DISC-OVERING A NEW SPORT

Baby boomers remember it as a simple pastime in which they engaged on so many college campuses.

Several generations later, the skill of making an accurate toss with what remains universally known as a Frisbee has become part of an evolving professional sport, and New Britain is a cornerstone.

The sport once called Ultimate Frisbee with rules made up as you went along is formally known as Ultimate Disc. The Connecticut Constitution, members of the professional American Ultimate Disc League, play their home games at CCSU’s Arute Field.

The team is being operated capably and modestly by the players themselves.  General manager/coach/leading scorer John Korber leads by example. Vice president of marketing and sales Rafe Steinhauer, a former cross country and track athlete, plays a position known as “cutter,” but perhaps more importantly answers inquiries into the sport’s burgeoning position.

“The professional league will help the sport as a whole,” Steinhauer said. “It’s always been uphill battle to get the general public to buy into the game as legitimate. We’re battling a short history.

“Lots of people play just for fun recreationally without cleats and with tie-dye shirts. There’s nothing wrong with that. People play softball in beer leagues. It’s the same split. There’s nothing wrong with either form but they’re very different. Our version is a spectacular spectator sport.”

BRIEF HISTORY: The Ultimate game was invented in 1968.

For the first 20 years, play proliferated primarily on college campuses, where it developed what Steinhauer called, “a hippie stigma.”

The first competitive development occurred in the late 1980s when the Ultimate Players Association was born. Four years ago, it was “rebranded” as USA Ultimate. It became the governing body for competitive amateur play and established national championships at the high school, college and club (adult) levels.

Such tournaments have been going on for 25 years, Steinhauer said, yet the stigma remains.

“There’s definitely a generational divide,” he said. “As anybody 40 and up and they’ll say it’s just a bunch of hippies. Ask anybody in their 30s and it’s an intensely competitive and perhaps the most aerobically challenging team sport. It’s a split we deal with on a daily basis.”

THE GAME: Steinhauer has multiple reference points when he evaluates Ultimate’s aerobic challenges.

The teams play 7-on-7 over the wide-open space of a football field. Players cannot run with the disc; it must be advanced via the pass. “It’s a constant series of sprints,” Steinhauer said.

A team earns a “point” or goal when its player catches a pass in the end zone, which is 20 yards deep, twice as big as the area allotted in football.

Substitutions are allowed only after points or between the 12-minute quarters. Points come much more frequently than soccer goals or touchdowns. The Constitution’s last game played on May 27 produced a 28-21 victory over the Columbus Cranes. In other words, the teams successfully crossed the goal lines nearly 50 times in 48 minutes.

Steinhauer said sports fans familiar with similar team sports will pick up the game almost instantly.

“Anybody familiar with basketball and football would totally get it,” he said. “It’s a very intuitive game. Any incompletion is a turnover. The other team picks it up immediately. There’s no stopover with a change of possession. Once you catch it, you have seven seconds to throw it, kind of like a shot clock. It’s a lot of action and constant cutting.”

THE LEAGUE: The AUDL presently consists of two divisions.

The Constitution, 5-1 at press time, competes in the East Division with the Philadelphia Spinners, Rhode Island Rampage and Buffal Hunters. The West Division includes the central Ohio-based Cranes, the Detroit Mechanix, the Indianapolis AlleyCats and the Louisville-based Bluegrass Revolution.

The season runs April through July. Divisional playoffs begin in mid-July. The inaugural league championship is slated for the Silverdome in Pontiac, Mich., on Aug. 11.

THE TEAM: Steinhauer said the Constitution have an amicable relation with its landlords at CCSU.

The games have attracted an average of 600 people. The first game of the year drew 1,050. Unlike other professional teams, the financial needs of the organization are much less. Steinhauer said the team can function by drawing 700 per game with 500 per a first-year goal.

“Having the players chip in is absolutely vital,” he said. “John Korber selected a team with an eye toward product. It’s an easy decision to take the best 25 athletes who don’t care about the sport or the organization but John chose 25 who are very good on the field and have dedicated themselves to helping the sport and growing the business.”

He said the team’s strategy is based on the phrase, “Our motto is product.”

“We have to represent our product, represent our organization and the players have bought into that,” he said.

The team has access to all the amenities at Arute, providing a comfortable setting for fans.

“Central has been very helpful,” Steinhauer said. “We pay a good amount of rent but it’s a very nice facility. In my mind, it’s the best facility in the league.”

