By Ron P. Coderre

This week’s RPC shoutout is sent along to former Putnam High School football and track star Roger N. Daigle.  Following a long and illustrious career in the military Daigle enjoys wintering in Florida and spending his New England summers on Lake Alexander.

The 17th St. James Memorial Golf Tournament orchestrated by the inimitable Sam Markley was a huge success again this year raising more than $34,000 on behalf of the students at St. James Parochial School in Danielson.

The tournament was held May 28 at Foster Country Club and attracted a full field of 36 foursomes.  Although the weather was a bit on the chilly side the golfers made up for the cool temperatures by consuming a record number of hot dogs, 480 by Markley’s count.

Despite the frigidity, the foursome of James Martin, Justin Cyr, Joey Derrico and John Darigan was red hot, capturing the 2014 top prize of $400 with a score of 15 under par.  The winners outpaced the second place foursome of Scott Waterman, Mike O’Neill, Robert Travis and Chris Marchetti by two strokes.  Third place on matching cards was the group of Mike Panteleakos, Doug Daignault, John Herlihy and Guy Lahaie.

“We came here to win and accomplished our goal.  This is a great tournament and we enjoy the competition every year,” said James Martin, captain of the winning foursome.

The middle of the pack team, which received a monetary award of $400, was Bryan and Andrew Walsh, Adam Shaw and Tony Maslak.  The winner of the Markley Long Drive Contest was Big Al Remekie, while Dennis Smith won the putting contest.  The Lahaie foursome was the winner of the skins contest with Brian Corriveau winning the betting hole competition.  Maslak was the winner of the 50/50 pot.

In typical Markley fashion the tournament honored a number of individuals who have been instrumental in the success of the event.  The Jack Lagarde Award was presented to Gary Arrington; The Father John O’Neill Award went to Dr. Roland Lupien; The Albie Page Award was presented posthumously to the late Bill Sasser and was accepted by his widow Marita Sasser.  The Liz Burke Award was presented to James Martin, while Joey Markley took home the Pastor’s Award and Doug Gagnon was selected the Gertrude Markley Award winner.

Special thanks were accorded to the cadre of volunteers who selflessly give of their time each year.  This year’s volunteers were Mary Lou Desaulnier, Kerri Beaudreault, Jim Kent, Dick Veilleux, Lucille Farrell, Paula Panteleakos, Donna Coderre, Betti Sheldon, Joe Allard, Bob and Gloria Martin, Charlotte Doyle, Julie Desaulnier, Melinda Malboeuf, JoAnn Brown, Diane Charron, Sheila Johnson, Amanda Chenette, Jay Long, Cathy Markley and Rene Barbeau.

Flashback

Former Putnam Clipper track and cross country star Jimi Gothreau is a walking encyclopedia or Google search in today’s jargon when it comes to the history of PHS sports.  Recently we encountered Gothreau and he related this running tale, which dates back to late-May 1974 when Gothreau, then known simply as Jim, was a sophomore at Putnam.

As the saga unfolds it dates back to the days of the former Quinebaug Valley Conference Championship where Gothreau competed in the half-mile (880) event under the watchful eye of the late coach George St. Marie.

The Championship was held at UConn where undefeated Plainfield High School middle-distance ace, Don Fournier duked it out with Gothreau in a highly anticipated rematch.  Earlier in the season, Plainfield junior Fournier had narrowly beaten Gothreau to the tape in a dual meet on the Clipper’s grass track at Murphy Park.  Fournier turned in a time of 2:07.0 to Gothreau’s 2:07.2.

In a stunning 57.3 opening lap by Fournier in the Championship he was overtaken by the pesky Clipper sophomore coming off the final turn of the second lap.  Coming down the final 110-yard homestretch, Gothreau managed to hang on for the Putnam victory in a conference time of 2:02.8, while Fournier was right behind as both runners easily smashed the conference record of 2:05.8.

Although he can’t run as fast as the days when he was a Clipper, Gothreau despite a litany of lingering ailments from thousands of miles pounding the pavement, still manages to compete in as many local events as his aching body allows.

State Baseball Poll

Sporting a gaudy 23-3 record Plainfield has maintained its presence in the Hartford Courant Baseball Ratings.  The Panthers of coach Jason Chaviaras moved up to the #5 spot following a week in which they beat Montville, #9 in the poll, Lyman Memorial and East Lyme before falling in the title game of the Eastern Connecticut Conference Championships against Waterford.  The Lancers at 19-4 are #2 in the rankings.  With victories over Plainville and Granby in the first two rounds of the CIAC Tournament and a quarterfinal victory over #7 seeded Suffield, it appears that Plainfield will remain in the State’s Top Ten next week.     

Lafrancois Redux

A recent story that ran in the Sports section of The Ledger of Lakeland, Florida featured yet another anecdote from the longest game in the history of baseball, which was played at Pawtucket’s McCoy Stadium on April 18, 1981.

If you’re a baseball junkie you know the game went 33 innings when it was finally stopped at 4:10 a.m. on Sunday, April 19 after 32 innings.  The game between the Pawtucker Red Sox and the Baltimore Orioles Triple A team from Rochester ended on June 23 when Pawtucket’s Dave Koza drove home Marty Barrett for a 3-2 win.

Jewett City’s Roger LaFrancois caught the final 25 innings for Pawtucket and had two hits in eight at bats.  The catcher for Rochester was Dave Huppert who was 1-11, although his hit, a double in the top of the 21st inning temporarily put the Red Wings ahead 2-1.

Recently LaFrancois, the hitting coach for the Palm Beach Cardinals and Huppert, the manager of the Lakeland Flying Tigers, of the Florida State League, were in opposing dugouts once again in a minor league game at Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland.  The two swapped stories and reminisced.

“I came into the game late thinking I was only going to catch one inning and the game would be over.  Lo and behold it’s 4:10 in the morning and I’m still catching,” Lafrancois told The Ledger.

“It got to be a joke, it really did.  At one point I told the umpire, “Just call 16 balls and let’s go home,’” said Huppert.

Although neither LaFrancois, 4-for10 in his Boston Red Sox career nor Huppert, 15 games with the Orioles and Brewers and one Major League hit, had all star major league careers, they will always have the memories of that chilly April night in Pawtucket when they became part of baseball history.

RPC’s Closing Thought For The Day: “The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.” Confucius

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