Lembo hired as new baseball coach

The Southington High School Athletic Department announced at 2 p.m., Monday, Jan. 31, that Charlie Lembo will be the next varsity baseball coach of the Blue Knights. Lembo was the junior varsity coach and an active assistant for the varsity team prior to this appointment.

The release states:

Coach Lembo brings a wealth of experience having coached at the college level at Quinnipiac University, as well as serving as the JV baseball coach at Southington High School, and has been active in every level of youth baseball from college, American Legion, to all levels of youth/amateur baseball.

Lembo is a graduate of Providence College where he played Division I baseball as both a pitcher and an infielder for the Friars.

Most recently, Lembo has added head coach of the Southington Shock to his coaching resume. He has lead the Shock, part of the start-up Connecticut Collegiate Baseball League, to back-to-back titles in the first two seasons of the league.

On a personal note, Lembo is a fantastic guy to deal with, respectful and a great role model for the kids. Beyond his personal traits, he is a terrific baseball guy who knows the game front to back and will certainly be able to continue to lead Southington baseball into the future as one of the hallmark sports in town.

Lembo was undoubtedly on the short list of candidates and was one of two, along with Dave Yanosy, that were most likely being considered going into the search. This was a slam dunk choice by AD Eric Swallow and everyone involved in the process. More excitingly, Southington and Lembo have a lot to look forward to this season with Tennessee-bound pitcher Sal Romano (7-3, 2.12 ERA, 51 Ks), as well as good, experienced players, some coming off very good summer seasons. Junior shortstop Matt Spruill (21 hitts, 17 runs), who came from down south, returns with a year in Connecticut under his belt, as do some other big bats, including Zack Niles (.357 avg., 20 hits, 9 runs) and Alex Roger (.300, 10 runs), and some solid pitchers, such as Joe Sullivan (3.75 ERA).

Lembo knows the kids and will not miss a beat in replacing Steve Matyczyk. Even better is he knows the JV kids coming up so he will be able to put kids in the right places, giving him a jump start on things. Good move for Southington and definitely the right one.

**stats from 2010 baseball season

Hernandez to run February football camp

D.J. Hernandez, head coach of the Southington football team, will hold a weekly camp in February for prospective football players in grades three to eight, teaching the fundamentals and techniques to achieve success. The camp is called the Blue Knights Game Plan Youth Football Camp. It is designed to give the participating athletes "a great deal of instruction while participating in competitive and exciting drills."

Most exciting for the attendees is that Aaron Hernandez, D.J.'s younger brother and tight end for the New England Patriots, will speak on one of the dates.

There is limited space and the first 100 campers will be taken on a first-come, first-served basis. The dates are as follows: Sundays, Feb. 6, 13, 20 and 27. It will be one hour each week, from 11 a.m. to noon and will take place in the Southington High gym. You can participate in all four sessions for a set fee, participate in a single session, or participate in multiple single sessions. Day-of registration on each Sunday will be at 10:30 a.m. in the Southington High cafeteria, which is adjacent to the gymnasium. Participants will also receive a free camp t-shirt.

To register or for more information regarding camp fees or other questions, contact D.J. Hernandez at (860) 628-3229, ext. 260, or via e-mail at dennis.hernandez3411@southingtonfootball.com.

Chapman commits to Fordham

Jordan Chapman hadn't played football since he was a little kid in midgets. But for his senior year, his friends told him, 'Come out and play football with us senior year.' Chapman, a fantastic athlete, decided he would. He ended up being a difference-maker on a Southington team that fell one game shy of a state playoff spot. He played both defensive back, where he was named All-CCC West, as well as receiver and ended up being Southington's best option at kicker, becoming the steady extra point guy and he even kicked a field goal.

Turns out all Chapman needed was the one year to turn it into a chance to play at the next level as the Southington High School Athletic Department announced Wednesday that Chapman has committed to play football at Fordham University in the fall, likely at defensive back. He will sign his National Letter of Intent on National Signing Day next Wednesday, Feb. 2, at 3 p.m. at the high school.

Head coach D.J. Hernandez commented in a release from the high school that Jordan Chapman, "is a special athlete, but most importantly a very special person. He is a great team player who will be missed next season. Jordan has a lot of potential and I am very excited to see how he develops at Fordham University."

Chapman is a three-sport star at Southington, currently one of the leaders of the basketball team and a main scoring threat on the lacrosse team. He's averaging 13 points per game so far this hoops season. Chapman will join Jake Rodrigues at Fordham, a 2010 graduate of Southington. Classmate Tyler Dube has been rumored to be looking at Fordham as well.