Philadelphia plays at Franklin Field, the former home of the NFL Eagles. Detroit plays at the massive Silverdome, once the Lions’ domain. Neither team is averaging substantially more than the Constitution, which gives those stadiums a rather cavernous look on game day.

“Arute is a great atmosphere,” he said. “You’re right on top of the game. We wouldn’t trade with anyone.”

Ticket prices have a Rock Cat-like affordability at $6 per game. The Constitution’s strategy mirrors that of the highly successful minor league baseball team across town.

 “I head a speech by [NBA Dallas Mavericks owner] Mark Cuban,” Steinhauer said. “He said everyone thinks the Mavs are about basketball, but they’re selling a form of entertainment that people can’t get at a movie theater.

“At the end of the day, people don’t go to minor league baseball games because they are interested in detail. It’s just an experience they can’t get anywhere else. The players have conversations with the fans. We have activities between quarters. If we put a lot of effort into the fan experience, familiarity with the game doesn’t matter.”

MISTAKES DOOM SOUTHINGTON IN SOFTBALL FINAL

(First appeared in Southington, Orange and BethWood Patch)

STRATFORD – Anxiety took its toll.

Both Southington and Amity displayed some jitters as the Class LL softball championship unfolded.

A plethora of walks, defensive mistakes and substandard pitching marred play on both sides, but one team was able to regain its poise.

Leadoff hitter C.J. Semones earned MVP honors by rapping four hits and scoring three runs Friday night as the No. 6 Spartans rumbled to a 10-6 win over top-seeded Southington at DeLuca Field in a title game between the two schools that have been there the most.

Amity (23-5) was crowned champion for the fifth time. Southington (22-3), which has won a state-record 14 championships, is now 3-3 against the Spartans in ‘LL’ title tilts. The two schools combined have appeared in 29 of the 39 championship games.

The Spartans last won a state title in 2003 when they recorded a 3-0 win over the Knights.

Amity, champions of the Southern Connecticut Conference’s Housatonic Division, pounded out 17 hits. The Blue Knights, perennial kingpins in the CCC, punched out seven hits and made four errors.

“I’ve been with these girls for four years, we know each other so well and senior year it just all came together,” Semones said. “It’s an amazing feeling.”

Bores was humbled by his team’s poor play.

“You’re not going to beat a Little League team giving up 10 runs,” he said, after an extended postgame meeting with his girls. “And I think the four errors were very generous. I counted about seven or eight.

“We played [badly]. We couldn’t have played worse.”

Semones started the game with a dribbler in front of the plate for a single. Emily Fox’s sacrifice bunt was thrown away by third baseman Alyssa Dumphy and Jacqueline Ferraiolo (3-for-5, double, HR, 4 RBI) made it sting by cracking a three-run homer over the fence in left.

Staked to a three-run lead, Amity hurler Dana Blydenberg promptly walked Nicole Rossitto and Sarah Carangelo. The pair pulled off a double steal and scored when Sydney Ferrante (3-for-4, 3 RBI) drilled a single under the glove of shortstop Heather Watt and into center field.

“We got a little nervous but I knew our team was going to make the plays in the end,” Semones said.

The pitchers and the defenses settled in. Amity padded its lead with a run in the fourth, an inning that saw Bores replace his junior starter Jordyn Moquin with freshman Kendra Freidt after Semones’ leadoff double.

“I knew it wasn’t her night when she gave up [eight] hits over [three-plus] innings,” Bores said.

Emily Fox collected the RBI with a single.

The Knights were still in the game, but unlike Amity, they couldn’t chase away the butterflies.

“I kept trying to keep them loose,” Amity coach Bob Purcell said. “I kept being very light and not coaching too much. The coaching’s all done. Now it’s just keeping the girls’ tempers down and their attitude good. That’s what I tried to do for the whole game.”

The fifth inning proved Southington’s undoing. Amity used well-placed bunts and doubles by Semones, Ferraiolo and Jenna DiLorenzo to pile up five runs.

“The ump was very selective with his zone so we just waited for our pitch,” Semones said, about hitting Moquin like she hadn’t been hit before.

Two Southington errors contributed to the merry-go-round.

‘I don’t know if they were nervous,” Bores said. “We haven’t given up 17 hits in two weeks, in five or six games. …

“It’s embarrassing. I’ve never been more embarrassed in my life as a softball coach. I’m embarrassed for them. That’s not a showing of how they played all season.”

With Amity leading 10-3 in the bottom of the seventh, the Blue Knights showed that they weren’t going down without a fight. Hits by Ferrante and Moquin led to three runs but too much damage had been done.

