PUTNAM — In an unusual NCAA tournament that saw just one #1-seed advance to the Final Four and eventually make the NCAA championship, the surprise of the tournament has been the #- seed Texas Tech Red Raiders. And a couple former local players will be in the hunt with the Red Raiders.
 After finishing with a 14-4 conference record in the Big 12, the Red Raiders earned the #3 seed and have stifled teams all tourney long with their size and length to go along with a top notch defense. Texas Tech began their tournament run with a 72-57 run away win over #14 Northern Kentucky before blowing out #6 Buffalo 78-58 to advance to the Sweet 16.
The next few games would be the ultimate test for Texas Tech with #2 Michigan, #1 Gonzaga and #2 Michigan State standing in the way. The Red Raiders have been known for their defense all season long and it continued holding the Wolverines to 44 points, outlasting #1 Gonzaga by 6 before slamming the door on the Spartans in the Final Four 61-51, making the NCAA Championship game for the first time in program history.
Two former Putnam Science Academy Mustangs will look to be the first Mustangs from PSA to win a National Championship.
Big men Malik Ondigo and Josh Mballa are Putnam Science Academy products who have adapted to the Red Raider Way under Head Coach Chris Beard.
Ondigo and Mballa have dealt with the injury bug this year but have been their every step of the way for this historic run in Texas Tech’s quest for their 1st ever NCAA Championship. “Malik and Josh are great athletes but their also great kids” said Putnam Science Academy Athletic Director and Prep Boys Basketball Coach Tom Espinosa. “We are so proud of how far they have come and we will be rooting for Texas Tech in the Championship game.”
WFSB Channel 3 reporter Jennifer Lee stopped by PSA last week and ran a story on Putnam Science and the two former Mustangs who would be in action on the national stage on Saturday in the Final Four. In an interview with Lee, Espinosa added that the Red Raiders weren’t done getting quality kids from Putnam Science Academy. “Not only is Malik and Josh there now but next year Texas Tech will add 7-footer Russel Tchewa from this year’s team. They have a potential National Championship team this year and can be even better next year with the addition of Russel.”
Ondigo is a sophomore at Texas Tech while Josh Mballa is in his first year at the school. Ondigo has played in 18 games and shot just under 40 percent from the field while Mballa has played in 17 games and is shooting 45 percent in his first year as a Red Raider.
Malik was a part of the 2016-2017 Putnam Science Academy Prep team that went 34-7 under Espinosa and made it all the way to the Final Four of the Prep National Championship tournament. The following season, Josh Mballa and a new look Mustang team finished 38-4 and won the 2017-2018 National Prep Championship, the first title for Putnam Science Academy.
Josh Sanchas
Sports Information Director
Putnam Science Academy

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DKH plans
to tell
its story
PUTNAM — After months of marketing research and planning, Day Kimball Healthcare (DKH) is telling its story with a new branding campaign.
 “There are a lot of exciting things happening at DKH, and it’s time for us to tell our story,” said Anne Diamond, president and CEO of DKH. “We have teams of talented doctors and dedicated caregivers and staff that have the skills needed to provide top-quality care. To articulate this, we are launching a new brand campaign built around the notion of redefining what a community hospital should be.”
The healthcare landscape has changed dramatically, and the need for community hospitals to evolve is more critical than ever. Today, even as regional and national healthcare systems get bigger and markets consolidate, community healthcare systems like DKH play a vital role delivering primary care and life-saving critical care close to home, she said.
“Your hospital. Revolutionizing care.,” is the new brand tagline said Marci Seney, DKH manager of Marketing, Advertising, and Creative Services.
“’Your hospital. Revolutionizing care.,’ is much more than a tagline,” said Seney. “We believe it conveys who we are and who we are continuing to strive to be. The brand campaign supports our mission of improving the health and wellbeing of our community by providing the best medical care.”
The campaign features two key messages that get to the very core of who DKH is and what makes the health system special to the northeastern Connecticut community, she added. “We are a next generation of community hospital; one that is plugged into the community but wired to the world. We are reaching out to bring in the specialized medicine and expertise needed to deliver the best care for the community. And we are beginning to make some noise here in the quiet corner. DKH has been part of life around here for 125 years and now we are years ahead in the future of healthcare, leading a national movement to redefine what a community hospital should be.”
The goal of the new brand campaign is to highlight DKH’s commitment to the community as a forward thinking, modern, and innovative community hospital, offering the highest quality of care, close to home.
“A brand is a promise made to constituents,” said Diamond. “This new brand campaign will not only introduce DKH to a wider audience, but it will help us tell more of our story to those in the community who already know us. We have the people and capabilities to deliver on the promise, because we are your hospital, revolutionizing care.”

