Southington's Greenwood part of Ludwick/Westbrook MLB Deadline deal

Nick Greenwood, of Southington, a left-handed pitcher who was drafted last season into the San Diego Padres' organization out of the University of Rhode Island, was traded Saturday, right before Major League Baseball's July 31 Deadline, as part of a three-team deal. The three team's involved were the St. Louis Cardinals, the San Diego Padres and the Cleveland Indians. Here's the report from mlb.com's Anthony Castrovince.

The three teams pulled off a swap mere hours before Saturday's 4 p.m. ET Trade Deadline, as the Indians sent veteran right-hander Jake Westbrook and cash to the Cardinals, who sent outfielder Ryan Ludwick to the Padres. To complete the deal, the Padres sent Double-A right-hander Corey Kluber to the Tribe and Class A left-hander Nick Greenwood to the Cards.

Greenwood, a Xavier High (Middletown) alum, will now take his game from Low-A Fort Wayne (Ind.), where he played for the TinCaps, and likely move to Davenport (Iowa) where he will play for the Low-A Quad Cities River Bandits, the equivalent of the TinCaps. However, the Cards could choose to possibly move him up a step in their organization.
A 14th round pick by the Pads last summer, Greenwood has, for the most part, excelled during his young minor league career. According to baseball-reference.com, in his almost two seasons, he's appeared in 41 games, starting 26 and has posted an 8-5 overall record with a very respectable 3.12 ERA. In his 161.2 innings pitched to date, he's struck out 118 and only walked 36, an excellent ratio of 3.28 k/bb.
After lighting up Short-Season A-ball in Eugene, Ore., last season (4-1, 1.71 ERA), he's struggled slightly more this year to the tune of a 4.15 ERA, but he remains a guy who can throw hard and use a biting curveball to get guys out. Maybe even more promising is that he's a lefty and hard-throwing southpaws are always coveted.

(photo courtesy of baseballinfortwayne.com)

Cheerleading ruled not a sport by federal judge

Competitive cheer may, some time in the future, qualify as a sport under Title IX; today, however, the activity is still too underdeveloped and disorganized to be treated as offering genuine varsity athletic participation opportunities for students.

Around the middle of last week, the above words were written in a statement decision by a federal judge who ruled in favor of the Quinnipiac women's volleyball team, saying it was not fair that cheerleading be made a sport and in turn, eliminate the women's volleyball program. Here's a video recap of the issue.

Such a big part of the Southington High sporting landscape, I'm interested to hear any and all opinions on this important and sensitive issue about cheerleading.

Finale a must-win for Post 72

Needing one win with five remaining going into the final week of the season, it looked like the Southington American Legion baseball team was likely heading to the playoffs for the first time since 2007. Then they lost to Torrington Monday, dropped a suspended game against Torrington that they finished Thursday and lost both games of a doubleheader against Simsbury on Saturday. Simsbury now sits above Southington (14-12) in the Zone 1 standings with 16 wins after the sweep and will finish no worse than fourth. For Southington, there now remains one lonely game on the schedule, against Wolcott later this morning at 10 a.m. at Fontana Field, and the math is pretty simple - a win you're in, a loss and the summer, as far as baseball is concerned, is over. For Wolcott, it is also their final game; they come in with a record of 11-15, but the crux is that the Post 72ers have yet to beat them this year. No better time then the present.

Legion still in search of lone win with three left

Post 72's American Legion baseball team in Southington dropped a 16-4 decision to Torrington last night as both team's finished a suspended game from earlier in the season on June 15. Southington now sits at 14-10 with the loss - still needing one win to advance to the playoffs. The positive for the Post 72ers is that they're done with Torrington, likely the second-best team in their zone (Zone 1), and finish with a doubleheader against Simsbury tomorrow, June 17, and a game against Wolcott Sunday morning, June 18. Simsbury currently sits at 13-11 (needing two wins to reach the playoffs) and plays Wolcott (11-13 - eliminated from playoffs) tonight. Southington has had success this season against Simsbury, but has not beaten Wolcott. The chances, though, are higher for them to pull out a victory in the final three games as the opponents are slightly weaker, but not by much, than Torrington.

UPDATE: Simsbury doubleheader, Wolcott game ppd.