“It was over,” Bores said. “You could tell by my body language that I just wanted to go home.”

Moquin, who re-entered the game as a pinch-hitter and returned to the mound in relief of Friedt, allowed 11 hits, waqlked one and struck out three in five full innings of work. Blydenburg went the distance, yielding four earned runs on seven hits, walked six and fanned just one.

Class LL Softball Championship

At DeLuca Field, Stratford

Amity 10, Southington 6

Amity                                       Southington

                           ab  r  h  bi                               ab  r  h  bi

Semones 1b        5  3  4  1       Rossitto 2b        1  2  0  0

Fox lf                  4  2  2  0       Carangelo rf       3  2  1  1

Ferraiolo rf          5  2  3  4       Ferrante ss         4  0  3  3

DiLorenzo dp 5  0  2  2            Harvey c            4  1  0  1

Watt ss               0  0  0  0       Moquin p           4  0  1  0

Zdrowski cf         5  0  1  0       Friedt p              0  0  0  0

Luce c                 4  0  0  0       Dumphy 3b        2  0  0  1

Blydenburg p       2  1  0  0       Paterson 1b       3  0  0  0

Baker 2b             4  1  3  0       Zazzaro cf          3  0  0  0

Reynolds 3b        3  1  2  1       Downes lf          3  1  2  0

Shepa ph             1  0  0  0      

                                                                        

Totals               38 10 17  8      Totals                27  6  7  6

Amity                      300 150 1 – 10  17  1

Southington              200 010 3 –   6    7  4

E – Baker, Dumphy, Ferrante, Rossitto, Harvey.

LOB – Amity 11, Southington 7. DP – Amity 1.

2B – Semones 2, Ferraiolo, DiLorenzo. HR – Ferraiolo.

S – Fox.  SF – Dumphy. SB – Carangelo, Rossitto.

Amity

                            ip    h  r  er  bb  so

Blydenburg W      7     7   6   4   6   1

Southington

Moquin L             5   11   5   4   1   3

Friedt                   2     6   5   5   1   2

Moquin faced 1 batter in 4^th.

WP – Blydenburg. T – 1:57. A – 1,000 (est.) . Records – Amity 23-5; Southington 22-3.

SIMSBURY'S LAX SEASON ENDS IN SEMIS

Class L Boys Lacrosse

Fairfield Prep 10, Simsbury 7

Semifinal

At Robert J. McKee Stadium, West Hartford

Fairfield Prep     (15-3) 2 1 3 4 – 10
Simsbury           (17-2) 0 2 2 3 –   7

First quarter – 1. FP, Tim Edmonds 3:52; 2. FP, Kevin Brown (David White) 7:37.
Second quarter – 3. S, Trevor Gallagher (Eric Hesketh) 12:08; 4. FP, Matt Brophy 19:28; 5. S, Gallagher 23:54
Third quarter – 6. S, Mason Burr (Evan Ruszala) 25:52; 7. FP, Edmonds (Brown) 27:18; 8. FP, Brophy 27:42; 9. FP, Brown 28:38; 10. S, Hesketh 24:58.
Fourth quarter – 11. FP, Brophy (White) 38:12; 12. FP, Edmonds (White) 38:50; 13. FP, Brown (Edmonds) 39:14; 14. FP, Brophy (Edmonds) 43:03; 15. S, Gallagher 43:09; 16. S, Gallagher (Hesketh) 43:42; 17. S, Gallagher (John Ryan) 45:38.
Saves – FP, Mike Seelye 6; S, Tim Maher 6. Shots – S, 26-19. Ground balls – FP, 26-18.

