By Ron P. Coderre

In a week filled with softball action the local ladies posted only five victories in the 16 games that were played.  Putnam with a pair of victories against one loss enjoyed the best week.  Other schools that picked up wins were Ellis Tech and Pomfret School

With Mackenzie Livingston in the circle the Putnam Lady Clippers enjoyed success beating Grasso Tech 12-2 and Prince Tech 21-1 in five innings.  Sandwiched between the victories was a 15-5 loss at the hands of Ellis Tech.  The Lady Techsters Adrianna Riddick limited Putnam to a mere three hits.  Putnam’s Alyssa Peterson suffered the loss for the 6-4 & 4-3 CSC East Clippers.

In its other victory, Ellis Tech pummeled Parish Hill 30-15.  Taylor Blanchard almost hit for the cycle for the Eagles as she had a double, triple and home run in the contest.  Sandwiched between the wins was a 17-1 loss to Academy of the Holy Family.  Ellis Tech is 4-3 overall and in the CSC East.

Plainfield dropped three games is a week that saw them lose 12-1 to Griswold, 6-1 to Fitch and 14-9 to Stonington, dropping the Panthers to 3-3 and 0-1 in the ECC Medium Division.  The Tourtellotte Tigers lost their only game of the week as they were beaten by Wheeler 10-1, falling to 2-2 overall and 0-2 in the ECC Small Division.

Woodstock Academy dropped to 2-5 as the Lady Centaurs are in the midst of a five-game losing streak.  The Acads were beaten by Lyman 9-3, Stonington 13-1 and St. Bernard 8-3.  Killingly, which has won only one game this year lost its only contest to East Lyme 8-1, falling to 1-5 on the season.

Pomfret School picked up its fourth win of the season with an 8-5 victory over the Loomis Chaffee School of West Hartford.  Cassie Hayward was the winning pitcher for the Lady Griffins.  She received offense support from Gena LaBeef who had a triple and Makenna Newkirk who had a double.  In its other game of the week, the Griffs lost 10-2 to Suffield to go to 4-1 on the season.  Marianapolis suffered its first loss of the season at the hands of Westminster 9-0 to go to 5-1.

 

 

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Andrew and Aaron Robinson

 

 

 

PSA recruits

Robinson twins

By Ron P. Coderre

The 2013-2014 school year isn’t over yet and the basketball equipment from this season at Putnam Science Academy is still not put away but that hasn’t deterred coach Tom Espinosa in his quest to repeat the success of last season’s Mustang team.  PSA posted a school best 29-5 record on its way to the National Prep School Championships.

Coach Espinosa recently announced the signing of twin brothers, Andrew and Aaron Robinson from Springbrook High School in Maryland.  The Robinson twins scale in at 6-feet, 5-inches and 205 pounds.  According to Espinosa, the lure of Putnam Science Academy was the Mustangs competitive schedule and the fact that the goal of these two brothers is to continue to play basketball together next season and hopefully beyond at the college level.

These twins are so much alike that even their statistics and honors are very similar.  Andrew Robinson averaged 17 points and six rebounds last season at Springbrook, while Aaron, who has a 6-10 wingspan, averaged 11points and 4 rebounds.  They were McDonald’s All-American nominees, Montgomery County all-stars and first team All-Sentinel among their many honors.  The icing on the cake is that the twins are also all-stars in the classroom.

Playing at Springbrook for coach Tom Crowell as seniors, they led the team to a 23-3 record and won the division, county and regional titles and made it to the State of Maryland semifinals where they lost to Wise High School.

“These guys bring solid frontcourt play to our program.  They’re wingmen who can shoot the ball very well.  Their talents are so similar and they are so versatile they can play comfortably play in the backcourt if necessary.  Their role for us next year will be to put points on the board,” said Espinosa.

The University of Kentucky, which lost in the 2014 NCAA Championship game to the University of Connecticut, had twins Andrew and Aaron Harrison as a strong component of their success.  When opponents face the Putnam Science Academy Mustangs next season they may be confused and think they’re seeing double in the Robinson twins, also Andrew and Aaron.  Coach Espinosa is hoping that they can have the same positive effect on his team as the Harrisons had in Kentucky.

The Robinson twins join Kealen Ives of Classical High School in Providence as the first recruits for the upcoming season.  According to Espinosa he’s reviewing other potential recruits and hopes to sign more in the near future.  Along with 6-8 Mamadou Dhiarra from last season’s team, the future of Putnam Science Academy basketball continues to look promising.

