college, work, moving to a new place, it will be different and we will be different people after experiencing it. And that’s OK. It’s not just OK, it’s awesome,” she said.

When members of the Class of 2016 meet in the future, “we’ll stll have common ground as Belmont High School graduates. We’ll share the memories of crowded cafeteria tables, walking around the Pond …”

Graduation is also “an amazing opportunity to leave other things behind, as memories and make way for new experiences. Change and be scary … but also sometimes the best thing in the world,” said Pierce-Hoffman.

“So welcome, Class of 2016, to life beyond Belmont High. Let the new adventures begin.”

Graduation 2016: One Parent’s Graduation Reflections

June 5, 2016 By Franklin B. Tucker 2 Comments

Editor’s note: Ms. Gibalerio was a columnist for Belmont Patch with a distinct and clear-eyed view of domestic life in Belmont. Here is her parent’s view of graduation.

By Lisa Gibalerio

My son Benjamin will graduate from Belmont High School on Sunday. Like so many of my fellow Belmont parents at such a juncture, I am a mishmash of emotions: proud, bewildered, excited, and concerned.

High school graduation is one milestone among a lifetime of milestones. As parents, we cajoled and cheered and bore witness as our babies learned to sit up, to crawl, to walk, to run, to zoom off on bikes, to glide across slick ice on skates at the Viglirolo Rink, to pass the deep end test at the Underwood Pool, and to (finally) pass the driving test.

We watched our children enter elementary school, then, in the blink of an eye, they were “Moving On” to the Chenery. And all the while there were the innumerable play dates, music lessons, soccer practices, BYBA practices, and orthodontia appointments. Lots and lots of orthodontia appointments.

Finally, the high school years arrived: a blur of academics, activities, afterschool jobs, stress, duress, late nights, Driver’s Ed, SATs, AP courses, ACTs, the Common App, Senior Thesis, and, in our case, rehearsals, hours upon hours of rehearsals.

About raising kids, someone has said: “the days are long, but the years are fast.” That was spot on. Raising a child is relentless and at the same time it’s over in a nanosecond.

So in less than 12 weeks, I will drop Benjy off on a college campus and wonder if I taught him enough in the 18 plus years he was in my care.

There are a few things that I hope he knows: To wear sun block. To floss. To say Thank You and Please. That hard work often yields good results. That sunsets, full moons, and star-filled skies are universe freebies and must be relished.

But I also fear I am sending him off into the world armed with a bundle of contradictions: “Exercise good judgment, but for goodness sake take some risks!” “Be humble, but confident!” “Work hard, but stop and smell those flowers!”

He’ll figure it out the way we all do, by engaging in this gift called life. There will be missteps and mishaps and triumphs and joys. And, I hope, many more milestones waiting down the road.

[To Benjamin, if you’re reading this: I wish you all good things! Be brave and kind and daring and resilient. And please, remember to floss and wear sunblock!]

Belmont High Graduation Set for 3 PM Sunday

June 5, 2016 By Franklin B. Tucker Leave a Comment

Photo: Graduation in the Wenner Field House.

A total of 303 Belmont High School seniors – the largest number in more than three decades – will receive diplomas this afternoon, Sunday, June 5, at the school’s 2016 graduation.

The ceremony will take place in the Wenner Field House at Belmont High School at 3 p.m. The class of 2016 will be led by Class President, Richard “Trey” Butler.

Later tonight, the newly-minted alumni will participate in the All-Night Party in the High School’s cafeteria.

Sports: Belmont Baseball Wins In Extras Over Beverly, #1 Danvers Monday

June 5, 2016 By Franklin B. Tucker Leave a Comment

Photo: Cal Christofori.

Resiliency – the ability to bounce back after getting punched in the gut – is a quality discovered only when tested by adversity. In sports, after an opponent’s blow has turned the tables on the game, some teams will fall apart. But others show that ability to return to the fight with determination and a will to win.

When Belmont High School sophomore pitcher Nate Espelin threw what he called later “a fat one” which Beverly High School catcher Luke Samperi sent over the short left field fence for a two-out, two run, game tying home run in the bottom of the eighth inning, the blast could have done in the visiting Marauders in their first-round matchup of the MIAA Division 2 North sectionals.

