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1,000 Points
PHS's Dino Porcini hit his 1000th point Feb. 8. Left to right are: Ryan Walsh, freshman coach; Shawn Deary, head varsity coach; Dino Porcic; Brandon Kress, jv coach; Dennis Deary, assistant varsity coach. Courtesy photo.
By Ron P. Coderre
Following a two week hiatus from the keyboard it’s nice to beck in the swing of sports. It’s difficult going from temperatures in the 80s to the 25-degree temperature we’re currently enjoying.
However, that being said, a big thank you to my very close friend Doc Cody for filling in more than admirably in my absence. Also a note of appreciation to my Florida golfing partners Rick Carnahan, Bob Mercier and Roger Franklin for tolerating me on the links.
Today we offer a sporty hello and a Happy Birthday to my dear brother Maurice “Moe” Coderre, who celebrates on Feb. 17. Today Moe is known as the voice of the Putnam Clippers. It doesn’t seem like it was that long ago that he was a renowned three-sport Putnam Clipper.
Scrapchansky Named Woodstock Baseball Coach…
Finding qualified individuals to coach high school sports in this day and age is like the chance of discovering oil in your backyard. Woodstock Academy, however, appears to have struck a positive vein in its search for a new baseball coach.
Centaur Athletic Director Chris Coderre recently announced the appointment of Mike Scrapchansky as the new diamond mentor for the Acads. He replaces David Austin who resigned following four seasons at the helm.
Scrapchansky comes to the Academy with a solid baseball background. He’s a 1987 Killingly High School graduate, who earned four varsity baseball letters with the Redmen and was named Class L All-State in his junior and senior seasons. He moved on from Killingly to have four seasons at the University of Hartford, where he graduated in 1991. While at UHart he served as the team captain in his senior season and was named a Div. I COSIDA Academic All American. During his tenure at Hartford one of his teammates was former Houston Astros all-star Jeff Bagwell.
While in high school, Scrapchansky also roamed center field for the Danielson American Legion team. It was during a Legion game on the “old” Plainfield High School diamond that Scrapchansky incurred a serious eye injury when he ran head-on into the stone wall in the outfield while chasing down a fly ball at full speed. Although Scrapchansky was able to eventually return to the diamond, the injury most likely prevented him from furthering his career on the professional level.
“We’re very excited to have Mike join our coaching staff. He brings a wealth of baseball knowledge and experience with him, which we think he’ll impart on his team. His playing and coaching careers speak for themselves. We’re confident he’ll have success at Woodstock Academy,” said Athletic Director Coderre.
The new Woodstock baseball coach has had high school coaching stints as varsity coach at Hyde School – Woodstock and as an assistant at Tourtellotte Memorial High School under legendary coach Tom Auclair. Scrapchansky has also witnessed the game from another perspective, serving as an umpire for 10 seasons on the Eastern CT Board of Approved Umpires.
Scrapchansky resides in North Grosvenordale with his wife, Julie and their sons, Stephen and Samuel.
Milestones…
While we were away in Florida three more local basketball standouts surpassed the 1000-point career plateau. Joining Kristian Medina of Marianapolis and Hailey Griffin of Plainfield were Megan Gaudreau of Pomfret School, Eddie Kopacz of Tourtellotte Memorial High School and Dino Porcic of Putnam High School.
Porcic reached the magic number in a Clipper victory over Wheeler High School. The way the contest started for the senior long range bomber it appeared he may have to wait another day to achieve 1000 career points. Porcic missed the first 11 shots he took against Wheeler. Once he got the offensive machine in gear it was “Katie bar the door” as he finished the evening just three assists shy of a triple-double, with 32 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists.
Porcic started the season ranked #52 on the Putnam all-time scoring list. In moving to the #6 slot he’s trailing Derek Roberts (1064) and Andrew Vitale (1115) with an opportunity to surpass both of those individuals as long as the Clippers keep winning and playing. His 1000 points put him ahead of a 1960 grad, Stan Nelson who had 938 career points. Porcic scored 159 of his points a Putnam Science Academy where he played his sophomore season under coach Tom Espinosa.
Behind the high scoring Porcic and some solid team play, the Clippers of coach Shawn Deary are 12-6 overall and 7-3 atop the CSC – East Division and riding a seven game winning streak with two games remaining on the regular season schedule. The team has qualified for both the CSC and State postseason tournaments.
“I’ve coached Dino since his freshman year. It’s been a pleasure watching his basketball skills improve and watching him grow as a fine basketball player and fine young man,” said coach Deary.
Kopacz, who is Tourtellotte’s “go-to guy”, has been the team’s leading point producer all season. Currently, behind Kopacz the Tigers of coach Tony Falzarano are on an eight-game winning streak and are sporting a 13-4 (overall) and 9-1 ECC Small Division log, where they are the regular season champions.
In a recent contest against Lyman Memorial, the prolific Kopacz tallied 44 points as many as the rival Bulldogs, who were beaten 70-44.
Gaudreau, who is headed to Div. II St. Michael’s College in Vermont on a hoop scholarship in September, achieved her 1000-point career level in a 47-34 victory over Groton School. Although the celebration of her achievement was rather subdued, Gaudreau has been one of the Lady Griffin’s most dynamic players over the past four seasons. Her three-point shooting has brought much joy to Pomfret School and coach Rebecca Brooks.
Follow the Leader(s)…
With most local teams ready to wrap up regular season play this week the individual scoring races are falling into place as the 2012 season prepares to crown its leaders and all star performers.
Leading the scoring race is Tourtellotte’s Kopacz who is averaging 25 points per game. He’s followed by Putnam’s Porcic who’s elevated his average to 22.4 ppg. Killingly’s Jeff Clang holds down the show spot at 16.3 ppg., followed by a pair of Putnam Science Academy players, Dayshon Smith (16.2 ppg.) and Shaun Lawton (15.9 ppg.).
PSA’s Smith is tops in three pointers with 46, followed by Pomfret School’s Dan Gagnon (44) and Killingly’s Clang (39). The top scorer on the distaff side is Killingly’s Devin Hill with 18.9 points per game. Hill has been on a scoring tear for coach Mark Lowell and is approaching the 1000-point plateau. The Redgals, with a 5-14 record have failed to qualify for postseason play, limiting Hill’s opportunity to reach the lofty goal. Plainfield’s Hailey Griffin is second in the scoring race at 17.1 points per game, followed by Melanie Mills of Marianapolis (14.9 ppg.) and Gaudreau (14.7 ppg.). Gaudreau with 51 treys is tops in that department with Plainfield’s Kim Bouten next with 33.
RPC’s Closing Thought For The Day: “A friend is a person with whom I may be sincere. Before him I may think aloud.” Emerson.