Saying this week of sports down at the woods was exciting would be an understatement, as we just had the most hectic span of days that we’ve had all spring sports season. So, let’s dive into the good and the bad of this past week for Woodland sports teams.

Baseball

It’s only right to open up this week’s recap with our NVL winning boys baseball team. That’s right, our boys got it done this past week, in dramatic fashion, to be crowned the 2023 NVL champions. To begin the week, the boys had their first round matchup against Oxford here at the woods. Despite a shaky start, the team advanced to the second round with a 4-3 win after a walk-off single by Erik Pulkkinen. The team were then paired up with Torrington on Tuesday in a crucial second round matchup. Once again, the boys came out with a win to set up a championship matchup against 2nd seeded St. Paul on Thursday. When Thursday came around, the boys didn’t let up and clinched the NVL championship after a 4-0 win against St. Paul. For next week, they have their sights set on the state championship, where they look to extend their winning streak and their season.

“We knew what our goals were this year, and the first one was winning NVLs,” said junior Ethan Stepputtis. “Now we just gotta refocus on states and try not to hang on the championship win”.

Softball

The girls softball team entered the NVL tournament as the 1 seed with a 20-0 regular season record. Unfortunately, the tournament did not go exactly how the girls planned this year. To begin the week, the team beat St. Paul 9-1 to advance to the second round of play. In the second round, the girls dominated and were able to beat Holy Cross 16-0 to set up a finals matchup against 2 seeded Oxford. Sadly, the girls fell short of Oxford 3-0 in this game and were not able to defend their NVL championship. Despite this, the girls are ready to move on and zone in on winning their second straight state championship.

Outdoor Track

The boys and girls outdoor track teams had their NVL championships this week as well, and came in with high expectations. After each team achieved a 12-1 record in the regular season, it is safe to say both teams were ready to do some damage at the championship meet. The boys and girls team’s did just that, as both finished 2nd overall falling just short of Naugatuck. Despite not coming first, Woodland was able to hold off the other 12 teams at the meet and walk away with a handful of individual medals.

Boys Tennis

After winning NVLs the previous week as a team, the boys tennis team had NVL singles and doubles championships. As usual, the boys seemed to dominate and play consistently well throughout both tournaments. In the end, Kayo Niebryzdowski was crowned singles champion and Nick Bshara and Brian O’Connell took home the doubles championship.