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Enger Paulino. Photo by Thomas Netzer


Enger Paulino never envisioned himself playing baseball at Assumption University when he went to watch the games with family members as a kid. He was just going to the games and having fun.
But Paulino grew up and became a baseball player himself, and now that he will be at Assumption beginning in the fall, he couldn’t imagine playing anywhere else.
“I was with my older cousins and I really didn’t take baseball seriously,” said Paulino, a postgrad student on Putnam Science Academy’s baseball team. “I didn’t think of it as something I would do in the future until later. So at that time, I liked baseball and going with them was just something fun to do.”
“But I’m from Worcester; I grew up there, most of my family is in the area. This is where I am going to feel comfortable. I’ll be able to develop and not have to worry if my family is all right. I know a bunch of guys who go there now and tell me great things. There are a lot of different things that really make it seem like the best place for me.”
Paulino committed to Assumption in the fall but made it official last week when he signed his National Letter of Intent (along with PSA teammate Ryan Hines, who will attend CCSU) at an event in front of his parents and grandmother, plus PSA staff and students.
“In the moment, it didn’t strike me as a crazy thing,” Paulino said. “But when we were done, seeing my parents struggle to have words to say, it really hit me how big of a moment this is, not only for me but for my family. I’m glad I was able to share it with them and that I’ll be able to keep doing that going forward.”
When Paulino was 14, he had been taking the game seriously for a few years but saw there were a lot of kids ahead of him, both in terms of size and skill. But he started growing into his frame and became a lot stronger when he turned 15, and that’s when he realized that playing baseball could take him somewhere.
“I started passing kids who I had always looked at as really good players, and I started to become more confident in my ability and believe in myself more,” said Paulino, an outfielder and pitcher for PSA. “Knowing that very few high school athletes go on to play at the next level, it’s really motivating. It makes me feel proud of myself, but I know that it’s a privilege, so it makes me want to keep going forward and not take it for granted. I don’t want to be complacent with where I’m at, I know there’s always someone better out there. That’s always in the back of my head that I can’t stop.”
Hines, who never crossed paths with Paulino before this season, has been impressed from the first day.
“Enger’s just such a great leader, a great kid,” Hines said. “I love having him as a teammate. And his skills speak for themselves. He’s got the build of a Major League baseball player. He’s a big kid. His arm in the outfield is insane. He hits the ball extremely hard. His attributes are just crazy. He’s going to be fun to follow and watch develop.”
Stephen Nalbandian
Sports Information Director
Putnam Science Academy

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Ryan Hines. Photo by Thomas Netzer


Ryan Hines is ready to go.
He realized during his sophomore baseball season at Berlin High School that he had the chance to play the game in college.
“Summer hit that year and I started playing really well,” said Hines, now the starting shortstop at Putnam Science Academy. “My summer coach was like, ‘OK, you’ve got a lot of potential, and you’ve got to start taking this seriously.’ That’s when I realized that this wasn’t just what I wanted to do, but this is what I was going to do.
“Before that, I wanted to play in college, but it was like a dream…everybody wants to, but it can’t come true for everybody.”
It became true last week for Hines at an event at PSA, where – with his family, and PSA staff and students in attendance – he signed his National Letter of Intent to play baseball next year at Central Connecticut State University.
“It’s a feeling that I can’t explain,” he said. “It feels so good. I’ve been working toward this since I was little. It’s always been my dream to play a college sport. Once I realized I actually had the opportunity, and someone took a shot on me, knowing that I’m going to play a college sport…it’s an insane feeling.
“I got the opportunity to stay in the senior class and not reclass, which was definitely cool because I get to go play college baseball next year instead of high school baseball. Even if I take a redshirt year, I’m going to be playing and practicing with Division I athletes as opposed to playing games and practicing with high schoolers. It’s a huge jump but it’s going to make me so much better and take my game to the next level.”
PSA teammate Enger Paulino, who also signed his NLI last week (with Assumption University) is confident that Hines will make the most of his opportunity.
“Ryan is a stand-up guy, a selfless guy,” Paulino said. “He’s a hard worker. At practice, whatever we’re doing…getting swings, running…he’s the guy who wants to work. He’s a gamer. You see him and you might not be impressed with him physically, but once you step across the lines, he shows up. He’s going to be fun to watch there.”
An added bonus to playing at the New Britain school is that it is close to Berlin, and his parents and younger sister should be able to be at every home game (younger brother Jacob will be back at PSA next year for his second season), and conference games won’t require a lot of travel for them either.
“It’s all in the same area,” he said, “and it’s definitely cool because they are a part of it. Them being able to keep seeing me play and progress means a lot.”
Hines admitted that his Signing Day didn’t affect him much in the moment, but the reality of it has started to sink in.
“I feel like I can sometimes take a lot of things for granted,” he said. “I didn’t really think about it when I signed, I wasn’t thinking that it was a big deal. It was one of those things… I didn’t realize how special and cool this actually is. It’s finally starting to hit me that I’m going to college next year to play a sport. It’s crazy to think about it. I can’t wait.”
Stephen Nalbandian
Sports Information Director
Putnam Science Academy

