Going pg 9 1-29-15
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By Ron P. Coderre
This week’s RPC column is dedicated to Thompson resident Cosmo Quercia. A little known fact about the affable Quercia is that he was a vaunted running back during his high school days at Norwich Free Academy and went on to play college football at Central Connecticut State University. Today Quercia and his trusty camera can often be found at local sporting events taking photos of current day athletes, as he’s turned photography into his new passion in retirement.
During the past decade Brad Favreau’s name has been associated with real estate sales. The Woodstock resident has realized success because of his outgoing personality and ability to create relationships. To the surprise of many, in early January Favreau announced a career move from real estate to baseball.
Although the move may seem foreign to some, it’s not too farfetched for Favreau, who is returning to a career he enjoyed out of college. Although baseball seems like it’s home run away from what he was doing, it’s not. He’s assuming the full-time position of director of Business Development for the Connecticut Tigers, “selling baseball.”
Favreau’s new position allows him the opportunity to promote Tigers baseball and the many other uses that have made Dodd Stadium a venue that has also served high school, college and American Legion Baseball as well as being used by community organizations. He’ll also serve as a pseudo ambassador in continuing to strengthening relations with surrounding communities. When he graduated from college he previously worked at Dodd Stadium for the Norwich Navigators, so his new position should be comfortable to him.
Despite enjoying success in real estate Favreau appears very comfortable in the realm of sports and baseball. A 1988 graduate of Woodstock Academy where he starred in basketball, baseball and soccer, Favreau played one season of college basketball at Becker College in Worcester. He’s a 1993 graduate of Keene State University with a degree in sports management and a master’s degree from UConn.
Favreau also serves as assistant softball coach at Woodstock Academy, which he’ll continue to do. He has extensive coaching experience in softball, basketball and soccer, having previously worked at Griswold and Ellis Tech. He and his wife Amy, an administrator at Woodstock Academy, live in Woodstock with their three children, Guerin (11), Lennon (9) and Campbell (6).
Baseball Coaches Convention A Success
The Mohegan Sun World Baseball Coaches convention, which attracted more than 1000 baseball and softball coaches from around the country and the world, is officially in the record books. According to organizers Pete and Andy Walker and Roger LaFrancois, the convention in its 11th year was another success. Among the speakers were current Major League players Eric Campbell of the Mets, Nick Ahmed of the Houston Astros and Dominic Leone of the Seattle Mariners. Former Big League players Bruce Hurst, Bob Tewksbury and Jack Morris were featured presenters along with Boston Red Sox bench coach Torey Lovullo.
TriTown American Legion Baseball coaches John Foucault and Mike Carignan were among the many attendees on hand to take in the wide variety of programs that were offered.
N. Grosvenordale Demolition Derby
On a humorous but serious note, Cumberland Farms on Route 12 in North Grosvenordale had an unexpected intruder Jan. 17. The well known Stan Lesniewski, a former Eastern Board umpire and Thompson Youth coach, hit the wrong pedal as he approached the store for his Saturday morning coffee and newspaper. The mistake resulted in Lesniewski’s vehicle going through the plate glass and ending up with the front end of the vehicle in the store and the rear end in the parking lot.
Fortunately neither Lesniewski nor anyone in the store was injured. He was able to finish his business after a brief investigation by State Police determined it was purely accidental. Although it was no laughing matter at the time, Lesniewski, as you might imagine, has received his fair share of heckling from his friends, including RPC, since the incident.
PSA #3 in Latest Prep Rankings
The latest Next Up Recruits Post Graduate Prep School National standings that were recently released has the Putnam Science Academy Mustangs of coach Tom Espinosa occupying the #3 spot in the nation. Brewster Academy and Notre Dame Prep of Fitchburg, Mass., two future PSA opponents are ranked #1 and #2 respectively.
Elev8 Prep of Florida is #4 followed by Hargrave Academy and Northfield Mt. Hermon, two teams the Mustangs have beaten. St. Thomas More of Oakdale, a team that PSA lost to by one point, is #7 followed by IMG Academy of Florida, a team the Mustangs have beaten. South Kent School is #9 and Fork Union, another PSA victim, round out the Top 10.
Sporting a 19-2 record, Putnam Science Academy appears poised for its second trip to the National Prep Championships scheduled for sometime around March 10. There’s still plenty of basketball to be played before the Mustangs reach that point of the season.
