Just thought I’d empty out my reporter’s notebook while the ponies get ready to move into their summer homes in Saratoga and Del Mar …
Dog days of July
It’s the dog days of July, a month where our local American Legion baseball teams would battle for spots and seedings in the state tournament. Unfortunately, every team is already in the tourney.
Well, almost.
With only 25 19u teams competing this summer, the state Legion committee recently announced that the state tournament will be a 24-team field with play-in games beginning on July 20.
Yup, one team will not make the tournament. Yikes!
A quick peek at the standings - there are only 4 zones - shows that Oakville from Zone 1 is 0-16. There are four teams with two wins, including Moosup from Zone 6.
The top two teams from each zone will get a bye and automatically qualify for the round of 16 pod play.
Waterford is rolling right now in Zone 6 and could clinch their fourth straight zone championship during next week’s (July 9-10) three-game series against second-place Tri-Town.
Waterford was the state runner-up in 2022.
“We’re lucky because Waterford has a good nucleus of kids and then we get kids from other towns and that helps out a lot,” Waterford manager Joe Mariani said following his club’s 5-4 walk-off win over Norwich. “It’s a good mix and that’s the challenge now. You have to get them to mold together and get used to playing together.”
Like Waterford, the challenge has presented itself for many teams throughout the state now as program numbers dwindle. It’s somewhat shocking to see championship programs like New London, Branford, East Hartford, West Haven and Manchester fold.
“We were missing both of our catchers tonight so we had someone who had never caught before. That’s Legion baseball,” Mariani said. “Kids have to work, they’ve got other commitments and have vacations so you have to mix and match and try to do the best you can. We’ve got a good group of kids. They play hard together and that’s all you can ask for.”
NFA has new field hockey coach
Emily Murray has been named the field hockey coach at Norwich Free Academy.
Murray, who teaches physical education and health at NFA, served as the head coach at East Lyme for the last two seasons.
“I’m looking forward to this, and I’m ready to get going,” Murray said in a statement. “I am so excited to be working with our students here at NFA.”
Murray replaces Noelle Houle.
“I’m excited to have Emily take over our program,” NFA athletic director Roy Wentworth said in a press statement. “She knows our kids, she knows our league and she knows the sport. She will be a great leader for our student athletes."
Prior to leading the Vikings, Murray was an assistant coach at NFA. She’s also been an assistant girls’ basketball coach and assistant girls’ tennis coach.
“The field hockey program has such an opportunity to grow within our community,” Murray said. “I look forward to bringing my passion for field hockey and athletics to this program. I’m eager to get started and develop a program our kids – and our school – will be proud of.”
Duran for MVP
The overachieving Boston Red Sox head to The Bronx this weekend to take on the underachieving New York Yankees in the House That Ruth Did Not Build (that one was torn down).
While Aaron Judge is making his bid for a second MVP in three years with 32 home runs, 83 RBIs and a .314 batting average thus far, the real MVP in the season’s first half has been Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran. In 2024, Duran has already done something that Ruth, Gehrig, Mantle, DiMaggio, Yaz, Rice and Ted Williams, to name a few, never did. After hitting an eighth-inning home run in the Sox’s recent 8-3 victory over the Miami Marlins, Duran became the first American League player ever to have 100 hits, 20 steals, 10 triples and 10 homers before the All-Star break.
The only other player to accomplish this feat was New York Mets shortstop Jose Reyes in 2008.
Bruins reinforcements
I love the splash Boston Bruins general manager Don Sweeney made during the NHL’s free-agency signing period. Sweeney inked Vancouver Canucks two-way center Elias Lindholm (a poor man’s Patrice Bergeron) and Canucks bruising defenseman Nikita Zadorov (a poor man’s Zdeno Chara). He also added depth with the additions of veteran forwards Max Jones and Riley Tufte.
Lindholm and Zadorov just might be the recipe to dethrone the Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers.
STUCK IN THE 70s
On July 4, 1976, the greatest bands and performers in rock and roll history took the stage at venues all across America to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence.
There was Elvis Presley, the “King of Rock and Roll”, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. There was Elton John, wearing a Lady Liberty outfit, in Foxborough, Massachusetts. There was Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, New Jersey. And the Talking Heads at legendary CBGB’s in New York City.
There was ZZ Top, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Blue Oyster Cult and The Outlaws in Memphis, Tennessee. There were the Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, Loggins and Messina, and Dan Fogelberg in Tampa, Florida.
No show, however, matched the bicentennial fireworks in Winston, North Carolina, where Black Oak Arkansas, Jeff Beck and Bob Seger and The Silver Bullet Band opened for America’s hard rock heroes, Aerosmith.
Jimmy Zanor is a sportswriter for the Norwich Bulletin and can be reached at jzanor@norwichbulletin.com. Follow him on Twitter@jzanorNB.
Most Popular
Comments / 0