Two years removed from the pinnacle of Division II baseball, Vergennes Union High School won’t field a varsity team this spring.
The graduation of eight starters from last year’s 11-7 squad, and the program’s unexpected loss of all three returning seniors, left the Commodores with just 10 players. “Numbers are very, very low for one reason or another,” Vergennes coach George Ringer said. “We had no seniors on the team and were more freshman and sophomores than anything. “The league we play in, we had a JV team. To the kids’ credit they wanted to play varsity but it just didn’t seem like the right thing to do to get back to where we were.” If the school had opted to take the current players as a varsity team in the Metro Division, it would have been the third year in a row the school — which also fields track, golf and lacrosse teams — didn’t have a JV unit. “From what I hear it’s probably the worst of the trough right now and we’re headed back uphill next year,” said Ringer, who has been the Vergennes coach for 16 seasons. “But I think it’s going to take two or three years to get back to where we have a JV and varsity.” “We’re not the only school hurting in the JV department,” he said. “Baseball’s a little bit in the down swing it seems.” Another school, Division IV’s Arlington, axed its varsity baseball and softball teams for the spring season, according to the Bennington Banner. Like Vergennes, Arlington’s baseball team was senior-heavy in 2013 but the Eagles didn’t have enough players this time around to field a JV squad. The track and golf programs, meanwhile, have seen an increase in participation, the Banner reported. Low participation numbers in Montpelier have also hit the boys lacrosse team, which is one of the older programs in the state. With safety in mind, the school decided to cancel or forfeit games in busy weeks this year, athletic director Matt Link wrote in an email. Article by: Austin Danforth
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