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Sprinting

Kate Boshka sprinting to the finish line in her Quinebaug Valley Junior Conference Championship victory.   Photo by Jim Gothreau

 

 

 

By Ron P. Coderre

This week’s RPC sporty shoutout is sent along to Gary “Gabby” Hayes.  This “Gabby” Hayes is one of Putnam’s nicest guys, who are always there to help a friend in need.  He celebrated another birthday on Oct. 26.

News emanating from Florida and Killingly featured some interesting clips on former Killingly star athlete Dave Oatley.  In Florida he’s hitting the softball at an unbelievable clip, which further solidifies his selection in the initial class that will enter the Killingly High School Hall of Fame on Saturday, November 29 in a ceremony scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. in the high school auditorium.

In the Sunshine State Oatley recently competed with the Frankie Brin Financial 70-plus team in the FHCASA Team 1 Sports/Miken Tournament in West Palm Beach.  The FBF team has been playing in a number of tournaments and has the astronomical winning percentage of .875.  In its most recent tournament FBF disposed of SW Florida Blaze 11-2 as Oatley contributed three hits in three at bats.  In the next game against the Pompano Beach Bums, Oatley went 2-for-2 with three runs batted in a 10-4 victory.

The next day FBF beat the Bums again in a mercy rule game, 21-2.  In the final game, another mercy rule job, FBF defeated Lane Construction 17-2.  Oatley once again went 2-for-2, giving him nine hits in 10 at bats for a gaudy .900 batting average in the tourney.

The icing on Oatley’s recent success was the news that he’d been elected to the Killingly High School Athletic Hall of Fame.  His selection was warranted based on the fact that when he graduated in 1961 he was a four-sport athlete.  He starred most notably in football and baseball.

On the gridiron he was a tackle and linebacker, who also played offensive end and handled the punting chores for the Killingly.  He was named all Eastern Connecticut Conference in 1959 and 1960, which earned him a football scholarship at the University of Rhode Island.

On the baseball diamond he was part of the championship team that posted a 15-2 record and made it to the State Championship game.  Oatley was given a look-see from the Boston Red Sox after graduation.  Locally he became a standout in the prestigious Norwich City League where he starred for the Wonder Bar team that featured players from the greater Danielson area.

In addition to his great play in the Florida 70 plus League, Oatley is a standout golfer.  His play on the links has won him honors in that sport especially in long drive contests.  Even in his early 70’s, Oatley can still boom drives that rival many younger golfers.  His selection by the Hall of Fame committee was right on.  

Volleyball Luminaries

The Eastern Connecticut Conference recently released the names of the 2014 volleyball all stars.  Named to the first team in the Large Division was Kendall Wilcox the leader of the Centaur netters.  The Acads Jacqueline Orlowski was an Honorable Mention selection and Linzee Glennon picked up the Sportsmanship Award.

Plainfield placed Reese Griffin and Tessa Marandola on the Medium Division First Team along with Killingly’s Karissa Slowik.  Honorable Mention honors went to Chivon Burns, Kylie Hart and Natalia Rickey of Plainfield and Killingly's Cara Mayhew.  Abby Horan of Plainfield and Taylor Parnell of Killingly were the Sportsmanship recipients.

Stats and Standings

Plainfield High School football with a 5-1 record entering this week’s game with Fitch High School is the lone local team that is in contention for a playoff spot in the CIAC Football Point Standings.  The Panthers are ranked 6th in Class S, which has Windham High School as #1 with a perfect 6-0 record.  Two other Eastern Connecticut schools, Ledyard and New London are ranked #1 and #6 respectively in Class M.  All the remaining teams are either from west of the Connecticut River or out of our area.

Individually, Plainfield’s Steve Jankowski continues as the top passer with 957 yards in the air after six games.  The Quinebaug Valley Pride’s Raif Santerre is on his way to his second 1000- yard plus season.  After seven games, the hard charging Santerre has 852 yards on the ground.  That averages out to almost 122 yards per contest.

Centaur Grad Kicking Up A Storm

As a student at Woodstock Academy Emily Becher was one of the Centaurs most talented athletes.  It was on the soccer field that she demonstrated her skill the most, which ultimately landed her at Eastern Connecticut State University on the women’s varsity soccer squad.

As a freshman for the Lady Warriors, Becher has been the team’s scoring leader.  Entering the postseason, Becher leads the team with 13 goals.  In a recent 2-0 victory over UMass Dartmouth, Becher tallied both scores for ECSU.  The win boosted the Lady Warriors record to 10-5-1 on the season and earned them a first-round home game in the upcoming Little East Conference soccer playoffs. 

Harrier Happenings

The Eastern Connecticut Conference held its cross-country championships at the Norwich Golf Course recently.  Woodstock Academy with a third-place finish in the women’s competition and a fifth place in the men’s carried the banner for Northeastern Connecticut.

The best individual finish was posted by sophomore Sylvia Lawrence of Woodstock who finished second in the female race 22 seconds off the winning pace of 20:10 posted by Griswold’s Meagen Perez.  Lawrence’s teammates Annette Costanzo (19th – 22:25); Hannah Matsas (29th – 23:00); Jordyn Woodland (30th – 23:05); and Shai-Lin Gothreau (37th – 23:32) helped the Lady Centaurs finish with a team score of 106.  Brooke Brouillard of Plainfield finished fifth with a time of 21:07 and Killingly’s Kaitlyn Stevens was 11th, posting a time of 21:28.

In the men’s race the top local finisher was Ryan Saros of Plainfield who crossed the finish line in 17:33.  The top Woodstock finisher was Dylan Berridge in 18:24, while Ryan French of Killingly was Killingly’s top performer with a time of 18:59.

RPC’s Closing Thought For The Day: Those who think they know it all are very annoying to those of us who do.

(If you have news worthy sports information email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)

 

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