New York Football Giants
Connected To Putnam
The New York Football Giants looking to rebound from a down season have made some adjustments to coach Tom Coughlin’s coaching staff. News last week out of the Big Apple indicated the Giants were bringing back Steve Spagnuolo as the team’s defensive coordinator.
Spagnuolo, who is 55, most recently was a defensive assistant with the Baltimore Ravens. During his 34-year coaching career, Spagnuolo had a stint as the head coach of the St. Louis Rams.
Spagnuolo was born in Northbridge, Mass., and spent his youth in Grafton. He played college football at Springfield College. His parents Robert and Angie Spagnuolo are Putnam residents.
News on the College Front
There’s a familiar face on the bench at Nichols College basketball in Dudley, R.J. Evans, the former Norwich Free Academy great, who scored more than 1000 points at Holy Cross and had a successful post graduate season at UConn, now has a role with the Nichols College Bison. Evans is an assistant coach for the 11-4 Bison, who are a perfect 8-0 in the Commonwealth Coast Conference.
Paul Brooks, the 6-foot, 9-inch former Putnam Science Academy center, continues to shine at Worcester State University despite the Lancers dismal 3-13 record. In a recent loss to Bridgewater State, Brooks turned in a stellar performance scoring 22 points on an 11-13 effort, while also collecting 14 rebounds.
At Quinnipiac University, ex-Marianapolis big man Ousmane Drame continues to impress. Drame registered another double-double with 12 points and a season-high 19 rebounds in a 73-59 win over Manhattan. The 11-5 Bobcats of coach Tom Moore also received a double figure performance from former PSA center Chaise Daniels. The 6-8 freshman had a career high 11 points on a 5-for-8 shooting night.
RPC’s Closing thought For The Day: Look for something wonderful to happen to you and it will happen.
(If you have news worthy sports information email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)
Heading pg 9 1-29-15
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By Ron P. Coderre
It’s crunch time for the high school girls’ basketball teams as they position themselves for the CIAC Tournament.
Tourtellotte with a 10-3 log is the only team that’s qualified to date. Plainfield with seven victories needs one more win in its final six games to qualify. That appears to almost be a certainty for the Lady Panthers. Putnam and Woodstock, each with six wins, appear to be in a precarious position as both require two victories. Putnam has seven games to accomplish the feat, while Woodstock must do it in six games.
Ellis Tech at 0-13 is out of contention, while Killingly at 3-11 needs a miracle to make the tourney list.
Marianapolis V1 and Pomfret, much like their male counterparts, appear to be in contention for league postseason play. Hyde-Woodstock and Marianapolis V2 are struggling for wins.
Tourtellotte Reaches 10 Wins with Victory over St. Bernard
Tourtellotte, playing without head coach Carla Faucher, gave assistant coach Dawn Poirier her first high school coaching victory with a stunning 35-32 win over St. Bernard in Uncasville. Trailing 25-20 entering the final quarter, the Lady Tigers rose to the occasion, outscoring the hosts 15-9 in the final eight minutes to secure the victory. Assistant coach Poirier is 1-0 in her career and Tourtellotte is 10-3 on the season and 4-0 atop the Eastern Connecticut Conference Small Division.
Point guard Abby Poirier was the lone Lady Tiger in double figures but she received support from Allie Ablondi (8 points), Deanna Lazzarra (6) and Jess Dodd (6). Earlier in the week Tourtellotte rolled over Ellis Tech 52-22 as Maegan Roy had 14points in leading the way to victory over the Lady Eagles.
In its other games, Ellis Tech lost to Norwich Tech 45-17 and to Parish Hill 45-13.
Plainfield scored 49 points in each of its games last week, one resulted in victory while the other a loss. The Lady Panthers opened with a 49-28 win over Woodstock Academy as Adrienne Lorange’s 15 points quelled the Lady Centaurs. Against a good Bacon Academy team, a fourth quarter offensive drought doomed Plainfield as it went down 59-49. Madeline Lorange had 14 points for the Lady Panthers in the losing effort.
Woodstock, striving to make the CIAC Tournament pulled off a 52-47 rewarding win over Killingly. The victory puts the Acads at 6-8 on the year. Colleen Topliff with 16 points and ‘long range bomber’ Rebecca Messier with 15 markers were the top gunners for coach Willie Bousquet. Meagan Bianchi and Megan Vertefuille each had a dozen for the Redgals. In its other game of the week, Killingly lost to Fitch 43-38 to fall to 3-11 on the season.