But as Samperi crossed the plate and joined the wild celebration on the field, Belmont’s senior captain Cole Bartels – who just saw his seven innings, two-hit, 11 strikeout dominate performance go for naught – began yelling, “We’re still in this. We’re going to win this. Stay in the game!”

And his teammates responded, soon speaking confidently that they would come away with a victory in this unexpected away game.

It just took a while. Like five extra, extra innings. But the combination of outstanding relief pitching from junior Cal Christofori, solid defense, and clutch hitting by the middle of Belmont’s lineup resulted in a 13-inning 4-2 victory from the Marauders over the Panthers.

“Our guys plugged away, scratched and clawed and finally got a little bit of a timely hit in the 13th inning,” said Jim Brown, Belmont’s head coach.

“This was awesome, playing in games like this, extra innings when everthing is on the line. This is why you play sports, these are most fun games,” said Christofori, the team’s starting catcher who has yet to give up an earned run in relief this season.

The game – which began at 1 p.m. on a school day to accommodate the Beverly High senior prom scheduled for that night – between a pair of 14-6 teams was expected to be a close one. Facing Belmont’s southpaw was Beverly’s sophomore phenom Spenser Brown (1-6, single and three strikeouts) who was named the league’s co-MVP earlier in the week batting over .450 as well as being a starting pitcher.

Both pitchers got out of early jams with Bartel facing Panthers reaching third in the second and third innings. In the bottom of the third, Christofori smelled out an attempted squeeze bunt and threw to third base David Bailey to get the runner attempting to return to the base. The junior All-Star than ended the inning by easily throwing out Panther’s Sean Hanlon attempting to steal second.

But for most of his time on the mound, Bartels’ fastball – reaching 90 mph – and a nasty slider that looped in to hit the outside corner on right handers put the team’s ace in position to sit down batters. In his seven innings, Bartels struck out two Panthers in five.

On the other side, Brown kept Beverly in the game as Marauder batters could not figure out the youngster, sending lazy flyballs in the outfield or grounders to the Panthers’ air-tight defense.

In the first extra frame, Belmont got started with one out when Christofori’s high infield pop fly was dropped for an error. Left fielder Connor Dacey (2-7, two singles) singled followed by Bartels who was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Second base Noah Reilly then took a full count offering for a ball that allowed Matt Kearns, who ran for Christofori, to walk home with the game’s first run. Shortstop Steve Ruzzuto followed with a slow roller to third that allowed Dacey to race home with what appeared to be the all-important insurance run.

In the bottom of the eighth, Espelin hit shortstop Garrett Desmond with a pitch before getting the next two Panthers out on long fly balls. But his one mistake to Samperi – who would go 1 for 6 in the game with a home run and five strikeouts (!) – set into motion what would be consecutive extra-inning playoff marathons between the teams as they played a 16 inning game in 2014.

Coming into the game in the ninth, Christofori relied on his fastball and changeup to keep the hosts off the bases, finishing his five innings with three strikeouts while giving up only one single with only one runner reaching second.

“He’s tough as nails. He’s one of those throw back players, he always wants the ball. He may not have the best stuff but he has the best determination out there,” said Brown of Christofori, a three-sport starter (football, hockey, baseball).

In extras, Belmont began hitting their stride at the plate against Beverly’s reliever senior captain Dylan Stevens. The Marauders collected 10 of their 13 hits – all singles – from the ninth inning on.

“We just wanted to continue to string hits together and look for someone to make a big play,” said Brown.

It would be a lucky 13th inning for Belmont which started with a sharp single up the middle by center fielder Bryan Goodwin (2-6, two singles) who advanced to second on a passed ball. Pinch-hitter Trevor Kelly beat the throw to first on a sacrifice bunt to give Belmont players at the corner with no outs. After Christofori popped out, Dacey’s infield hit that pinballed around the mound brought Goodwin home for the go ahead third run. Bartels followed with a long sacrifice fly to right that had Kelly waltzing home for the final run.

