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By Doc Cody
Well, it’s great to be back at the computer keyboard and pounding out some sports for the Putnam Town Crier while RPC hopefully enjoys some warmth and sunshine on the links in Florida. Keeping the PTC readers and RPC followers informed on the latest sports happenings and locker room chatter is always a treat for me.
By the way, RPC is in Florida with his brother-in-law Richard “Aw Rick” Carnahan, Roger Franklin and Doug Valentine. They’ll return to the Antique City on Feb. 20 but in the meantime the golf courses in and around Bradenton, Fla., will see plenty of the foursome.
Baseball On Our Minds…
Word from Thompson’s “volunteer of the year” Joe Lindley indicates the Tri-Town American Legion Baseball program is already gearing up in preparation for the upcoming season. Although the recent snow storm pushed baseball to the background, according to Lindley, that didn’t deter the Tri-Town executive committee and coaching staff. The group has already had two meetings and the coaches have been attending Zone VI meetings in Montville.
The Tri-Towners will once again have Paul Faucher in the dugout serving as the head coach of the Senior entry. He’ll be assisted by Charlie Darras, John Donovan and Andrew Faucher. Despite the fact that there weren’t enough players to put a Junior team on the field last season, indications are that a Junior squad for 2013 is a primary goal.
Assisting Lindley this year is the General Manager/Treasurer Everett Shepard and Assistant General Managers Barry Shead and Mike Santerre. Committee members Stan Lesniewski, Bob LeBeau and Barney Seney have been searching for individuals to assist in a variety of ways for the 2013 season. John Foucault, who coached the 2012 Putnam Sr. League All Stars, has joined the committee. Shortly member of the Tri-Town executive committee and coaches will be contacting local high school coaches in an attempt to plan on rosters for the Zone VI season. Cheryl Anne Carignan of Thompson will serve as the “team mother.”
Players who are interested in more information should contact Lindley at 860 928-5527 or 860 428-4154 or by e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Any adults interested in assisting for the upcoming season should also contact Lindley. There are a variety of ways in which they can help the program.
Local Female Star at RIC…
Remember Devin Hill former Killingly High School basketball standout? Hill is currently a member of the Rhode Island College women’s basketball team.
Hill was a member of the Killingly varsity girls’ basketball team for four years and one of the area’s top offensive performers. While she enjoyed three solid years on the court, improving her skills each season, she lost the majority of her senior season when she tore her ACL. Fortunately, her play while she was active attracted the attention the RIC coaching staff.
Although she isn’t seeing much action as she fully recovers from her high school injury, it’s a sure bet that Hill is an integral part of the Anchorwomen’s future plans.
Remembering the ’88 Redgals…
In late January Killingly High School took time to honor a past team, which is probably the best women’s basketball team in the long and historic athletic tradition of the school. The team posted a 24-1 record on its way to capturing the Class L championship. The only defeat it suffered was a 10 point defeat at the hands of National power Christ The King of New York.
The team was led by Tracy Lis, who was an offensive scoring machine. She tallied 3,681 points during her illustrious four years at Killingly. Lis later went on to a stellar career at Providence College where she amassed 2,534 points. After college she spent some time barnstorming with the all-male Harlem Magicians, featuring the inimitable Marques Haynes. She later had a brief appearance in the short lived American Basketball League, where her coach was Boston Celtics Hall of Famer K.C. Jones.
One of the members of the team was forward Janene Adams. Adams only averaged 1.8 points per game, but with Lis on the court doing the scoring, she was utilized in a defensive role. Adams went on UConn after graduating from Killingly and earned a degree in business. Today she is the director of Finance at UConn -Avery Point. She’s married to former Putnam resident Michael Vandi. They live in Thompson and together they have two daughters.
In addition to Lis and Adams-Vandi others who were on hand for the celebration included Tricia (Griffiths) Swatko, Kim (Diani) Brooks, Ellen (Malloy) Harrington, Missy (Kowolenko) Angle and Tracy (Wood) Waggoner.
All-Star Selections Coming
Prior to departing for Florida RPC indulged my services in assisting him to select the Putnam Town Crier high school and prep school all star teams. In addition to the all stars we’ll be selecting the Coach of the Year, Most Valuable Player and Unsung hero. We promise to have more for you about the all star selections in the near future.
And in closing as I did in the past, here we go.