Colonials cheerleading tryouts in Southington

The Hartford Colonials of the United Football League are seeking dancers and cheerleaders who are interested in auditioning for the 2011 cheerleading team.

There will be two rounds of preliminary auditions for the 32-member squad. The first audition will be held April 30 at the Southington Armory (590 Woodruff St, Southington). Registration begins promptly at 8 a.m. with auditions scheduled to start at 9. The second round is May 7 at the Hartford State Armory (360 Broad St., Hartford). Registration begins at 8 a.m. with auditions to follow. A registration fee is required for both sessions. Participants can pre-register online at www.hartfordcolonials.com and click on the cheerleader tab.

Individuals must be 18 years of age or older by May 21 and submit a non-returnable recent photograph and updated resume. Participants should wear workout attire and sneakers or dance shoes. Hair and makeup should be performance-ready.

The Colonials cheerleaders will perform at all four home games, starting in August, and serve as team ambassadors throughout the season.

"For anyone who's a fan of football and enjoys performance, this is a great opportunity," said Colonials cheerleader director Brittany Bonchuk. "I'm excited at the chance to create a diverse squad of talented and beautiful women who will entertain Colonials fans this season."

Both audition sessions are open to the public. For more information, email Brittany.Bonchuk@ufl-football.com.

Solomon, Twerago tabbed as CIAC Scholar-Athletes

Southington seniors Kevin Twerago and Kristy Solomon were chosen to be honored at the annual CIAC High School Scholar-Athlete Banquet that will be Sunday, May 1, at 5 p.m. at the Aqua Turf in Southington.

The Scholar-Athlete Program annually recognizes two high school seniors - one boy and one girl - from each member high school whose academic and athletic careers have been exemplary, personal standards and achievements are a model to others, and possess high levels of integrity, self-discipline and courage.

Twerago, a captain this spring on the golf team, is the squads lone returner with ample varsity experience and leads an inexperienced group on the links. Solomon (pictured during the Powder Puff game in the fall) was the lone captain of the girls soccer team that qualified for the state tournament. During the year, head coach Sal Penta called her the heart and soul of the team and said she'd be a big loss and a tough player to replace.

Approximately 1,700 people are expected to attend the event where a total of 346 students are being honored. The complete list of honorees by school can be found at: http://www.casciac.org/schath.shtml

In addition to the scholar athletes being honored Jamie Botteon, cancer survivor and All-Conference soccer goalie at Bristol Eastern High School, will receive the Michael Savage Spirit of Sport Award at the banquet. Dr. Richard Diana of Connecticut Orthopedic Specialists will be the keynote speaker.

photos courtesy myrecordjournal.com

Southington native Poitras tabbed as next men's soccer coach at UHart

The University of Hartford and Director of Athletics Patricia H. Meiser announced Tuesday that Tom Poitras will be the ninth head coach in the 54-year history of the University of Hartford men's soccer program.

Poitras is a Southington native, graduating in 1986 as a Blue Knight. He attended St. Paul Catholic High School for his first two years before returning to Southington for his final two.

He went on to play college soccer at Southern Connecticut State University from 1987-91 and led the team to a Division II national championship in 1987.

Prior to the hire, Poitras had spent the last seven seasons at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay where he guided the Phoenix to a 72-46-18 record in his tenure.

On the University of Hartford Website, Meiser said, "In Tom, we have an individual who has been a head coach at three highly-respected institutions and comes to Hartford with a wealth of experience. In each case, he made significant impact on the success of the men's soccer programs. Not only has he established a winning tradition, but he has created a culture of excellence in the classroom as well. We are very pleased to welcome Tom back to the Nutmeg State and I am confident he will lead the Hawks to a bright future."

Prior to UWGB, Poitras coached at Southern New Hampshire and the University of New Haven.

For the full release, click the link above.

(photo courtesy of hartfordhawks.com)

Softball ace Davenport to miss month with torn meniscus

Fresh off a 10-0 win last Thursday (April 14) against fellow 2010 Class LL semifinalist and CCC West foe Simsbury, things for the Lady Knights were at an early season high.

Then, like an avalanche, news quickly turned sour and emotions plummeted. Jessica Davenport, off another good performance, wasn’t 100 percent.

“(She) pitched the whole game, did an outstanding job and then she shared with me that she had hurt her knee,” head coach John Bores said. “She never told me until the end of the game and after I praised her she said, ‘Can I tell you a little secret,’ I says, ‘Yeah,’ she says, ‘I’m in a lot of pain and it’s swelling.’”

Initially, not a lot was thought of it.

“I just thought she tweaked it. She hit a double to the fence the other day and I figured she ran, pitched the whole game, I said, ‘Ah, can’t be that bad, she probably just tweaked it,’” said Bores.

But it was more.

“The next morning she called me and told me she wasn’t coming to school because it had really swollen up,” Bores explained. “Went to the doctor and they did an MRI, they didn’t know what it was, they knew there was a tear in there.”