Christofori allowed the Panther to finally head off to their prom with a 1-2-3 final half inning.

Belmont will again be on the North Shore on Monday, June 6, to meet the number 1 seed Danvers in a repeat of last year’s quarterfinal that Belmont lost in extra innings, 3-1. In last year’s game, Bartels and Danvers’ ace Andrew Olszak pitch dual one-hit masterpieces over eight innings.

“If [Bartels] can go [Monday], he’ll go,” said Brown.

The game starts at 4 p.m. at the town’s middle school playing field.

Snubbed By MIAA, Belmont On Road Against Familiar Foe Thursday in Playoff Opener

June 2, 2016 By Franklin B. Tucker Leave a Comment

Photo: Cole Bartels is on the mound today.

The bunting and flags are still on the fences and poles of Brendan Grant Field in Belmont.

“Leave them up,” Belmont High School Baseball Head Coach Jim Brown told the facilities department a day after the end of the regular season this past weekend.

With a 14-6 record and a .700 percentage winning record, the long-time Marauders manager was certain this Belmont team had earned a first-round home game for the 2016 Division 2 North Sectional playoffs.

“Last year, that record was a five seed,” said Brown as he oversaw practice on Wednesday afternoon. (The first eight ranked teams are rewarded with a home game.) “It would be great to our fans who come out in big numbers to support us.”

Well, no one told Brown or Belmont that the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association, the governing board for all high school sports, could find a way to place the Marauders on the outside looking in.

With Marblehead, Melrose and Beverly also with 14-6 records and three spots left in the top eight, the MIAA used a combination of coin flips and numbers out of a hat that resulted in Belmont being relegated to the 9th seed, which is the third year in a row Belmont has found themselves in the inevitable position.

The ninth position is the cruelest seed as it finds a winning program forced to go on the road against an equally proficient team. And if victorious, the next game will be an away game against the number one seed, which this season is Danvers.

“Call it Belmont luck,” said Brown.

Unlike a growing majority of athletic conferences which are using data (such as using a team’s “power” ranking which gives greater weight to wins against stronger teams) and head-to-head competitions to determine rankings with teams of equal records, the MIAA continues to use coin-flips to pick team positions.

“They didn’t take in consideration that we beat Melrose (9-2) in the regular season,” said Brown. Melrose is the seven seed in the sectionals.

Not only is Belmont back in the ninth seed, they will be playing against a very familiar post-season opponent. Thursday’s opening round match will be against Beverley High School, marking the fifth time in the past seven years the Marauders and Panthers have clashed in the first round of the playoffs.

The last time they met in 2014 resulted in a four hour, 16 inning ultra-marathon (a regular game is seven innings) that the Marauders won 4-2. Belmont then met first seed Gloucester 17 hours later and lost 3-2.

And if there wasn’t enough adversity facing Belmont, the game will be played today, Thursday, June 2 at 1 p.m. at Beverly High School rather than Friday due to Beverly’s prom which is scheduled for tonight.

Brown said he and Beverly’s head coach, Dave Wilburn, are similar in each likes to put pressure on opposing defenses by playing “small” ball in the post season.

“There’s not a lot of runs coming from this game so every run will count big,” said Brown.

Belmont will face a Beverly offense sparked by their league co-MVP, sophomore third-base Spencer Brown (.438). Brown will counter with starting senior ace Cole Bartels who has struck out 75 batters this season with a 1.00 ERA .

“They’ll see a lot of Bartels,” said Brown.

Memorial Day Friday: The Price of Freedom, Paid Forward

May 31, 2016 By Franklin B. Tucker Leave a Comment

Photo: WWII Veteran Jim Boozier at Friday’s ceremony.

The students flanked the walkway at the entrance of Belmont High School where just a week previous several strode with their dates to the buses taking them to this year’s prom.

The young freshmen, sophomores, and juniors – the newly-liberated seniors were spending a day in community service – were in marked contrast to the aging men who now filed between them towards the white flagpost at the foot of Clay Pit Pond on the warm May morning.