By Ken Lipshez
WEST HARTFORD – Lacrosse wasn’t invented in Connecticut but if someone wanted to build a state shrine, the campus of Fairfield Prep would be a likely spot.
The Jesuits came into the Class L tournament having been in the final game last six years running. Of their three losses this season, two have been to powerful out-of-state teams. 
So when Simsbury wrested away the momentum after a sluggish first quarter and tied the game shortly after the halftime break, the notion of upset coursed through Trojan hearts.
As it turned out, such notions were very short-lived.
The fifth-seeded Jesuits responded by bunching three goals in just over a minute’s time Wednesday to oust the Trojans, 10-7, in a semifinal skirmish at Conard’s Robert J. McKee Stadium.
Simsbury, the top seed in the tournament, finished at 17-2. Fairfield Prep (15-3) moves into the familiar territory of playing for a state title on Saturday.
“I would never lie and say that we’re not frustrated losing to Prep because it’s frustrating every year,” Simsbury coach Jim Martocchio said. “We’ve had ups and downs with them. We’ve beaten them a couple of times in the regular season but when it counts, we seem to come up short every time. You’re got to play a perfect game of lacrosse to beat a team like that.”
Matt Brophy had four goals for the Jesuits. Tim Edmonds had three goals and two assists, Kevin Brown and three and one and David White contributed three helpers.
For Simsbury, Trevor Gallagher scored five goals. Eric Hesketh had a goal and two assists.
Martocchio and most of his players took the loss in stride, savoring the challenge and anxious for another crack at the downstate powerhouse that draws talent from multiple towns in the region.
“They bring kids from different towns to play and it’s hard to compete with that, working with one [town],” Hesketh said. “We wish we could have beaten them, but I’m not going to hang my head over the loss. They’re a pretty explosive team. When they get on a run they’re hard to stop.”
Prep dominated the first quarter and entered the second quarter with a two-goal lead, but the Trojans answered assertively. Hesketh took the opening draw, stormed down the center of the field and set up Gallagher just eight seconds in.
Brophy responded for Prep, but Gallagher made an aggressive inside roll and eluded a defender to bring Simsbury within a goal just six seconds before intermission.
Mason Burr tied the game when he gathered a pass from Evan Ruszala two minutes into the second half. It lit a blaze under the Jesuits. Edmonds, Brophy and Brown scored in rapid-fire succession within a span of 1 minute, 20 seconds to gain a 6-3 lead.
Hesketh reeled in an errant pass near midfield, rushed up the center of the field and rammed it under the crossbar with just over a minute left in the quarter, but the Jesuits countered in decisive fashion. Whtie assisted on goals by Brophy and Edmonds. Edmonds fed Brown for another and Brophy for a fourth unanswered tally that gave Prep a 10-4 lead with under five minutes remaining.
Gallagher scored three times down the stretch but the Jesuits proved too tough once again.
“The level of competition that we play through the season – beating Chaminade (N.Y.), we should have beaten St. Anthony’s (N.Y.) – and they’re two of the top high school teams in the country. So we’ve been battle-tested,” Prep coach Chris Smalkais said. We’ve played in a lot of great games where we know that if we can elevate our level of play, we can be successful. We played the most difficult schedule in Connecticut and it seems to work for us on an annual basis.”
The Jesuits’s sticky defense made advancing the ball difficult in Simsbury’s offensive zone.
“Their long-stick middie [Conor Barr] and their close defenseman [Andrew Hatton] – we knew all day we didn’t want to go on [Barr],” Martocchio said. “He takes your best player right out of the game.”

NWC STORMS PAST EAST CATHOLIC

WEST HARTFORD – Baseball apocalypse stared Northwest Catholic in the face on two fronts.

Underdog East Catholic was poised to stage an upset after dodging several threats and catching a few breaks. After the Indians built a four-run lead and had ace pitcher Mac Crispino on the hill to close it down, black clouds percolating in the western sky nearly escorted the visitors to a monumental comeback.

But even stormy weather and shaky karma couldn’t keep Northwest from advancing a step closer to its goal -- regaining the Class S championship.

A strong start from sophomore righthander John Arel and relentlessly aggressive baserunning staked the top-seeded Indians to a 5-3 victory over the resolute Eagles Sunday in a quarterfinal at Northwest Catholic.

Northwest (20-2) will take on Cromwell Tuesday at Waterbury's Municipal Stadium with game time slated for 7 p.m. Cromwell, which ousted St. Paul Sunday, eliminated Northwest in a Class S football semifinal in December. Northwest won its first and only 'S' title in 2010.

Arel tossed six sparkling frames, allowing the No. 24 Eagles (10-13) one run on three scratch singles. He walked just one, struck out three and used a three-pitch mix to jam the East hitters, inducing slow grounders, humpback line drives and lazy fly balls.

The Indians carried a 5-1 lead into the seventh inning after scoring four times and sending eight batters to the plate in the sixth. Northwest coach Cory Carlson had Crispino ready, but neither the Eagles nor Mother Nature was going to let the Indians and their ace slide by without a tussle.

The wind rustled the nearby treetops, the rain sent the crowd scurrying and the burden of coping with the sudden calamity fell on Crispino. Singles by Casey Carone and Tyler Aprea and a two-out walk to number-nine hitter Nick Benoit brought Garrett Richardello up with the tying run.