Following the signing of the National Letter of Intent, there will be a brief press conference.

Staples' Betts retires, opens door for Southington-Staples rivalry?

Staples is no doubt the home of the premier boys volleyball program in Connecticut, right now, bar none. A close second and maybe now a 1A is Southington High, which beat Staples last season in the Class L finals for the first time ever - it was the fourth try.

After that state finals match, coach Lou Gianacopolos said he would love to have the match-up be an annual, regular season rivalry. As reported on Knight Time back on June 14, 2010:

"I would love (it) and I've asked for the last three years. After our first loss to Staples, I wanted to toughen our competition and there's only one way to get tougher, it's just to go right at them during the regular season," Gianacopolos said.
Gianacopolos also makes the claim that he's more than willing to try and find a workable date.
"I've asked [Bruce Betts] at the end of the regular season, before I book any of my other [games], I ask him what's good for him," Gianacopolos said of the scheduling issue.
He says, though, that he "Never got calls back," from Betts. Gianacopolos says the agendas might be slightly different.
"I'm not looking for the 100 wins," he said.

Staples coach Bruce Betts, never rude, totally respectful, said it's tough to squeeze Southington into an 18-game schedule when 15 of those games are must-play conference matches. Gianacopolos seemed willing to negotiate, but it never happened.

However, with the reported announced retirement of Betts (click here for more) on Tuesday, this opens the door for the next coach to step in at Staples and quite possibly get this rivalry going.

Every year, the hope is that these two premier programs play in the state championship game so we can see who truly is No. 1. To see these juggernauts now play during regular season play would be something special. And granted, there might not be 101-match win streaks like Staples had snapped last year, but it would continue to help elevate the sport of boys volleyball in Connecticut. It's slowly growing and pitting two of the top programs in recent history, if not the two best, against each other would be a delicious regular season subplot.

Whether that happens or not, probably not this year, maybe next, but with Betts stepping down, it could be more likely. It remains to be seen.

Southington Friday postponements and rescheduled dates

Here's your Friday list of postponements:

Boys Basketball vs. New Britain changed to tomorrow, 1/22, at 4:30 p.m. in Southington

Girls Basketball at New Britain changed to Monday, 1/24, at 5:30 p.m. in New Britain

Gymnastics vs. Conard changed to tomorrow, 1/22, at 7 p.m. at CATS (Cheshire)

Boys Swimming at Manchester changed to Monday, 1/24, at 4 p.m. in Manchester

Blue Knight Fall All-Conference Selections

Here's the long overdue list of the Southington athletes that were named All-Conference this past Fall (2010).

Football
Enjan Mullaj, Andrew Walowski, Tyler Dube, Jordan Chapman, Mark Tellerico, Nick Gothberg, Matt Scarpati, Dan Manware and Matt O’Connor

Boys Cross Country
Bryan Wilcox, Tim Brown, Kyle Hamel and Matt Walker

Field Hockey
Gretchen Egan, Colleen Girouard, Micaila Dean and Mel Muroski

Boys Soccer
Joe Gianatti, Greg Smedberg and Tyler Moss

Girls Soccer
Erica Kosienski and Kristy Solomon

Girls Volleyball
Elsie Bernaiche, Tory Broytman, Natasha Carlbert and Victoria Munson

What does the CCC football realignment mean?

The Central Connecticut Conference met to realign its divisions Monday and Tuesday, we saw what that realignment looked like. For the full team spread, visit the CCC's website.

Essentially what they did is try to, 1. Have things make more sense geographically; and 2. Have things make more sense in terms of enrollment. The process started focusing solely on enrollment. Previously, there were four divisions with eight teams each, but it wasn't all based on enrollment. Previous won-loss records were also factored in, along with some other mumbo jumbo. What they essentially did now was simplify everything (a good move from where I'm looking). Three divisions, each split into East and West, based first on enrollment, and second on geography. No more will teams move up and down unless kids stop going to school there, and then they can move.

Here's how Division I looks:
East
Glastonbury
Manchester
South Windsor
East Hartford
Newington

West
Southington
Simsbury
Conard
Hall
New Britain

So what does this do for Southington? It could make a big impact, or it could make little to no impact. The regular season involves a 10-game slate. In the newly improved Division I there are 10 teams, including Southington, so essentially, they will play all the other nine during the regular season. Don't forget to include Thanksgiving Day rivalry game against Cheshire and you have it, Southington's 10-game schedule.