As the school’s marching band played “Anchors Away,” the assembled students gave a steady applause to the men who marched before them, who once, just a few years older than the present students, put on their country’s uniform to defend the nation.

The yearly observance of Memorial Day at Belmont schools – at the High School and the Butler and Winn Brook this year – allows the generation that served and fought to be a testament to students of sacrifice for a greater good.

The dozen or so veterans – who served in all branches of the armed services from WWII to Iraq and Afghanistan – stood under the flag pole as speeches were made and lessons taught.

“The bitter lesson of history is that freedom is never guaranteed,” said Belmont High Principal Dan Richards.

“It is only those great and noble men and women who have been our guaranteers of our freedoms who we have come here to honor and those who are not able to join us, we owe you more than any ceremony can recognize,” said Richards.

For the veterans, the day is special for the recognition of their service as well as the opportunity to be a living history lesson.

“Twice a year, the veterans who come to these programs, we feel like rock stars when we leave for the day,” said Roger “Kip” Gaudet, Jr., commander of the Waverley VFW Post 1272 on Trapelo Road.

While it is an emotional time for the honorees to participate in the annual observations, “but it means more to us to have you people come out and support what we’ve done in the past,” said Gaudet.

“We are the Old Guards of the freedoms that you have today. And you people standing out here, are the guards of our future freedoms,” he said.

“Freedom is not free. There is a price to be paid for it,” said Gaudet.

Sports: Belmont Baseball Heads to Sectionals On A Roll Winning Grant Tourney

May 30, 2016 By Franklin B. Tucker Leave a Comment

Photo: Belmont, winners of the Brendan Grant Memorial Baseball Tournament.

It’s been seven frustrating years since the last time the Belmont High School Baseball took the title of its own end-of-the-regular-season annual Brendan Grant Memorial Baseball Tournament.

That long wait came to an end on Saturday, May 28, when senior captain Joe Shaughnessy lifted the winners’ trophy as Belmont rode to the title on the arms of its two strong starting pitchers, Belmont’s senior ace Cole Bartels and sophomore phenom Nate Espelin.

For Belmont’s long-time Head Coach Jim Brown, the late season victories are just the sort of preparation he was looking for as the squad enters the Division 2 North Sectional playoffs this week.

“These games, and especially the win over Reading, are great confidence boosters for the team,” said Brown, who said it’s likely Belmont will host a first round game this coming Friday.

“With 14 wins this season, it got the money off our backs of 11 wins in the past three years which meant we were going on the road for the playoffs. We should be a seven or eight seed this year which should be nice.”

In the first game on Friday, May 27, Belmont avenged last week’s heartbreaking 1-0 defeat by beating Reading, 5-2, behind Bartels’ seven innings, 12 strikeout performance – and for the second straight start striking out six consecutive Rockets in the fifth and sixth innings. Bartels helped his cause with a home run and three runs batted in to survive five infield errors to take the victory.

“[Bartels] carries us. He puts us on his back; he says I’m going to do it and bare down,” said Brown of Bartels, who is looking to repeat as the MVP of the Middlesex League.

In Saturday’s championship final, Espelin (four strikeouts) kept Lynnfield High off balance with an array of pitches as his teammates feasted on Div. 3 pitching, scoring five in the first to run away from the Pioneers, 16-2.

Belmont lead off the top of the first – the Marauders were the “visitors” during the game due to a pregame coinflip – with a barrage of singles from catcher Cal Christofori, Noah Riley (rbi), Steve Rizzuto (rbi), Trevor Kelly and the big shot from senior first-base Evan Biette, a two-run single to finish the scoring in the first.

After Espelin got out of a bases-loaded jam in the first with a strikeout, Bartels drove in Christofori in to up the score to 6-0 before a five-run third – highlighted by a two-run single from Matt Kearans – essentially put the game out of reach.

It didn’t surprise anyone that Bartels was named the tournament MVP. Bartels, who has committed to play at Penn State next year, ended the regular season near the top in batting and pitching: hitting .475 and registering 73 strikeouts in Massachusetts.

Belmont will now have six days to prepare for its opening round game in the playoffs.