First baseman Dan Errico called for an infield pop and was startled when the wind blew it back toward the first-base dugout, well out of his reach. Given a reprieve, Richardello lashed a two-run double to left but Crispino struck out Andrew Gordon to end the game.

“Weird circumstances. It should have been a 5-1 game,” Carlson said. “When a kid hits a routine pop-up to first base, we’re in monsoon conditions and it takes a 90-degree turn. It’s a state tournament and you’ve got to get it in. The umpires did a good job getting it in and luckily things worked out in our favor.”

Crispino said he retained his focus in spite of the atmospheric onslaught.

“You want that situation as a pitcher right there. You want to close it out with all the fans here,” he said. “The thing about it is you can’t even throw the ball across the diamond. Did you see that pop-up? It flew like 10 feet. Pretty crazy.”

The key element in all of Northwest’s scoring was the stolen base. The Indians tried eight and succeeded on seven. Crispino had three and Alex Mortillaro, who scored the go-ahead tally in the sixth, had two. But the strategy wasn’t flawless. The Indians had one runner thrown out at the plate and another caught off second base.

“[Aggressive baserunning] is something we’ve always done,” Carlson said. “We have the best first-base coach in the state if not New England (Jason Maule) at the high school level. He’ll take guys that aren’t fast and makes them fast by reading the pitcher. He’s done an outstanding job getting our baserunners prepared.”

Northwest took a 1-0 lead in the third against East starter Aprea. Crispino laid down a perfect bunt on the first pitch of the frame and proceeded to steal second and third. Mortillaro laced a one-out single to left.

Arel faced the minimum through four and hadn’t allowed a hit when Ryan Wieczorek began the fifth with an infield hit in the hole. He advanced on a balk and a tapper back to the mound. With two down, Aprea singled to the opposite field on a payoff pitch to score the equalizer.

“[Arel] was fantastic,” Carlson said. “Two cue shots and an infield single. Honestly what he does is throw strikes. … He’s doing a better job mixing pitches and getting ahead of guys.”

East loaded the bases but Arel sawed off Richardello on a 3-2 pitch to retire the side.

Mortillaro worked a walk to start the big sixth-inning rally and stole second. Mike Wine laced a 3-2 single to left. Mortillaro held up at third, but when catcher Alex Fulco fielded the throw from the outfield and tried to get Wine at second, Mortillaro scored in a cloud of dust.

“Early in the game the same thing happened but [Will Carew] got tossed out on a close play at the plate,” Mortillaro said. “We were talking about how the catcher was blocking the plate so you do a hook slide and try to get your hand in. I saw the throw to second was low so I figured I’d be aggressive and go off my instincts.”

Dylan Robinson, who struck out looking with the bases loaded in the first, reprieved himself with a base hit that scored Wine. Andrew Dornfried drove in Robinson with a single and Carew scored the final run on a wild pitch.

Class S Baseball Tournament

NW Catholic 3, East Catholic 2

Quarterfinal

At Northwest Catholic

East Catholic                         NW Catholic

                           ab  r  h  bi                                ab  r  h  bi

Richardello ss     3  0  1  2       Wilson ss            3  0  0  0

Gordon cf          4  0  0  0       Crispino cf          3  1  1  0

Cella rf-3b          3  0  0  0       Errico 1b            2  0  0  0

Wieczorek lf       3  1  1  0       Mortillaro 3b      1  1  1  1

Carone dh          3  0  1  0       Wine c                2  1  1  0

DiPace 2b           0  0  0  0       Robinson lf        3  1  1  1

Fulco c               3  1  0  0       Carew rf             1  1  0  0

Aprea p-rf          3  1  2  1       Angelini dh        3  0  1  0

Felice rf              2  0  1  0       Arel p                 0  0  0  0

Rooke p              0  0  0  0       Dornfried cf       3  0  1  1

Greene p             1  0  0  0      

Benoit 1b           1  0  0  0

                                                                             

Totals                26  3  6  3       Totals                21  5  6  3

East Catholic    000 010 2 – 3  6  1

NW Catholic     001 004 x – 5  6  0

E – Fulco. LOB – East Catholic 5, NWC 6. 2B – Richardello.

SB – Crispino 3, Mortillaro 2, Wilson, Robinson, Dornfried.

CS – Wilson.