According to the head coach, Davenport tore a little piece of the meniscus in her right knee while warming up prior to the Simsbury game. The right knee is the one she uses to push off of. The prognosis after surgery this past Monday is good.

“Surgery went really well. They thought it was going to be a couple of hours (of surgery); she was done in 25 minutes,” Bores said.

The doctors have given a timetable of about four weeks out of action before Davenport can return to the field, which would be right in time for the tournament.

“I’m hoping to get her maybe even a little before so she can get a couple of games under her belt,” Bores said going with the wait and see method.

All things considered, following Tuesday’s practice Bores said Davenport is handling things well.

“Her morale is good,” he said. “She was devastated, obviously, when she heard she had a tear and she had to get the MRI and she had to get surgery. It hit her like a ton of bricks. She goes from thinking, ‘I just have a little twist in the knee to I’m getting surgery that could be season ending.’

“I talked to her [Monday] and she was really upbeat, excited by the fact that it wasn’t as serious as they thought.”

Now the elephant in the room is who fills in for the all-state pitcher, who has committed to playing softball at Sacred Heart University.

Bores says sophomore Jordyn Moquin and senior Michelle Sirois will split the duties.

Berry makes it official, signs letter to Concordia

Mariah Berry said she spent so much time playing the sport of basketball over the past few years that she had little time to socialize. But now, she can look back and know it all paid off.

Berry, who committed to playing girls basketball at Concordia College, N.Y, in the fall, signed her official Letter of Intent at Southington High School Thursday afternoon, accepting her full athletic scholarship to play hoops.

Mariah Berry signs her Letter of Intent to Concordia College.

(photo/Michael Guerrera)

She said she started getting serious about hoops playing AAU basketball for the Connecticut Starters and that peaked college interest. She considered Post Universty, Dean College, Fisher College and University of Southern Maine before deciding on Concordia, about an hour and 45 minutes from Southington.

As to why Concordia was the pick, she said one, because of her major, she plans to study business management, and two, because it’s far enough away that she can live the college experience, but still come home on a weekend or two.

Berry, a lengthy wing player who can play inside and out, credited defense as a main factor to her success.

“Defense is where it’s going to get you places, offense will come in time,” she said.

During her final year at Southington, the co-captain Berry had offensive bursts, but was the focal point of many defenses, along with co-captain Tori Munson. Still, the focus was rarely on individual performance.

“She’s really unselfish in many ways where she just wanted the team to do well,” said Southington girls basketball coach Mike Forgione, who was on hand at the signing.

Her freshman year, Berry attended St. Paul Catholic High School in Bristol before returning to Southington for her final three years.

“To be able to come back it was great, I had all my friends, they were still kind to me, no jealousy, it was just the way it was and they were happy to have me back,” she said.

Concordia College, the Clippers, is a Division II basketball school that went 6-20 in 2010-11.

“I think her athleticism; her ability to play outside on the wing and hit that jump shot is going to be something that I think they’re going to utilize at Concordia,” Forgione said.

The former head coach said he believes Berry will have success, in due time, at the next level.

“It might be a progression, but I think she can definitely be a contributor at that level,” he explained. “I think she has the right attitude and the right work ethic so I think she can succeed.”

Southington's Sal Romano tosses no-hitter

Southington's senior co-captain, Sal Romano, who's headed to the University of Tennessee to play baseball next year, was crisp Monday against Bristol Central, throwing a complete game no-hitter in a 5-0 win. Early in the game, there was a play where it was ruled an error on the field, but the scoreboard read a hit. The press box was informed of that but the change was not made until after the game. Here's some reaction from the game:

Head Coach Charlie Lembo

On Sal's performance: "Sal was fantastic on the mound; he really mixed things in well. I think when we get him into a rhythm of mixing his off-speed stuff, he's tough to hit."

On the scoreboard reading one hit: "It was kind of strange – I kept looking at the scoreboard seeing that one hit, but I knew it wasn’t a hit, but we didn't want to change it at that time so we made sure we got that final out before we had them change it on the scoreboard."

Sal Romano on the mound during his no-hitter.

(Lembo said the Bristol Coach also knew it was a no-hitter)

On the decision to leave him in: "If he didn't have the no-hitter going, we probably would have taken him out in the seventh, but he's a senior, it's a no-hitter, it's our opening home game, we kind of looked at each other and said, 'Yea, we've got to keep him in there.'"

On Ben Nichols' two-run homer: "That was a bomb. He just put a fantastic swing on that."

Sal Romano

On throwing a no-hitter: "I've thrown them in Little League, but it's been a really long time since I did that, so it was good to get one finally on the big diamond."

On how he felt: "All the pitches were working today, my fielders behind me were making all the plays and if it wasn't for them I wouldn't have thrown [the no-hitter]."

On whether he knew it was a no-hitter: "I knew in the back of my mind, but I was trying to focus on keep throwing strikes, let my fielders make the plays."

On the 10 or 12 pro. scouts at the game: "I just pretend they're not here. Pitch your game and whatever happens, happens."