“One of our goals was a home playoff game because the town comes out and does a great job supporting us,” said Brown.

Movie Under The Stars Comes To Belmont Friday, June 3

May 27, 2016 By Franklin B. Tucker Leave a Comment

Photo: The cast photo of “The Sandlot.”

A fun family activity that happens across the US each summer is coming to Belmont next Friday as the Belmont High School Class of 2019 presents “Movie Night Under the Stars” featuring “The Sandlot” on June 3, at 8 p.m. on the Brendan Grant Field. next to Belmont High School.

Tickets are $5 per person with a $25 family cap. Bring your own blankets and pillows. Popcorn and beverages will be available for sale.

Sports: Bartels’ Tour de Force Falls Short As Reading Takes League Title, 1-0

May 23, 2016 By Franklin B. Tucker Leave a Comment

Photo: Cole Bartels on the mound.

Paraphrasing Tolstoy, all wins are alike; each defeat is lost in its own way.

For Belmont High School’s senior ace Cole Bartels, Saturday’s 1-0 loss at Reading Memorial High – securing the Middlesex Liberty Division championship to the Rockets – will go down as a tour-de-force performance spoiled by the flukes of the game that can make baseball such a cruel mistress to play.

“Déjà vu all over again,” said Marauder Head Coach Jim Brown, recalling a similar one-run heartbreaker to Reading for the league championship in 2007.

“Bartels pitched great. He did his job. We just could not get the timely hit,” said Brown. “We got hits; we got men on base. Someone just has to step up and get the hit at the right time.”

Pitching one of his best performance of the season, the Penn State-commit dominated the league leaders, striking out 11 while giving up only a pair of singles. After a few early inning “butterflies,” last year’s Middlesex League all-star got down to business, and in the process, threw one of the best two innings plus stretches from a starter in recent league memory.

After a leadoff walk to the number nine hitter in the bottom of the third, Bartels struck out the first two batters in the lineup on 1-2 counts with catcher Cal Christofori’s rocket throw to cut down the runner attempting to swipe second by a mile.

The fourth inning was a master class with Bartels’ fastball hit the low outside corner schooled the heart of Rockets order as the 3, 4, and 5 hitters each took the third strike looking. To cap the effort. Bartels sat down the first batter in the fifth on a reverse K.

“When I came out in the third it was just rock and fire,” said Bartels

It wasn’t as if Belmont hitters were as they had six hits off Reading. It was if Belmont was too eager at the plate, attempting to belt junior Corey DiLoreto’s off-speed offerings, only to lift the ball into the outfield.

The dark clouds crept over Belmont in the bottom of the sixth when Bartels had leadoff hitter Connor Mulligan down two strikes only to see three straight targeted pitches were deemed balls to the consternation of the Marauder coaching staff and bench, leading to a critical no out walk.

The games “big” hit traveled the least distance when right fielder Carl Gillies attempted to move Mulligan to second launched a bunt attempt in the air along the third base line. But rather then an easy out, the ball looped over third base David Bailey who was charging the plate.

“What do you do? Normally a pop-up bunt is a certain out,” said Brown.

Making matters more difficult, a passed ball by Bartels’ battery mate Christofori placed runners in scoring a position at second and third with one out. After a strike out, an intentional walk to load the bases for left fielder Tommy White to loft a fly ball deep enough into center field to score Mulligan.

It was then up to DiLoreto to set down Belmont in order for the clinching victory.

“I couldn’t ask much more from my team. They try as hard as they could with good effort. It just wasn’t our day,” said Bartels.

Bartels and Belmont will see the Rockets this weekend in the opening game of the annual Brendan Grant Tournament at 2 p.m., Friday, May 27.

Belmont, whose pitching staff sports a 1.00 ERA, has the throwers to make a run in the playoffs but like last season, hitting and runs remain a bugaboo for the team.

“We have to put the right pieces of the puzzle together” which may require a lineup change,” said Brown. “It could be putting kids in different parts of the lineup and just getting a hit,” he said.

For Bartels, the playoffs can’t happen fast enough.

“I feel extremely good. We’re going to be a great team and accomplish special things this post season,” he said.