East Catholic

                                 ip    h  r  er  bb  so

Aprea L                    5     4   3   3   5   4

Rooke                       0.1  2   2   2   1   0

Greene                      0.2  0   0   0   0   0

NW Catholic

Arel W                     6     3   1   1   1   3

Crispino                    1     3   2   2   1   1

Aprea faced 2 batters in 6^th inning.

WP – Rooke. BK – Arel, Rooke. HBP – by Aprea (Mortillaro, Wine);

by Arel (Richardello). T – 1:59. Records – EC 10-13; NWC 20-2.

A PRODUCTIVE SPRING IN WEST HARTFORD

My recent time spent covering the postseason for Hall and Conard has further reinforced my respect and appreciation for the scholastic sports scene in West Hartford.

BASEBALL: On the baseball front, Northwest Catholic made a powerful statement that it reigns supreme in town by sweeping its two-game sets with the public school teams, but the level of play across the board was almost certainly the best it’s ever been.

Credit the sensational work being done at the youth level for the dramatic upswing.  Atop the list is the West Hartford Amateur Baseball Association, the brainchild of Rick Sanford and Steve Meucci.  Their organizational acumen has been tantamount in providing expert instruction for the players and guidance for the players and their parents.  They don’t get nearly the credit they deserve, and neither do the people aligned with them, some of whom I know (Elliott Lane comes to mind) and others whom I’ve yet to meet.

Conard’s teams have been consistently above average.  The Chieftains have qualified for the Class LL (‘L’ in 2005) tournaments for the past nine seasons.  They have won first-round games the past two years, beating Hall last week and Xavier last year, but have not moved past the next hurdle since 1975 when they lost to New Britain in the semifinals.

Hall’s 12-win season ranks as one of the best in school history.  The Warriors went 13-9 and won the CCC West in 2009 under Dave Masters, but winning records on the diamond have been rare in the north end.

Neither school has ever won a state championship, but with the quality work being done at the youth level, primarily at the West Hartford Youth Baseball League where the philosophy is focused on competing rather than just having fun playing the game, statewide recognition is imminent.

Such recognition is familiar at Northwest, where Cory Carlson and his dynamic staff have the Indians racing toward their second Class S crown.

BOYS LACROSSE: For those who haven’t seen it, I urge you to read my story in the West Hartford News on Conard’s tournament ouster at the hands of Brien McMahon-Norwalk.

Talk about a coach who has dedicated his life to a program, I give you Bill Condon.  He battled to keep his emotions in check after the 16-8 loss, but it wasn’t the setback per se that shook him. 

Although he wasn’t prone to discuss it at the time and I wasn’t about to pry into his inner feelings, I could tell that this crop of seniors meant a lot to him and the thought of not being together as a team anymore tore him up.  If that doesn’t convince you that your boy could learn something beyond the game playing Conard lacrosse, I’m not sure I could provide that service.

At the core of the Chieftains’ senior group is Ricky Cotton.  St. John’s University is not only getting a dedicated athlete but a young man who will enrich the campus with his leadership, tact and understanding.  By fighting back tears, Condon was showing me that his relationship with Cotton was somewhat closer to father-son than coach-player.

Cotton starred in three sports at Conard, so credit should also go to wrestling coach Chris Glowacki and football coach Rob Cersosimo for developing a great athlete and a greater person.

The Norwalk outfit showed once again that Fairfield County lacrosse continues to retain its superiority over any team greater Hartford can muster.  At this writing, top-ranked Simsbury is still representing, but whether or not the Trojans can become the first Class L/Division I team north of Cheshire to capture a pennant remains to be seen.

GIRLS LACROSSE: The Hall girls turned in another inspired performance for another of West Hartford’s dynamic coaches, Steve Boyle, by turning back a capably upset-minded group from Danbury, 12-11.

Even in the internet age, there was no way Boyle could have known that the Hatters’ dramatic improvement stemmed from the return to eligibility of a state-class athlete in junior Raven Winters.  With Winters supplying the athleticism and fellow junior Pauline Kaplan winning draws and controlling the area in front of the cage, Danbury was miles ahead of the team that Hall dismantled early in the season.

“We didn’t even know Winters existed,” Boyle said after the game. “We just knew based on their results against the top teams in the state that they were very much improved.”

The Warriors are very young.  Kelsey Smith is the only senior, and how she distinguished herself in ultimately neutralizing Danbury’s dominance of the draw.  Boyle instituted a counterattack strategy that Smith and Megan Tracy exquisitely interpreted.  It was essential in Hall’s rebounding from a three-goal deficit in the second half.

