PUTNAM — Putnam Police last week arrested Norwich resident Juan R. Vargas, 45, on charges of first-degree sexual assault, third-degree sexual assault and risk of injury to a minor.
Putnam Police Chief Christopher D. Ferace said the arrest stems from an investigation initiated in 2023.
Currently Vargas is housed on an unrelated offense in the Corrigan Correctional Institution in Uncasville and the warrant was served in Danielson Superior Court. All accused are presumed innocent.
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The following charges were listed in the Putnam Police Department logs. The people charged are innocent until proven guilty in court. The Town Crier will publish dispositions of cases at the request of the accused. The dispositions must be accompanied by the proper documentation. The Putnam Police Department confidential Tip Line is 860-963-0000.
March 23
Kayla Alexis Mccullough-Murphy, 24, East Main Street, Rockville; illegal operation of motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol/drugs, failure to display lights.
March 27
Casey Joe Kingsley, 51, Sabin Street, Putnam; three counts of failure to respond to infractions and three counts of second-degree failure to appear.
March 29
Brenda L. Mazzarella, 64, Korpita Road, Danielson; sixth-degree larceny, criminal impersonation.
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Putnam Science Academy starts with wins and losses
PUTNAM — The Putnam Science Academy baseball season started with some wins and some losses in its first week of competition.
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. — The baseball team traveled to South Carolina for its opening week of the season. Post Grad John Devine pitched a gem leading the Mustangs to a 3-1 opening day victory over South Allegheny. Devine pitched 7 innings with 14 strikeouts and didn’t allow a run in the win. Luca Almonte went 3 for 3 at the plate including an RBI for PSA (1-0).
MYRTLE BEACH — Janvier Diaz pitched 6 innings, striking out 11 batters and only allowing 1 run as PSA baseball won over Patrick County 8-2 and improved to 2-0 the season. Denzel Rincon went 2 for 3 from the plate and knocked in 3 runs for PSA.
MYRTLE BEACH — The team dropped a tough one, 13-2, to Bethel Park. Denzel Rincon had one hit and drove in both runs for PSA who lost their first game of the season to fall to 2-1.
MYRTLE BEACH — Denzel Rincon had 3 hits and drove in 2 runs and Yeongha Yoon added 2 hits and drove in 1 run but it wasn’t enough as the Mustangs lost 8-5 to Karns City.
MYRTLE BEACH — Thursday afternoon the PSA Mustangs took on Severn School to finish up the trip to Myrtle Beach but lost 9-8 to fall to 2-3 on the season. Janvier Diaz and Yeongha Yoon both had 2 hits and 2 RBIs for the Mustangs but the defense had 4 crucial errors on the day and PSA couldn’t pull out the win.
WILLIMANTIC — John Devine pitched six strong innings, striking out 8 and only allowing 2 hits but it wasn’t enough as the Mustangs lost to Eastern CT State University 7-4 yesterday afternoon on the road. Janvier Diaz had a home run and drove in 2 runs and Denzel Rincon added a hit and 2 RBI’s for the Mustangs.
WILLIMANTIC — Jayson Serrano started on the mound and pitched 3 strong innings but ECSU topped Putnam Science 10-1 to fall to 2-5 on the season. Sebastian Garcia and Justin Dejesus also pitched for the Mustangs in relief. Denzel Rincon and Billy Rodriguez each had a hit for PSA in the loss.
NORWICH — PSA took on Commonwealth Academy (Mass.) but lost 8-6 in the Prep League opener. Janvier Diaz pitched a nice game going 5 innings while striking out 6 batters. Lucas Almonte had a home run in the sixth inning but PSA fell to 2-6 on the season.
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caption:
Janvier Diaz, left. Photo by Rebecca Tow
Offense will have to carry early
Abby Converse has been a three-sport athlete for all four years she has spent at Woodstock Academy. This spring will be the senior’s last.
For a second year in a row, Converse will serve as a captain for the Centaurs’ girls’ lacrosse team, joining four others in that role.
“It hasn’t kicked in yet but I think once we get halfway through the season, it will be like ‘Oh man, it’s senior year of high school and it’s almost over,’” Converse said.
She will not be the only one in that category.
Maggie Marshall, Abby Houle, M.J. Banderas and Kaelyn Tremblay are also waiting for June 14 to come around when they will don the cap and gown and move on to the next step in their lives.
But for the next couple of months, lacrosse will occupy a lot of their spare time.
Second-year coach Heather Miller has 30 players out for the two programs, varsity and JV, this season which is just about enough for both.
But it may have to be the offense that will have to shine early.
The defense is young and untested so it will be up to the likes of juniors Kaylee Saucier (11 goals, 7 assists), and Clara Dowdle (7 goals, 3 assists) as well as Converse (6 goals, 2 assists) to not only score but to maintain possession of the ball and take pressure off the defense. The three will serve as captains alongside Avery Nielsen and Houle.
“We definitely put a lot on our defense last year and like coach has said, ‘It starts with the draw.’ I know myself and a couple of others will be working hard to win more of those and just maintain possession,” Saucier said.
That is something that was questionable last year.
“I have every confidence and faith in them. I’m excited to see Kaylee and Clara grow more into leadership roles, because this is the first time they’ve both been captains. They are talented. They have the knowledge and speed. They have strong stick skills and I think it will be good with them, Kaelyn, and Maggie up front. Even in preseason, their throwing and catching — which was a problem last season because we dropped too many balls — has improved,” Miller said.
Saucier, who also plays soccer and basketball, said she has put more time into the sport.
Miller is giving her attack players a little more flexibility this season.
“I’m giving them creative space at practice to make up their own plays, be creative, have fun with it, but also take ownership of it so we aren’t the same as everyone else,” Miller said.
Woodstock did struggle a bit last season as it had just one win in 16 games. So there is room for some experimentation.
Miller is a trying something to shore up the defense a bit as she has decided to employ a backer zone strategy.
The Centaurs will need a steadfast defense as Houle, their only experienced keeper, suffered a preseason injury and is hoping to play as soon as possible. Freshman Grace Audet has stepped into that role for now.
“The girls set the goal for four wins. For us, that would be great. I think it’s a very realistic goal and one that they can make,” Miller said.
So far, so good. “I’m really liking what I’m seeing. We worked on draws, our new backer ‘D’ which is looking very nice so far and we already have some plays made up in our attack,” Converse said. The journey begins on Saturday as the Centaurs go on the road to play at 10 a.m. At Killingly.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy
caption:
The girls’ lacrosse team will not lack leadership as it will have five captains including, from left: Avery Nielsen, Abby Houle, Abby Converse and Kaylee Saucier. Clara Dowdle was not available for the photo. Photo by Marc Allard/Woodstock Academy.