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The girls’ tennis team is all smiles after capturing their third consecutive ECC Div. II title last week. Photo courtesy of Keith Athchinson/Woodstock Academy.



It was a lot of work.
But at the end, there was a big reward.
The Woodstock Academy girls’ tennis team survived a four-hour marathon against Lyman Memorial in Lebanon last week and posted a 4-3 victory.
The win improved the Centaurs record to 5-0 in Div. II of the ECC and gave them their third consecutive division title.
“This was a stressful one, I will tell you,” said a relieved coach Keith Atchinson. “We had some very close matches where we had to come back. A number of them went to three sets. I’m super-happy for the girls, especially losing all the seniors from last year, that we came back and had a nice season again this year.”
The second doubles team of Gianna Musumeci and Kerrigan Reynolds were the duo that put the Centaurs over the top against the Bulldogs.
They had to battle three sets and a tiebreaker to do it, but they eventually posted a 3-6, 7-6, 3-2 (10-7) win over Kendall Breault and Skylar Hofmann.
“That clinched it for us. Peyton Bentley also had a huge come-from-behind win for us at fourth singles. We went up 3-1 in the match but (Lyman) took the first set in all three doubles so it wasn’t looking good for a while there,” Atchinson said.
Bentley lost her first set, 4-6, but rallied in the next two with a pair of decisive 6-1 victories over Naomi Duhaime.
Ellie Bishop-Klee, at first singles, was the only straight-set winner for the Centaurs with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Nina Gardella.
Wynter Worth, at second singles, posted a 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 victory over Alexis Zimnoch.
In all, five of the seven matches went to three sets.
“It was a long one, a lot of long points,” Atchinson said.
“A four-hour match is tough especially at this time of year with exams starting. This was the first match of six in the next seven days so it wasn’t the best way to start that stretch but it is what it is and we will do the best we can.”
The Centaurs were 50-50 for the remainder of the week in a pair of non-divisional matches and also had one match, at Stonington, postponed by rain.
They fell to East Lyme down by the shoreline, 7-0,  to East Lyme but rebounded on Saturday for a 4-3 win over St. Bernard at the Pomfret School.
The win raised the Centaurs record to 6-3 overall.
Worth just got past Meri Kambolli of the Saints when Kambolli was forced to retire due to injury while trailing 4-0 in the third set. Worth had won the first set 7-6, but lost the second 5-7.
Bentley captured a win in the fourth singles with another three-set marathon. Bentley jumped out ahead of Carmela Rangel 6-1, but lost the second set to her St. Bernard opponent, 6-7. Bentley rebounded in the third set to win the match with a 6-0 victory.
The Centaurs finished things off with a pair of doubles wins.
Musumeci and Reynolds captured the second doubles with a straight-set victory while Maeve Lusignan and Kate McArthur were also winners at third singles.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy

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