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Salisbury baseball threepeats
May 19, 2024
Riley Klein
SALISBURY — The Crimson Knights secured back-to-back-to-back Western New England Prep Baseball League (WNEPBL) titles with a 2-1 win over Canterbury School Sunday, May 19.
Salisbury Coach Kevin Huber’s trophy case has grown to four championships in the last eight years (two of those years had no tournaments due to Covid-19). The Knights capped off a dominant season in style with a big win in the title match.
Gavin O'Brien made the game-winning out at first.Riley Klein
Salisbury earned the top seed in WNEPBL standings after completing the season with a 13-1 league record. The Knights went 20-4 overall this season and were the fifth ranked prep school baseball team in the nation by MaxPreps.com before tournament weekend.
(1) Salisbury won 3-1 in the semifinal game against (3) Cheshire Academy Saturday, May 18. The Knights scored all their runs in the second inning. Salisbury’s Ty Deperno pitched a shutout until the sixth inning when Cheshire scored its lone run.
In the other WNEPBL semifinal game, played in Easthampton, Mass., (4) Canterbury School defeated (2) Williston Northampton School 6-0. The Canterbury Saints then made their way to Salisbury for the championship game Sunday, May 19. When these teams last met on April 17, Salisbury won 4-3 in extra innings.
Mike Plummer closed out the game as Salisbury's relief pitcher.Riley Klein
Conditions were perfect for baseball in the title match. Sun was shining with a light breeze, about 65 degrees. Students, parents and fans filled the ballfield at Hilltop for game time.
Salisbury never trailed against rival Canterbury. The Knights took a 2-run lead in the second inning and maintained a scoring advantage throughout.
Canterbury got on the board in the third inning on a sacrifice fly. Salisbury’s pitcher Jasper Nadel held the Saints to one run until he was relieved by Mike Plummer in the sixth inning. Plummer launched rockets down the middle to close out the game with a 2-1 victory.
The Knights celebrate in the infield.Riley Klein
The Knights rejoiced in the infield, completing the rare and coveted threepeat. Salisbury has won four of the last six WNEPBL tournaments (2017, 2022, 2023, 2024 — no tournaments in 2020, 2021).
Of Salisbury’s winning roster, 12 seniors have committed to college programs next year. Additionally, three underclassmen have already committed to NCAA Division One schools.
Salisbury posed behind home plate after the win.Riley Klein
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Natalia Zukerman
The Wassaic Art Project offers a free, weekly drop-in art class for kids aged K-12 and their families every Saturday from 12 to 5 p.m. The Art Nest, as it’s called, is a light, airy, welcoming space perched on the floor of the windy old mill building where weekly offerings in a variety of different media lead by professional artists offer children the chance for exploration and expression. Here, children of all ages and their families are invited to immerse themselves in the creative process while fostering community, igniting imaginations, and forging connections.
Emi Night began as the Lead Educator at The Art Nest in January 2024. She studied painting at Indiana University and songwriting at Goddard College in Vermont and is both a visual artist and the lead songwriter and singer in a band called Strawberry Runners.
Night sources her ideas for projects “from all over,” she said. “Sometimes we’ll pull ideas from artists in the shows [at The Wassaic Art Project] and if there’s something that seems like it would be fun for the kids, we’ll create a project around it.”
Night emphasized that the Art Nest is a drop-in opportunity as opposed to a drop-off class.
“Some families come in that are new in the area and don’t have a lot of parent friends,” Night said. “And they meet people here and develop a network. It’s a really cool space for that, and art is a great way to bring people together.”
Jill Winsby-Fein, Education Coordinator at The Wassaic Art Project also emphasized the community aspect of the offering. “We ask families to stay together, and that results in family art making that’s actually really special.”
Depending on the day, there can be up to 20 children and their families in the space. “Most days we have five or six kids at a time,” said Night.
The summer exhibition, “Tall Shadows in Short Order,” opens May 18 and the teachers expect an increase in attendance. The Wassaic Project has partnered with the Intern Project through the NECC (North East Community Center) and Luna Reynolds, a student at Webutuck Central School, is “our intern extraordinaire,” said Winsby-Fein.
“The projects I plan are geared toward kids ages four and up,” said Night, “but they are always adaptable to engage younger artists in sensory play and fine motor skill development. The average age range of attendees since I started working here in January has been three to 12. We do have materials and equipment more appropriate for teens like sewing and embroidery machines, jewelry and wire sculpture tools, button/pin-makers, and we’d love to have more teen artists working in the space.”
The program is funded through the Wassaic Art Project, which relies on grants, individual and donor funding, and artwork sales. The group is currently in the process of applying for various education grants to help fund the program.
“We have kids who walk from nearby and come every week,” she said. “A lot of the feedback I’ve gotten from families is about the community aspect.”
Families seeking to explore the world of art through The Art Nest are invited to drop by on Saturday afternoons. Visit www.wassaicproject.org for more information.
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Alexander Wilburn
The Kent Arts Association, which last summer celebrated 100 years since its founding, unveiled its newest group show on Friday, May 11. Titled “Working the Angles,” the exhibition gathers the work of textile artists who have presented fiber-based quilts, landscapes, abstracts, and mural-sized illustrations. The most prominently displayed installation of fiber art takes up the majority of the association’s first floor on South Main Street.
Bridgeport-based artist Carlos Biernnay was born in Chile under the rule of the late military dictator Augusto Pinochet, but his large-scale work is imbued with fantasy instead of suffering. His mix of influences seems to include Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s popular German libretto “The Magic Flute” — specifically The Queen of the Night — as well as Lewis Carol’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” The Tudor Court, tantalizing mermaids and exotic flora.
Upstairs, Litchfield-based fiber artist Karen Griska’s large quilts take inspiration from African tradition, although she has also worked in the styles of Amish quilting as well as the Black American tradition of Gee’s Bend, which began in an Alabama town of the same name.
For more on “Working the Angles” and Kent Art Association exhibition viewing hours go to www.kentart.org
A quilt by Litchfield-based artist Karen Griska.Alexander Wilburn
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