Lady Knights volleyball again recognized for academic excellence

For the ninth consecutive year, the Southington High School girls volleyball team and head coach Richard Heitz were awarded the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award for the 2010-2011 academic year.

Across the nation, 178 girl’s high school programs were recognized with the honor. In Connecticut, besides Southington, only two other schools were recognized - Bloomfield High School and The Taft School in Watertown.

The award honors college and high school teams that have displayed excellence in the classroom.

In its most recent season last fall, the girls went 17-1 and earned the top seed in the CIAC Class LL tournament. After beating Stamford, the girls lost to Cheshire in five games in the quarterfinals.

Southington Shock end season 19-3, top seed in playoffs

The Southington Shockers of the Connecticut Collegiate Baseball League finished the regular season with an astounding mark of 19-3 and enter the playoffs as the top team in the six-team league. The squad lost only once in July to finish another strong summer entering playoffs.

The Shock now receives an opening round bye and will start the playoffs in a best-of-three semifinal round that begins Wednesday at Fontana Field. They will ultimately play the lowest advancing team from the opening round play-in game. No. 4 Simsbury plays No. 5 Manchester and No. 6 West Hartford plays No. 3 Tobacco Valley. Game one Wednesday will start at 7 p.m. from Southington High School.

The group goes into the league's third ever playoffs as the two-time defending champ.

For more information, visit: http://ctcollegebaseballleague.org/

Southington Junior Legion team wins first ever Zone 1 title

For the first time ever in Zone 1, the Southington Post 72 Junior American Legion baseball team was tops, going 20-4 in Zone 1, besting Bristol by one game (it was the first Junior Legion Zone Title since 2007). The team goes into the tournament as the No. 3 team in the state and will get a double bye. Its first game will be on Monday, July 25, against either No. 14 Branford (14-6, got an opening round bye), No. 30 Glastonbury (11-9) or No. 19 South Windsor (15-9). Monday's contest will be in Southington at 4 p.m. A win and the P72s advance to the eight-team single elimination round of the state tournament that takes place starting next Wednesday, July 27. For full details, visit http://ctalbb.com/.

UPDATE (7-26): The team defeated Branford, 5-2, Monday, July 25. They lost in the single-elimination Final 8 against Trumbull at Veteran's Field in Windsor Locks, 2-1 in eight innings, on July 28.

P72s get by Moosup, onto Meriden tomorrow in Legion Tournament

The Southington American Legion baseball team won a tightly-contested contest Tuesday, beating Moosup, 6-4. It was back-and-forth all game, but with a 4-4 tie in the bottom of the eighth, Jeff Mazzamurro got a leadoff triple and Kyle Lentini followed with a double to plate what proved to be the winning run. Lentini scored the insurance run to make it 6-4. Craig Frobel got the win in relief, pitching the seventh and eighth innings before Dylan Danko took over in the ninth for the save.


Trevor Dalia takes a hack in the Moosup game.
(Citizen photo by Michael Guerrera)

“They probably out-hit us, they probably out-pitched us, but we came through. I think the name of the game today was execution. We got the guys over with the bunts, we made the plays when we needed them, guys made the pitches when we needed them and we got the timely hits," said head coach Mark Verderame.

The No. 18 seed P72s move on to play at No. 15 Meriden tomorrow, game time scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Justin Robarge will get the nod on the mound for Southington.

Joe Sullivan got the start for Southington and was solid, throwing around 100 pitches over six innings in the scorching heat.

“Joe battles. It was hot out there in the first couple of innings and he was getting tired, his pitch count got up, they were hitting the ball," explained Verderame.

Southington had the early lead, 1-0, scoring a run without a hit. Moosup tied it at one and later led 3-2. Southington retook the lead, just to see Moosup tie it again at four in the top of the eighth. That's when Southington took it's final lead and held onto it. Lentini was not only big in the eighth, but the entire game.

“Kyle Lentini went 3-for-3 today, he’s the spark. He’s one of our core guys," Verderame said.

And as for the multiple comebacks, it was nothing new for a team that came back in every one of it's high school tournament wins.

“Coming through adversity is what we do and I’m proud of the guys today," said a happy Verderame.

Legion bracket announced, Southington No. 18 seed, opens at home

The Connecticut American Legion Baseball seeds were announced this morning following the conclusion of the regular season Sunday. Southington Post 72 received the No. 18 seed and opens play in the play-in rounds, starting tomorrow, Tuesday, July 19. They'll play a home game, at Fontana Field in Southington, against No. 31 Moosup at 4:30 p.m.

Will Joe Sullivan get the start in the opener?

(Citizen photo by Michael Guerrera)

With a win, they'd play at No. 15 Meriden on Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. With back-to-back victories, Post 72 would advance to the 16-team double-elimination tournament that is set to start this Saturday, July 23, at Muzzy Field in Bristol and Palmer Field in Middletown. For all the details, visit: http://ctalbb.com/.

Post 72 goes into the tournament with a solid 19-8 record in Zone I, finishing fourth in the standings, but has the experience and ability to make a postseason run.

"These kids know, they’ve been in the playoffs before, they’ve had the experience, and they’re starting to get that little swagger. We know we can go out and beat anybody," head coach Mark Verderame said. "We’ve beat Bristol, we’ve beat Unionville. We could have beat Bristol three times this year. We’re not afraid of anybody.
“I like our chances; I like our chances a lot."

As for the starter for Tuesday, it'll likely be Joe Sullivan, who was stellar during the high school postseason. He won two games during the Blue Knights championship game run, first against Simsbury and then against New Britain.