Boyle heaped praise on the effort of his goalie Maddy Hooper, whose understanding of the position has advanced light years.  Hooper, just a sophomore, will be among the state’s best by the time she graduates, if she’s not among them already.  As Boyle said, she not only made spectacular saves, but disrupted the Danbury advances with aggressive play around the crease, and ignited fast breaks with good decisions after gaining possession.

Hall is not the quickest team around but there is none smarter.  Boyle’s daughter Alannah and Cookie Aronow combine game savvy and excellent stick-handling to create offensive opportunities.  They weren’t intimidated by Danbury’s defensive commitment to aggressive play.

Every team of Hall’s quality needs some speed element and that is supplied by junior Hayley Mullins.  While Mullins will go to college on a soccer scholarship, she has the stuff to gain some All-State consideration in lacrosse.  Mullins printing down the sideline, cradling the ball safely in the pocket of her stick, is a sight to behold.

HERE'S WHAT BUGS ME

I know many people follow my writing here in Blog-ville and I’ve been grossly negligent.  A month between blogs doesn’t cut it, but here’s what’s been occupying my mind.

First, I am going to stray from the familiar whimsy of sports to some reality checks that make me wonder about the basic intelligence of those whom we elect to legislate.

How about the highways?

When we Connecticut folk travel through Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey, we pay tolls.  After I got stuck at an NYC-area booth that accepted only EasyPass and got thoroughly embarrassed about holding up a line of people with NYC-style patience, I bought the EasyPass gizmo for the windshield and cruise through the booths.

But here in Connecticut, drivers from other states zip through for free.  How does the state make up for the shortfall that these millions of drivers would bring, and do so elsewhere? Simple, they double the tax on our gasoline.

As a resident of the Farmington Valley, I go out of my way to plan trips to the Commonwealth so I can fill my tank for up to 25 cents-per-gallon cheaper than I can here.  I buy a whole bunch of stuff up in Southwick now – trips to The Summer House for lunch, Meadow View Farms to buy the veggie plants and flowers for the garden and grab a cuppa Joe at the Daily Grind, a terrific coffee shop in an old church at the north end of town. Then over to Valero I go to fill up the truck.

How did our legislators let us down so?  Where were you guys when our neighboring states were figuring out how to establish revenue streams without taxing their residents to the brink of hysteria?

So, you guys need money that you can spend it on what YOU deem important.  Okay, somebody ostensibly smarter than me has to make these decisions.  I just wish the voters would engage in some analytical thinking instead of just casting their votes like elections were popularity contests.

Did you notice when you’re on the highway and doing 65 or so, there are at least a dozen people flying by you on the left and right who have to be touching 90?  If they want to drive like idiots and endanger the lives of innocent people, why shouldn’t they pay the freight?  How about putting some troopers out there and assessing some hefty fines, not for just disobeying the speed limit, but obliterating it.

Common sense, guys.  Let’s take our attention off these worthless busways that too few will use and focus on that elusive element that the Good Lord disbursed, which has devolved dramatically since the long-gone days of my youth.

Another kick that I’ve gotten on is all the rackets out there in which some cash in and the foolhardy get sucked in.  Some of these infomercials and spam emails defy sensibility so severely that it’s hard to imagine anybody could possibly fork over their hard-earned cash.

Anybody who knows me can rightly conclude that I have studied up on weight-loss gimmicks over the years.  Hey, I ain’t giving up my Pepe’s Pizza (Sally’s when I get to Wooster Street in my native New Haven), my fried clam visits to Lenny and Joe’s and my occasional burger binges at Harry’s in Colchester.  We’re all going to die anyway and I’m dying with a grin on my face, not having eaten rabbit food in vain for 20 years.

“Take this pill three times and day, and if you follow a sensible diet plan and get plenty of exercise, you will drop 20 pounds in a month.”  No shit, Charlie, and you’ll lose the 20 just as readily without taking the placebo.

“Congratulations, you’ve won the Belgian Lottery.  Just give us your social security number and all your bank account data and we’ll share our $2 billion bounty with you.”  So scream the emails I get about 30 times a week.  You mean to tell me that there are folks gullible enough that buy into this bilge that it encourages these back-room geek reprobates to keep on sending them?

How about today’s TV shows and movies?  If there aren’t either robots, fire or both involved, the majority don't watch.  Robots.  Fire.  Mmmm, cool.  Then a fabulous movie like “The Artist” comes around, sweeps the Oscars and 75 percent of the people I talk to never even heard of it.  But that idiotic, repetitive computer-generated trash with one-eyed, metal evil-doers plundering smoldering cities below?  Robots.  Fire.  Mmmmm, cool.