Putnam struggled on offense as it posted a 1-2 week. The Lady Clippers lost to Bartlett High School 29-17 and MLC 21-16. Holy Family Academy fell behind Putnam 14-6 in the first period of that contest and never scored another point, as the Lady Clippers won 45-6 to raise their record to 6-7 overall and 5-2 in the Constitution State Conference –East.
Pomfret and Marianapolis V1 Pick up Key Wins
The Marianapolis V! team raised its record to 9-7 with a satisfying 53-35 win over Cheshire Academy on the road. Caroline Soucy, who is emerging as an offensive threat for Marianapolis was the Lady Knights high scorer with 19 points. Rachel Aho recorded a double-double with 12 points and 15 rebounds. The MPS V2 unit fell to 2-6 when it was dropped 51-19 by Miss Hall’s School.
Pomfret School went on the road to Suffield Academy and came home with a 48-41 win to go to 7-4 on the season. Juliette Lawless was the top gun for the Lady Griffs with 22 points, while Deja Ross added 15.
Hyde-Woodstock lost to the Williams School 27-24 despite a10-point effort by Dossou Ndiaye.
Academy pg 10 1-29-15
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WOODSTOCK — The Woodstock Academy ice hockey team (6-3) beat the Eastern Ct Eagles
5-1 Jan. 21 at Jahn ice rink Pomfret
First period scoring
WA Ryan Black assisted by Deluca 0:6
WA Doug Gerrity unassisted 6:05
WA Black assisted by Deluca 8:42
Third period scoring
WA Deluca unassisted 3:39
WA Black assisted by Jordan Lamothe 3:51
Eastern Kevin Close assisted by Jarrett Hebert 6:57
Cal Wilcox got the win for WA stopping 23 of 24 shots
Former pg 10 1-29-15
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By Ron P. Coderre
There was a time about 30 or so years ago when Plainfield High School and Moosup American Legion Baseball dominated play on the diamond up and down Eastern Connecticut. It seemed to baseball observers that there was an endless succession of all star players emanating from Pantherland.
Among the brood of standouts was a pitcher who had all the tools and stood above the rest, not only because he was on the mound.
Lenny Langlois was a pitcher who was ahead of his time. As a young man he began to make his mark in the Plainfield Little League. A ferocious competitor, Langlois had a good fast ball even when he was throwing from Little League distance.
But it was when he hit the old diamond behind the former Plainfield High School that he truly created a buzz. As the mainstay of the Mitch Pietras Plainfield teams and the Ronnie Kraus Legion teams, Langlois’ arm carried his mates to numerous victories, conference championships, zone titles and even deeply into State tournament play. In addition to his variety of pitches, Langlois had a deceptive move to first base that tantalized base runners as well as umpires.
“Lenny had all the tools from the day he stepped on the field as a Little Leaguer and through high school. His fastball was dreaded by every opponent we faced. He definitely had Major League talent,” said his teammate and friend Bill Carpenter.
The fact is, Langlois did have Major League talent. He was scouted and signed by the New York Mets, creating a stir throughout the region as many thought he’d be the next Major League player from Plainfield since the legendary Walter “Moose” Dropo. However, the pieces of the puzzle just never seemed to fall into place for the fastballer who went to three spring trainings with the New Yorkers.
Minor ailments and injuries began to plague the Plainfield product. He’d return home to try to get untracked and then turn up temporarily somewhere in baseball but it seemed he just couldn’t stick. Eventually he was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease, which finally put an end to his baseball career.
Langlois however always seemed to find his way into the shadows of the spotlight. For some time he hung around the country western circuit, where he hooked on with singer Wayland Jennings. He traveled with Jennings in a “body guard” capacity but after some years returned to Plainfield, where he was when he died on Jan. 12, 2015.
His passing was mourned by the legion of baseball followers who remembered and cherished the memories of his heroics on the diamond. Among those at his wake were his teammates, who were part of the 1977 Plainfield team that posted a 20-3 record and captured the Quinebaug Valley Conference Championship. These same guys also were his teammates on the 1977 and 1978 Legion teams that won Zone titles.
Passing by the casket to say their final baseball farewell were Jimmy Fillmore, Kevin Trahan, Alan and Bill Carpenter, Steve St. Jean and Brian Green. It was Carpenter who reflected and noted that from the Plainfield 1972 All Star team, three guys went on to professional careers, Carpenter with the Red Sox, Clint Nelson with the Tigers and Lenny Langlois with the Mets. Quite a tribute.
The fastball is gone and the career that might have been is now history. But in the memories and records of Plainfield baseball the name Lenny Langlois will always be remembered. God speed, Lenny.