Post 72's doubleheader at Simsbury Tuesday night was postponed as a result of the terrible, rainy weather. As well, Wednesday night's contest against Wolcott in Southington was also ppd. because of the weather and field conditions. As a result of the bad weather the last 48 hours, the season has been extended from Friday, July 16, to Sunday, July 18. The Wolcott game has been re-scheduled to Sunday, the 18th, starting at 10 a.m. in Southington. The rest of the schedule reads as follows: Thursday, July 15 - finish sspd. game at Torrington starting at 8 p.m.; Friday, July 16 or Saturday, July 17 - make-up Simsbury double-header at Simsbury; Sunday, July 18 - Wolcott at home, 10 a.m., season finale.

Post 72 one win shy with four left

After a three-game losing streak, Post 72 bounced back for a 14-1 win against Burlington in the second game of a double-header on Sunday evening. Going into Monday's tilt with Torrington, both American Legion baseball teams needed one win to clinch a spot in the playoffs. Southington came out of that game still needing that elusive win after a 7-4 defeat. To read a recap of the game, click the following link. P38s recover to clinch tournament berth- The Register Citizen Sports - Northwest Connecticut's Daily Newspaper. Southington has a double-header against Simsbury today, a game against Wolcott tomorrow and a suspended matchup with Torrington to finish on Thursday - four games left, one win needed.

Legion drops Thursday night contest

Post 72 American Legion baseball in Southington lost to Bristol (17-4) on the road at Muzzy Field in a tough decision Thursday night. They got a great mound effort from Jeff Mazzamurro who went the full six innings, struck out four, gave up four hits, a walk and one earned run in the 2-1 loss. Mazzamurro also tripled, as one of Southington's five hits, and had the only Southington RBI, scoring George Dibble in the third. Post 72 dropped to 13-7 and remained two wins away from a spot in the playoffs.

Legion two wins away from playoffs

The Southington American Legion Post 72 baseball team dropped to 13-6 after a 3-1 loss to Unionville on Wednesday (June 7) night. The loss came behind three unearned runs. Southington was on somewhat of a roll, as they went into the home game against Unionville riding a five-game win streak before the loss. Still, the team sits two wins away from qualifying from the playoffs with seven games left, including tonight on the road against Bristol, who they beat 1-0 last week at home.

Knights prevalent on All-Courant team

The Hartford Courant released their 2010 Spring All-Courant team and amongst the many names were a group of Southington athletes. The Blue Knights volleyball captains Brendan Charamut and Nick Defeo (middle) were pictured on the front page as seen to the left, along with members of the Ceshire boys lacrosse team, both team's won their respective Class L titles. To read the cover story, click here. Charamut was named the Boys Volleyball Player of Year while teammate Defeo was named to the All-Courant Volleyball team as a setter, along with libero Mitch Oshana, all three of which are seniors. For a closer look into Charamut, look at the Courant's profile.

Other athletes getting recognition were Sr. Ravin Walters as an honorable mention outdoor track athlete, Sr. Erin Saucier was named the All-Courant pole vaulter for girls outdoor track, Sr. Dan Baker was honored as an honorable mention for boys golf, Jr. Sal Romano, pitcher, was on the honorable mention baseball list, Jr. Zack Wholley was named an All-Courant midfielder while classmate Matt Prezioso was given honorable mention, and the softball team got two players on the FAB 15 squad in Jr. Jessica Davenport, pitcher, who was 21-2 and had a 0.65 ERA, and So. Nicole Rossitto, shortstop, who batted .373, 15 RBIs, 26 hits and 17 runs, while Sr. Steph Johnson was named to the honorable mention list as an outfielder.

(photo Patrick Raycraft/The Hartford Courant and courant.com)

Legion in rarefied air heading down stretch

Going into a home double-header today starting at 5:45 p.m. against Winsted, the Southington American Legion Post 72 team was 10-5 and following a 1-0 win against Bristol, was just two back in the race for the top spot in Zone 1. After struggling the past few years, head coach Jim Gugliotti says the team is "treading on new territory" but he did show his excitement and that he liked where the team was going. With their season ending next week, this is the last full week of games and if Southington makes a push, they could really put themselves in good position going into Zone playoffs to do something that they haven't done in a while and that's making some noise and not bowing out. Read more about the recent hot streak in the July 9th edition of The Southington Citizen, turn to sports.

Lady Knights at national competition

Three Southington High School Lady Knights lacrosse players recently competed at the National Draw Lacrosse Amateur Championship in Marlton, N.J.

The three SHS teammates from left are Melissa Reid, Sarah Pelligrinelli, and Micaila Dean, who play for Nor’easter Lacrosse, a club team based in New Haven, during their off season.