In turn, this eliminates the so-called "cupcakes" from the schedule. For example, last year the Blue Knights traveled to Manchester and absolutely terrorized East Catholic, a Division III-Class S school, to the tune of 47-14. It was so bad they ran the clock in the second half, no stops. Those games are essentially eliminated. However, in looking at last year's schedule, the only other team Southington played in 2010 that won't be in Division I in 2011 is Windsor (they're in Division II West), a team Southington suffered one of its two losses to, so maybe this was a good thing. Slide Conard into a schedule spot and slide Hall into a spot and essentially, the schedules are identical.

All-in-all, the realignment won't really affect Southington too much. It will affect a team like Newington, who was terrible last year, as was East Hartford, because now those teams are no longer afforded the opportunity that if they stink one year, they can drop down a level the next. They'll either have to get good or continue to get pulverized.

Whatever the case may be, again, the Blue Knights should continue to do well based on the massive enrollment and the familiarity with the big boys of the CCC. For some of the others, well, that's to be seen.

Kuran Iverson posterization!

If you haven't heard, Iverson is playing in Connecticut. He's playing at Northwest Catholic High School. Oh, not that Iverson, this Iverson is named Kuran and he is a sophomore phenom. The kid is crazy good already and will almost undoubtedly be playing Division I hoops somewhere. Well, he helped his team squeak by Southington last night 70-68 and At that game, Citizen photographer Matt Leidemer was there and captured this unbelievable shot. The victim in this posterization, unfortunately, is Southington's senior center Sal Romano.


Photo by Matt Leidemer



Hiring of Knights' new baseball coach 'on track'

I talked to Southington High Athletic Director Eric Swallow a short while ago about where in the process he is on hiring a new baseball coach following the departure of Steve Matyczyk in the beginning of December. Swallow said the following:

"The process right now is we've been accepting applications that we'll be reviewing starting next week and probably be interviewing towards the end of January and looking at filling the position by the beginning of February."

Swallow did mention that, "We're on track is the best way to put it," but noted, "It's a process we have to go through, we're required to go through it and we're on track, I guess is the best way to put it."

As far as leading candidates, I've heard that Bob Lasubry, who I previously mentioned as a possible successor, is likely NOT going to throw his hat in the ring, but that soccer coach and pitching coach for the baseball team the last few years Dave Yanosy WAS interested in the position. Internally, that's all I've heard. We'll found out sooner or later.

Upon further review, the CIAC was wrong

I was recently covering a high school boys basketball game; not going to mention the teams that were playing or when it was, but I was there. From tip-off until the conclusion, I noticed one main thing - some poor officiating. Don't know who the officials were and it's not that one side was getting favored over the other, but as someone who's been around basketball a lot and watched a lot of basketball at all levels, in person, there were missed calls. And I'm not talking a call here or there - I'm talking one after another.

And I was not the only one noticing these things. One of the coaches clearly noticed similar things and made it known during the game more verbally than I did (because I didn't).

I'm not here to say officials don't and shouldn't make mistakes; I have no intentions of trashing these or any officials; and I'm not defending or calling out any coach. What I am upset about is the fact that the CIAC completely prohibits any coach from stepping out and making comments about officiating, therefore doing away with any checks and balances in their system.

Quick background: Last winter, Hillhouse High School (New Haven) boys basketball coach Kermit Carolina absolutely blasted the referees after a game saying this:

"I can't believe in this day and age, we still can't walk into a gymnasium and play on a level playing field. I'm not the only coach that comes in here and complains about playing in Middletown and the treatment we get from the officials up here. A lot of coaches say it behind closed doors. ... Xavier's gym is like our gym and every other gym in Connecticut. I need to say that not just for me, but for other coaches around the state. We should come up here and get a fair shake."

That was the main gist of Carolina's rant. Following that, the CIAC imposed sanctions on any coach in any sport that criticizes referees or officials. Section 4.7.C (page 89) of the CIAC Handbook reads as follows:

Any coach who criticizes a game official(s) in a public forum will be subject to the following:
First Offense – One game disqualification and the school be fined $250.
Second Offense – Two (2) game disqualification and the school be fined $500.
Third Offense – Disqualification for the remainder of the season and the school be
fined $750.

Back to my story and issue at hand. Following the game, there was still some issue with the officials. Unfortunately, whether a coach wanted to express that to the media, in this case myself, or not, the little birdy in their head must say, "No, say nothing!"

How is this fair? In this case, the CIAC has gone and placed all of the power directly with the officials. Now granted, sometimes coaches go overboard and there has to be some sense of control, but by automatically penalizing a coach for making a comment to the media expressing a dislike with the officiating, whether that claim be somewhat accurate or not, it's always going to get that coach in trouble - no matter the severity of the comments. Now I know this issue has been talked about when it first came about, but I felt it's total lack of fairness needed to be rehashed.