Hanover — Concord’s Matthew Paradis wasted no time announcing his intent to go after his first New Hampshire Golf Association amateur championship on Sunday, roughly a year since his near-miss run at last year’s tournament.
The Southern New Hampshire University golfer fired a 4-under-par 67 at Hanover Country Club to open the stroke-play portion of the weeklong championship, good for a share of first place entering the final day of qualifying for this week’s matches. Manchester’s Ryan Brown, a rising senior at Bryant University, shared the lead, while a host of Upper Valley golfers did well on the tournament’s opening day.
Carter’s Pat Pelletier, the low amateur at last month’s Vermont Open, is a shot off the pace with Manchester’s Ryan Tombs. Former NHGA junior champ Brandon Gillis, of Souhegan Woods, is at 2 under, and two other competitors — Nashua’s Tommy Ethier and Breakfast Hill’s Ryan Quinn — sit at 70, three strokes back.
Paradis, who dropped last year’s state am final to Mike Martel, 2 and 1, appears ready for another run at the crown. A rising SNHU senior, Paradis made no mistakes on his opening round, recording 14 pars and four birdies, on the ninth, 10th, 13th and 18th holes. Brown, who also started Sunday’s play on the par-4 first hole, was a bit more adventuresome with his 67, needing back-to-back birdies on the par-5 17th and 18th holes to join Paradis at the top of the leaderboard. Brown recorded six birdies and two bogeys on Sunday.
Former Dartmouth College men’s golf competitor James Pleat was joined by Hanover’s Nate Choukas and former state am champ Jim Cilley, of Ridgewood, at even-par 71. First-time N.H. Amateur competitor Bill Vielleux, of Montcalm, is in a group of eight at 72. Carter’s Andy Hunnewell, Hanover’s Phin Choukas and Claremont’s Zach Melcher are all in the mix for match play after first-round scores of 74.
Several area competitors will need to pick up their games today in order to make the match-play cut. That group includes former state champ Nick MacDonald (78), Hanover’s Ryerson Stinson (78) and another Hanover golfer with state am experience, Sylvain Foster (80).
The top 64 golfers after today’s second round will advance to match play, which starts on Tuesday.
NECBL BaseballPilgrims 5Nighthawks 0
White River Junction — Two potential late-inning rallies fizzled out in another down afternoon for the offense.
Upper Valley ran into a buzz saw named Chris Gonzalez, Plymouth’s starting pitcher from Stetson who allowed only three hits and one walk in eight innings on Sunday at the Maxfield Sports Complex. He allowed one hit in his first seven innings of work, enough to shut down Upper Valley’s offense.
The Nighthawks (13-12) loaded the bases with two outs in both the eighth and ninth innings but couldn’t score. In the eighth, Anthony Quirion (Lamar) struck out swinging to end the threat. In the ninth, Alvin Melendez (Fordham) grounded into a double play to end the game.
Upper Valley managed only three hits and four walks, striking out three times in the loss.
Plymouth (16-9) built a 3-0 lead off of Nighthawks starting pitcher Levi Thomas (Troy), who allowed six hits and three walks in four innings. Ty Adcock (Elon) stopped the bleeding, striking out four in three innings of relief. Wes Bucher (West Georgia) allowed two hits and a run in the eighth inning and A.J. Franklin (Vanderbilt) allowed three hits and a run in the ninth.
The Nighthawks have Monday off before traveling to the Danbury Westerners for a doubleheader on Tuesday.
Legion BaseballWhite River Junction 17Randolph 3
Randolph — White River Junction Post 84 scored early and often to improve to 11-4 overall.
Brady Clark led the way offensively, going 3-for-4 with four RBIs. Tyler Hamilton had a double and three RBIs, Aidan Trimble 2-for-3. White River Junction (9-3 league) hosts Rutland on Tuesday.
Junior Legion Lebanon 20Colchester 14
Lebanon 10Colchester 4
Lebanon — Post 22 juniors swept its doubleheader with Colchester to improve to 10-1 overall, 8-1 in its league. Lebanon travels to Jutras on Wednesday.