By Ron P. Coderre

This week’s RPC sporty shoutout is sent along to Bob Fournier, owner of the Gilman-Valade Funeral Homes.  Since arriving in Putnam nearly nine years ago Fournier has become an integral part of the community.  He’s an avid supporter of youth sports.

Last year as Putnam Science Academy was driving toward a spot in the National Prep School Championships Mamadou Diarra, a 6-foot, 8-inch, trong inside player joined the team, transferring from Believe Prep in South Carolina.  In 12 games he averaged five points and three rebounds for the Mustangs.

Diarra is a young man who turned 17 this year.  The experience of playing for the 29-5 Putnam Science Academy team did not go without its rewards.  Prior to returning to his home in New York at the end of the school year, Diarra spent some quality time with assistant coach Josh Scraba.  Hours on end Scraba worked on developing Diarra’s inside moves and his shooting skills around the hoop.

In recent workouts in front of many NCAA Division I coaches the hard work began yielding results.  In addition to an offer he had from Duquesne University of the Atlantic 10 Conference, Diarra has received offers from Temple of the American Athletic Conference and Minnesota of the Big Ten.

“Mamadou has worked very hard during the off season.  His work with coach Scraba helped him immensely.  He should emerge as an inside force this season and will most likely continue to draw attention from a number of top notch colleges,” said coach Tom Espinosa.

Hamadou Diallo is another young man who is just turning 16 with some big expectations riding on his shoulders.  The 6-3 Queens, N.Y., product is a dynamic shooting guard who averaged 19 points a game in his only high school year in the Big Apple.

This season, his first with Putnam Science Academy will give him an opportunity to mature and develop his leadership skills.  He’s a versatile player, who can cause headaches for his opponents with his shooting, passing and defensive skills.  Like his teammate Diarra, Diallo has received offers from Temple and Minnesota.

Both Diarra and Diallo are expected to be part of the Putnam Science Academy basketball team for more than one season.  During their time on the Maple Street campus they’ll be in the talented hands of coach Espinosa and his staff.  In typical Espinosa fashion the team will face some of the best prep competition from through the country as the Mustangs anticipate the upcoming season.

Vineyard Valley Golf Course Kind to Young Golfer

Although the golf season is coming to an end quicker than most golfers wish, there’s still news coming from the links.  This story that just arrived on the sports desk occurred on Tuesday, August 19.

Kyle Brennan, a 10 year old fifth grade student at Pomfret Community School, aced the island green 9th hole at Vineyard Valley, while playing with his dad Sean Brennan.  He used his 7-iron, which has become his new best friend.  This was his first ever hole-in-one but rest assured it won’t be his last.

Young Brennan comes from solid athletic stock.  His grandfather is Walter Crabtree, who was one of the area’s top golfers in his prime and continues to play quality golf, most likely has had some influence on his grandson’s game.  His mother is the former Amy Crabtree, who was one of the top female athletes to emerge from Putnam High School. 

Stats And More

Entering the fifth week of all high school sports activity the only significant local statistical leader in football is Plainfield quarterback Steve Jankowski who leads the region in touchdown passes with 10.  Jankowski has been the anchor of the Plainfield Panthers 3-1 start, as his arm and legs have played an instrumental role in the teams early season success.

In soccer the Marianapolis Golden Knights 7-5-1 men and 8-2-0 women have booters on top of the individual scoring races.  Tim Horvat leads the area in goals scored with 19, while his female counterpart Caroline Soucy also has tallied 19 goals.  Soucy’s teammate Emily Sheridan has put 11 shots in the net and is tied for third with Plainfield’s Shannon Sweeney in the girl’s scoring race.  Putnam’s Morgan Foucault is in second place with 13 goals while her teammate Saige Morin is in fourth place with 10 goals.  Rounding out the girl’s scoring race in fifth place is Molly Schroder of Pomfret.

Behind Horvat in the boys’ scoring parade is Killingly’s Sean Guerin with nine goals.  He’s tied with Chicago (love that name) Rogers of Ellis Tech.  Alyssa Rainey and Teagan Waggoner of Killingly are the top field hockey scorers with seven goals apiece.    

Babcock Represents Northeastern Connecticut

The Connecticut Public Links Championship competition was held on Monday and Tuesday, October 6 and 7 at the par 72 Golf Course at Oxford Greens.  Northeastern Connecticut had a single representative in the field, Fletcher Babcock who plays out of Connecticut National Golf Club.

Following the opening day of play, Babcock was well positioned as he shot a respectable 77 and was four strokes behind the first day leaders Phillip Boehme and Richard Malafronte who posted scores of 73.  Babcock fell off the pace on the second day when he skyrocketed to a score of 80 for a two-day total of 157, which was 11 strokes behind the eventual winner Glen Bogini of Twin Hills Country Club who finished two over par at 146.  

Fall Baseball Notes

The local fall baseball team, which is comprised of many of the TriTown American Legion Jr. players, is continuing its success on the diamond.  Under the direction of coaches Dan Durand, John Foucault and Mike Carignan, the team recently swept a doubleheader by scores of 11-1 and 10-1.  Joe Donovan pitched a one-hitter in the opener and Zach Cutler picked up his first win on the mound in the second game.

On Monday, October 6 the team played at Dodd Stadium in Norwich against the Connecticut Hurricanes and dropped a 5-4 heartbreaker in nine innings.  The fall schedule concludes shortly following the playoffs that were on Sunday, October12.  The TriTown team is positioned to capture the 2014 crown with a victory.  The fact that local young men have dedicated themselves to playing Fall Baseball is a credit to them as their efforts are a sign of the resurrection of our National Pastime in Northeastern Connecticut

RPC’s Closing Thought For The Day:  Energy is contagious…Make certain you’re having fun with your work.  And have a love affair with life.

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