On what he did between innings: "Just chilled."

3B Jr. Ben Nichols
(hit a two-run home run in game)

On the nerves playing the field during the no-hitter: "Yeah, well there wasn't many balls hit in the infield, but it's nerve-racking. A ball could be hit up the line where you have to dive for it."

On feeling in the dugout: "He kept his cool and so did everyone else."

Southington High to host 13th Annual Governor's Cup, Dube selected to team

The 13th Annual Governor’s Cup Senior All-Star football game, presented by the Connecticut High School Coaches Association, will have a hometown feel in 2011 as it returns to the site where the first ever game was played back in 1999 – Southington High School.

This year the game leaves Rentschler Field, which is getting work done and is unavailable this summer, and returns to the home of the Blue Knights for the second time in the 13-year history.

In the game, Southington will be represented by All-State caliber wideout, Tyler Dube, who was the lone Blue Knight picked to the 55-man squad.

“The great thing about Tyler is I knew Tyler ahead of time because he was on an All-Star seven-on-seven team that I coached all last winter so I got to know him and see him play,” said Connecticut head coach John Murphy, the head football coach at Masuk High School in Monroe.

“But I didn’t workout the wideouts (at the combine), I was just hoping the guy who did (have hime) came back with his name and he was one of those guys.”

Dube had a spectacular senior season at wide receiver, even with a freshman quarterback for a majority of the year. He caught 50 passes for 902 yards and 10 touchdowns in 10 games.

“Tyler’s one of those kids that if he just walks up to you in street clothes, he’s not going to impress you, but I’d seen enough of him in seven-on-seven and we scrimmaged them early in the year and he made a big play against us...” Murphy explained.

Murphy said the process of going from 160 kids at the combine to the final 55-man roster was a tough one and the focus was on talent, nothing else.

“We picked the best kids. We didn’t pick anyone based on anything other than what kind of player they were,” Murphy said.

In the past, Southington has always played host to the practices leading up to the game at Rentschler, but this year it will also play host to the actual a game.

“I think it’s a great way to give visibility to the school, as well as our football program and we have one of our athletes participating so it’s a win-win,” said Southington High Athletic Director Eric Swallow.

“On behalf of the Southington Board of Education we welcome and embrace such a prestigious sporting event to our community,” said Superintendent of Schools Joe Erardi, Jr. in a statement. “Personally, I am both pleased and excited to host a showcase of such talented student athletes.”

Of concern is the condition of the football field, which gets beat up in the fall.

“One of my main goals is we get [the field] ready for graduation and graduation is on (June) 23 and this game is on (June) 25, so the field will be in good shape and I don’t think we’ll have any issue with that,” Swallow said.

The field is closed now and being prepped, but according to Swallow, the football game will not affect the boys and girls lacrosse senior nights – both games, he said, should be played as scheduled under the lights at the end of May. Even better, this is economically-friendly for Southington.

“It’s not costing the Southington community any money,” Swallow said. “Connecticut High School Coaches Association will incur all costs and basically what we’re going to do is provide the facility and the logistics.”

Swallow continued saying all security and medical costs will not be Southington’s responsibility and made mention that the Southington Gridiron Club will certainly step up to the task of providing volunteer work and helping make the event a success.

Another change this year is that the game, on Saturday, June 25, will be moved up from 6:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Prior to game time, there will be a youth clinic on Southington’s soccer field that brings in about 500 kids and is run by Frank Stamilio, who was an assistance football coach at Southington for 18 years before leaving prior to the 2009 season.

“It’s always a pleasure to be a part of this great day in high school football,” said Stamilio, who will reunite with ex-Southington coach Jude Kelly at St. Paul Catholic High School, in Bristol, this fall, after a couple years at New Britain.

On the field Connecticut has dominated the game, going 9-3 in the series, the only losses coming from 2000-2002.

“Our talent pool is a lot larger,” Murphy said of why the record is lopsided. “We have a lot more schools and a lot more kids to pick from and anytime you have that situation, obviously that’s a little bit of a benefit so in that situation we have the advantage.”

Saucier having success at next level

Southington's Erin Saucier, a freshman at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pa., had a golden debut at the Centennial Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships.

Saucier cleared 10 1/2 feet to claim the conference pole vault championship. It marks the fifth consecutive year a Muhlenberg Mule has won the indoor pole vault title.

Southington's Cannata lifts Eastern with walk-off double

Batting ninth in the lineup, senior catcher Chris Cannata, of Southington, doubled his season RBI total with a game-ending double that scored senior centerfielder Joe Cousineau (Newington) from first base with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning and propelled the Eastern Connecticut State University baseball team to a 6-5 non-conference win over Roger Williams University Thursday, March 31, at the Eastern Baseball Stadium.

Cannata’s second RBI of the season capped a come-from-behind win for Eastern (13-3), which scored single runs in the final three innings to overcome a two-run deficit and defeat Roger Williams (9-11) for the seventh time in this eight-game series. Eastern is ranked No. 1 in New England No. 7 nationally in Division III.