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Baseball
'Impressive'
player puts
team on top
It’s nice to have a player like Luke Mathewson on a baseball team.
The Woodstock Academy senior is what could be termed a “stopper.”
Put the ball in his hands on the mound and there is a good chance that the team comes away with a win.
Such was the case two times this past week as Mathewson tossed a pair of shutouts, handing New London an 11-0 defeat early last week and following that up April 7 with an 8-0 win over Killingly.
“He’s just an impressive kid,” said Woodstock Academy coach Brian Murphy. “He’s just an impressive kid. He comes to the field with a great attitude, pumps up the team and is a leader on and off the field. Those were gems. We’re going to need a few of those from him.”
Mathewson held New London to just one hit, struck out 10 and didn’t walk a batter.
He was also effective at the plate in that game where he delivered a pair of hits, both doubles, and three RBIs for the Centaurs.
He had similar numbers against the Redmen.
Mathewson went six innings, gave up six hits, with eight strikeouts, but again failed to yield a run as the Centaurs improved to 3-1 overall and 2-0 in Division II of the Eastern Connecticut Conference.
“We’ll take it,” Murphy said of the start. “Knowing the potential of this team, it would have been nice to be 4-0. We had a great game against New London, the kids came out hungry, but we came out flat against (Norwich Free Academy) and the kids know it.”
The Centaurs opened the season on March 30 with an impressive 32-2 win over Capital Prep which certainly served to bolster batting averages for the beginning of the season.
Senior Nathan John had five hits in six trips and drove in six runs for the Centaurs in the win while Pete Spada added a 3-for-3 performance with three RBIs. Mathewson added two hits and two RBIs.
With that game in hand, the Centaurs bats were primed for another strong performance against the Whalers on April 1.
They gave Mathewson all the support he needed with a 13-hit attack.
In addition to Mathewson’s efforts at the plate, freshman Jon Smith had a pair of hits, including a double, and drove in three runs. John improved his average to .727 with a 3-for-5 performance at the plate including a double and three runs batted in.
“Nate really looked good (against New London), his outs were hard outs. The impressive thing is that we’re trying to work on our two-strike approach and driving the ball to right and in that New London game, he did that. He hit a couple of lasers to right,” Murphy said.
Luis Miranda and Doug Newton also added a pair of hits.
But the Centaurs came back to earth April 3 in Norwich when the Wildcats handed them a 7-1 loss.
“Give NFA credit, they jumped on us right away with four runs, they hit the ball well and their (pitcher Vinny Gaultieri) threw strikes,” Murphy said. “NFA has a good program, but that was one where we should have been more competitive in that game. In my past career, I worked with a lot of adults and the psyche of high school kids is a little different. They have given me a little education. We have some young kids and they just have to give themselves permission to play baseball. I tell them to play like they are in the backyard; I don’t mind the errors, no one likes them but you understand them, just go out and play and have fun and you can compete in the ECC.”
The only run in the game came when Nate Roethlein scored on a wild pitch in the fifth inning. Mathewson and Travis White had the only hits in the game for the Centaurs.
But Woodstock Academy righted the ship on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. The game with Killingly was pushed back from Friday due to inclement weather.
Smith and Miranda had RBI singles in the bottom of the first to give Mathewson a little cushion to work with against the Redmen.
Eric Preston doubled home a run in the second and Mathewson singled home another in the fourth. The Centaurs put the game out of reach in the fifth when they scored three times. Tommy Li and Preston drove in runs and another scored on a ground out to give the Centaurs the insurmountable lead.
The Centaurs do have something to look forward to.
Their spring vacation week will be spent at Myrtle Beach, S.C. next week. Before they can think about that, the Centaurs had to play Ellington on Monday (the game ended too late for this edition), Ledyard on Wednesday and East Lyme on Friday.
“We have a tough schedule. We need to take them one game at a time, I don’t like looking ahead and I tell the team the same thing,” Murphy said.
Marc Allard
Sports Information Director
The Woodstock Academy

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