"Joe Sullivan is our anchor. He was so good during the high school season and he’s been great for us this summer," said Verderame.

If the Post 72ers can win, it might be Justin Robarge in the second game.

"Justin Robarge pitched great games. He threw a one-hitter against Bristol we ended up losing. He threw a one-hitter against Simsbury, we lost that game too. We haven’t been able to support him, but he’s been pitching real well," Verderame said of the senior-to-be.

However, the head coach says he's confident in his entire staff and that he's been using multiple pitchers in each game - the same scenario could happen during the tournament.

There shouldn't be any rust either. The team had a game scheduled every day for the final 19 days of the regular season, so they're battle tested and ready to go.

"Despite what our record says, I don’t think anybody wants to play Southington in the playoffs," Verderame said emphatically.

Shock once again dominating in CCBL

It’s been a typical year for the Southington Shock. In the third year of the Connecticut Collegiate Baseball League, the two-time defending champions are coolly working their way to a possible third title.

In a league that features some of Connecticut’s best, smaller-college players, the Shock have been the epicenter for the championship trophy and starting 14-2 coming into the week with just over a half-dozen games left, the team was in good position come playoff time.

“We just play each day and when the playoffs come, maybe we tweak a couple of things,” said head coach Charlie Lembo.

Throughout the high school season, Lembo, like many coaches, preached one game at a time and he says it’s the same attitude during the summer.

“All we’re doing is just going out and letting the kids play ball,” explained Lembo.

The Shock, based in Southington, field more than half its roster from the town on the shirts.

“We’ve got a good number of Southington kids on the team and we’re giving them a chance to play competitive ball and stay home and work and that’s kind of what the league is all about,” commented Lembo.

The team also draws players from the surrounding areas, as far as Bridgeport and Uncasville.

The head coach says the key is to get guys playing time, because they’re all talented, and not to burn out pitchers, a promise he made to college coaches.

He even says that in a lot of games he was using up to three guys a game, to keep the pitch and innings count down and keep arms fresh.

“Everyone’s been doing a great job,” Lembo said. “It’s been going great other than the rainouts and trying to get in as many games as we can.”

And the record isn’t too shabby either. The team once again sits way atop the six-team league.

“Kids are having fun, getting everybody playing time. They’re a great group of kids, they’re a lot of fun to be around and we’re just playing it one game at a time like we always do,” said Lembo.

The season ends next Friday and then come the playoffs.

Post 72 looking to get on field and up the standings

If you looked at the American Legion Baseball standings on Monday, you found the Southington P72s in fourth place in the 10-team Zone 1. This isn’t bad, but for a team with high expectations, expectations of a state title, the hopes were higher.

But then look a little closer and the team had the same amount of losses as the team at the top, Bristol. That number is just four. The Southington team came into the week with six less games played than their neighbors in Bristol. At 8-4, they were tied in the loss column and six games back in the win column.

They weren’t helped by a double-header that was rained out in Torrington this past Sunday. But recent success shows getting those 15 wins necessary to qualify for the state tournament should be a task the team can handle.

After losing the opening two games of the year, the team went 8-1 over their next nine before losing last Thursday to Simsbury. Still, 8-2 after an 0-2 finish is more than a positive streak.

“We’re running right now. [Eight out of nine] games winning, coming around. Seventeen hits in one game (against Unionville). We’re hitting the ball,” head coach Mark Verderame said after a 12-7 win over Unionville last Wednesday.

“We put up 12 runs tonight. I’m proud of the kids. We got down 4-1 early, it’s kind of like we had a lot of opportunities to give up the game – we had errors and walks – and the team fought back.”

Much like the high school team, the Legion squad carries with it the same resilience every game and the road contest against Unionville was a perfect example. Joe Sullivan struggled on the mound early for Southington, but the team never wavered and scored and scored and scored, rolling to a long, hard-fought win.

“I’m proud of the guys showing a lot of heart. Just coming out, scoring runs and it just goes to show you the heart this team has coming back from that,” Verderame explained.

With the pitching already clicking on all cylinders, it’s the bats that Verderame pointed to as the keys to the recent success.

“We put up nine against Avon, seven against Bristol. The bats are coming around. We’re hitting the tar off the ball, it’s as simple as that,” said the head coach. “I’ve got total faith in everybody on this team to get hits. (Jeff) Mazzamurro was struggling. Jeff battled back, he was going through a tough time (hitting), (Zack) Niles was going through a tough time (hitting), (Ben) Nichols was going through a tough time (hitting). Mazzamurro went 3-for-3, Nichols had that triple, Niles had two RBIs. Everybody’s coming around.”

So now the important thing for Southington is to just get out on the field. With only 12 games of a 27-game schedule played as of Monday, there’s still a lot of baseball to be played in a small window of time as the schedule is set to end next Friday. If all goes well, the P72s will find themselves higher up the standings going into the playoffs.

“We’ve got great players on this team. I think we’re the best team in this Zone and we’re showing it right now,” Verderame finished.

Southington's Sal Romano: Some clever photo-shopping

Can't take credit for this, but came across it on the web at thewritersjourney.wordpress.com. Some cool photo-shopping by author JT, a big Reds fans, who did cards like this for many of the Cincinnati Reds' draft picks. Old school Topps rookies cards. As far as Romano's future with Reds, he's heading to Tennessee Monday and doesn't expect an offer from Cincy until August. Click the picture for the link to the page.