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By Ron P. Coderre
As a U.S. Navy veteran of Desert Storm, Dan Durand had to tend to the needs of his men as a hospital corpsman. Durand, who is currently studying to become a nurse, is now applying some of his positive medicine to the fortunes of the recently resurrected TriTown American Legion Junior Baseball team.
Last year the TriTown Baseball executive committee made a decision to close down its Junior program due to a lack of participants. The goal of the committee however, was to get the program up and running as soon as possible. Thanks to a large turnout of candidates and the presence of Durand and his assistant coaches Jon Foucault, Gunnar Andersen and Mike Carignan, TriTown once again is functioning on all cylinders on the Junior level.
“The kids in this program are unbelievable team players. I couldn’t ask for a better group to coach,” said Durand about the 2013 unit.
If pitching is 75 percent to 90 percent of the game as some people contend, then TriTown has a deep and solid rotation. The team has seven strong arms, six right-handers and one lefty. The staff is headed by Ryan Gadoury, a Woodstock product and Jared Carignan, who plays for Ellis Tech. Nicholas Foucault of Putnam, Doug Gerrity of Woodstock and George Murphy of Marianapolis fill out the staff from the right side. Kyle Tyler of Woodstock, who starts at first base when not on the mound, is Durand’s only portsider. Putnam’s Josh Allard is the team’s closer.
The catching chores are handled by Jacob Guertin of Putnam. He’s backed up by Hunter Malboeuf of Woodstock and Murphy.
“Our team is blessed with three very good backstops. All of these catchers should be starters,” said coach Durand.
Tyler, whom the coaching staff has named captain, starts at first base. Jared Durand, the coach’s son and an Ellis Tech player, is the second baseman, while Nick Foucault and Jared Carignan play shortstop when not on the mound. Gerrity and Gadoury handle the hot corner. The backup infielders are Dan Whittenberg of Woodstock, Alex Leveille of Tourtellotte and Ryan Black, who played for Pomfret Community School this past spring.
Allard anchors the outfield in centerfield. He’s flanked by Carignan and Murphy, who patrol leftfield and Evan Tremblay of Woodstock in right. The reserve fly chasers are Samson Normandin of Tourtellotte and Zach Gagnon, another Pomfret Community School player. Durand also fills in in the outfield when needed.
Offensively the team possesses both speed and power. Tyler, who has “quick hitting hands,” bats from the left side in the third hole and supplies power. Gadoury, Carignan and Foucault are also capable of hitting the long ball. Durand, Allard, Foucault and Guertin are the on-base guys, who can burn it up on the base paths.
“Kyle Tyler is capable of putting this team on his back and carrying it. Knowing this we’re going to be aggressive on the base paths. We’ll hit and run and sacrifice to move runners along to scoring position,” said Durand.
The team is strong on the defensive side of the ball. Gerrity and Tyler shore up the corners, while Durand, Foucault and Carignan work well together in the middle of the infield.
“This is a very harmonious group of players who are always pulling for each other. The only attitude they have, is a winning attitude,” summarized Durand.
The team is part of the five-team Zone VI league. They play a 16-game schedule at the Bentley Athletic complex in Woodstock with evening games beginning at 5:30 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday games beginning at 11 a.m. The other teams in the Zone are Jewett City, Ledyard/Pawcatuck, New London and Norwich with each team playing four games against each opponent. The top two teams in Zone VI will advance to State Tournament play.
Juniors Off To Fast Start
The TriTown Junior Legion team jumped out to a quick start, posting four consecutive victories to open the season until dropping a doubleheader to Norwich. The 4-2 log puts the Jr. Towners in third place, a half game out of first place in the five-team Zone VI league.
The team opened the season with a 6-4 victory over Norwich in the Rose City behind the strong arm of Ryan Gadoury (6 innings, 6 strikeouts) and the relief work of closer Josh Allard (one-inning, two K’s). The offense was provided by Kyle Tyler, who had three hits, Doug Gerrity with a pair of bingles and Allard who contributed a two-bagger.
In a game against Jewett City in JC, the Jr. Towners emerged victorious 13-5 behind the combined mound work of starter Tyler and 3 1/3 innings of relief by Jared Carignan (two hits, five K’s, and 0 runs). Carignan closed out the game by striking out the side in the seventh inning. The hitting stars were Tyler, who went 2-for-5 including a triple and Guertin, who was 2-for-3.
In the home opener, the Jr. Towners fell behind Jewett City early but rallied for a convincing 9-4 win. Ryan Gadoury (five innings, eight K’s) with relief help from Allard picked up his second win of the young season. Jared Durand was the hitting star, driving in two runs and scoring a pair. Nick Foucault contributed a double to the winning effort.
After all its success the team tasted defeat at the hands of Norwich, a team they had beaten earlier in the season. In the first game of a twinbill they were shutout 2-0 and dropped the back end contest 8-3. Foucault had two hits in game one, while Durand contributed an RBI double in the second contest.
Seniors Running Into Tough Luck
The TriTown AL Sr. unit stands at 1-5 following its first six games of the season. With any luck, the team could easily be 6-0 as they’ve been in every game right down to the final out.
The team opened the week with a hard luck 3-2 loss at the hands of New London in the Whaling City despite a strong pitching performance by Ty Anderson. The Towners, down 3-0 entering the final inning, rallied for two runs in the seventh, falling just shy of knotting the score. Josh Malboeuf with two hits, including a double and a run scored was the offensive star for TriTown.
In a game, which TriTown hosted at Dodd Stadium in Norwich, the Towners lost 4-3 to Jewett City despite a valiant mound effort by Josh Malboeuf. The next evening the team lost another heart breaker to JC 5-3with Jared Carignan absorbing the defeat. TriTown shortstop Mike Thienel contributed a double to the offense.