 

 

 

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Champs

Members of the championship Putnam Co-Ed Volleyball League, the Jolie Netters celebrate the title, left to right: Brent Leveille, Dillon Roberts, Shawn Jolie, Kayla Jolie and Ashley Hayes.  Courtesy photo

 

 

 

 

By Ron P. Coderre

This week’s RPC sporty shoutout is sent along to Crystal DiZazzo and members of the Putnam Rotoract Club.  Last week they threw a party a J.D. Cooper’s to raise money for a scholarship.  It turned out to be one of the best attended “guest bartender” events the area has witnessed in many moons.

Dan Gagnon, who starred at Pomfret School in basketball and baseball, is enjoying success in baseball on the collegiate level with the Lasell College Lasers.  The sophomore standout starts at shortstop for the Lasers who are 16-9 overall and in second place in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference with a league record of 10-4.

Gagnon, who also played summer baseball for the Danielson American Legion, is having an outstanding year with the bat as he leads Lasell in many offensive categories.  He currently sports a .341 batting average and a .408 slugging percentage, while having the most hits, doubles, walks, extra base hits and stolen bases.

In the classroom Gagnon is majoring in Athletic Training.  Lasell, which is located in Newton, Mass., is a Division III school.

Putnam Volleyball League Concludes Successful Season

Putnam Co-Ed Volleyball League Commissioner Gordie Mauer sends word that the fall to spring competition recently concluded its season by crowning the Jolie Netters league champs.  According to Mauer, the league which is run under the auspices of the Putnam Recreation Department and plays every Tuesday evening at the Putnam Middle School featured six teams this season.

Thanks to the solid net play of Dillon Roberts and Ashley Hayes and the serves of Kayla Jolie the Netters persevered over the rest of the competition.  Mauer noted that Shawn Jolie and Brent Leveille were outstanding setting up their teammates and digging out a number of tough slams.

Rumblings From Orono, Maine

The University of Maine in Orono athletic teams is known as the Black Bears.  It seems that the Black Bears were running this past week as there were some strong rumblings emanating from the Pine Tree State.

The first bit of earth shaking news was the firing of head basketball coach Ted Woodward, who had been at the helm of the hoop fortunes for 10 years.  Woodward’s departure started a domino effect that eventually reached a former member of the Putnam Science Academy Mustangs.

Shortly following the announcement of Woodward’s firing, former Mustang Shaun Lawton announced he was planning to transfer.  Lawton, a sophomore, played in 28 of the Black Bears 29 games as the team posted a disappointing 6-23 overall record and a 4-12 America East Conference log.  He led the team in assists, averaging 4.2 per game to go along with an 8.1 points per game average based on 227 points scored.  He also led the team in steals with two per contest.  Lawton, who played his high school basketball at Long Island Lutheran, was a valuable member of UMaine on both ends of the court.  

While at Putnam Science Academy under coach Tom Espinosa, Lawton was one of the main cogs in a 20-9 season.  He averaged 15.2 points and 4.3 rebounds per game.  As he did in college, Lawton led the team in assist 4.4 per game and 3.3 steals a contest.  Lawton posted a total of 442 points in his one season on campus, placing him 8th overall on the career scoring ladder.

The Black Bears also have another area product on the roster, 6-foot, 9-inch freshman Christian Ejiga, who played at Hyde-Woodstock.  As of press time there is no news regarding his intentions.  There was also no further news where Lawton planned to transfer.  While at PSA, he was also pursued by Norfolk State University, where current Mustang Jordan Butler will play next season.

 Former Centaur Helping Pointers Roll

Chris Mayhew, who is coming off a stellar freshman season at the UConn- Avery Point, continues his hot hitting in his second season with the Pointers.  In a recent doubleheader sweep of Lackawanna Community College, Mayhew was instrumental in keying the second game win.  He contributed a pair of hits including an RBI double in the 6-5 victory.

Against Monroe Community College of New York, in another doubleheader sweep, Mayhew had four hits and drove in four runs in leading UCAP to a 12-1 win.  The Pointers of Coach Roger Bidwell are 33-6 in the NJCAA Division II heading toward Regional competition. In his latest contest, Mayhew helped the Pointers to a 12-7 win over Holyoke Community College with two hits including a double.

Florida Report

Avon Park, Fla., is the winter home of many folks from northeastern Connecticut, most who are longtime members of Quinnatisset Country Club.  A recent call from former Tourtellotte Memorial High School baseball coach Tom Auclair indicates that the snowbirds are enjoying some great golfing weather in the Sunshine State.

Auclair and his wife Jan are enjoying their first full winter in Avon Park.  He reports that local golfers Cliff Aubin, John Smutnick, Dave and Anne Kelly, Tom Morway and many others continue to enjoy Florida’s rays, although most will be heading North sometime in May.

RPC’s Closing thought For The Day: When you think you’re really important, try giving orders to your cat.

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