Call me an old-fashioned fool trapped in the past but I’m having a grand old time watching movies like “Mutiny on the Bounty” (Charles Laughton-Clark Gable version) and “Casablanca” for the umpteenth time.  And how awesome it’s been rediscovering the merit of the old Westerns. 

James Arness (Matt Dillon of “Gunsmoke”) recently passed away but he’ll never be forgotten.  Clint Eastwood sure was cool in those old “Rawhide” shows.  You even learn new words, like remuda (where the horses were secured at night during cattle drives).
That’s only part of what fires me up.  C’mon over for a few hours of “Bonanza,” James Cagney flicks and a couple of tomato pies from Pepe’s and you’ll get the rest.

GOLD KEY DINNER ALWAYS INSPIRES

    The atmosphere was thick with inspiration April 28 at the 71^st Gold Key Dinner.

Like all great events, the Gold Key Dinner, administered by the Connecticut Sports Writers’ Alliance, has evolved since the group banded together in 1939 to honor those who have enriched the sports scene across the state.  

In the Dinner’s early days, it was common to see the major league franchises in Boston and New York well represented. Those were the days when teams like the Yankees, Red Sox, Knicks and Celtics coveted state coverage and Connecticut’s newspapers staffed their games.

But as more and more athletes demanded heavy appearance fees and sports staffs were sliced and diced into near oblivion, the focus turned to the colleges, high schools and minor league teams that call Connecticut home.

Proceeds go toward scholarships for youngsters with the passion in their heart to chronicle the exploits of our young athletes. The mission is to pass the torch of crafting sports stories to the next generation after as the fingers of ours grow brittle, our abilities erode and our mentors fade away.

This year’s scholarship winner – Kathleen O’Brien of Shelton High School – looked me directly in the eye and spoke of her passion to follow in our footsteps. It matters little to her that most newspapers are just a trace of the great publications they once were. Now that’s passion.

Joining the roll call of esteemed Gold Key winners Sunday were Trinity Catholic-Stamford boys basketball coach Mike Walsh, Bacon Academy-Colchester girls basketball and baseball coach Dave Shea, Former Trinity College ice hockey coach John Dunham and, as John Nash of the Norwalk Hour so aptly put it, one of the greatest athletes the state has ever known in the inimitable women’s soccer pioneer Kristine Lilly of Wilton.

All recognized that the state holds no higher award for its sports brethren than the Gold Key.

The Gold Key Dinner always has a New Britain flavor. The Hardware City has long established itself as one of the state’s top sports towns so a Dinner without a New Britain representative is virtually impossible.

Past Gold Key recipients Andy Baylock, Ken Kezer and Howie Dickenman were on hand Sunday. Kezer was the long-time baseball coach at New Britain High. Dickenman, of course, is the highly respected men’s basketball coach at Central Connecticut State University.

Baylock, a city native who has served on the UConn athletic staff since 1964 including 24 years as head baseball coach, accepted the award for Athlete of the Year in a Male Sport that is destined for the trophy case of Kemba Walker.

Other Gold Key winners with New Britain ties include: former Yale assistant football coach Harry Jacunski, CCSU basketball coach Bill Detrick, NBHS football coach Tony Apisso, CCSU football coach Bill Loika, CCSU baseball coach Hank Majlinger, CCSU women’s basketball coach Brenda Reilly, CCSU golf coach Lowell Lukas, New Britain Red Sox owner Jose Buzas, CCSU administrator Dr. William Moore and NBHS track coach Irving Black.

The inaugural winner of the Hal Levy High School Athletic of the Year Award knows New Britain. Everybody wanted their photo taken with Casey Cochran, the record-setting quarterback of Masuk-Monroe who is striving to play the position at UConn.

Cochran’s father Jack, the ultra-successful football coach at Bloomfield, New Britain and New London high schools was in attendance to honor his son. When Jack was guiding the Hurricanes to state championships in 2001, 2003 and 2004, Casey was just a youngster. The sight of Casey hugging his father after games became riveted in the minds of those close to the program.

New Britain fireman and popular youth football coach Brian Anderson, an assistant under Jack, was also present.

You’ll have to go a long way to find a 17-year-old high school athlete with more polish than Casey Cochran. His respect for the man whose name adorns his award was touching, particularly for Hal Levy’s two sisters Sara Kobylenski and Charlotte Harrison. Hal Levy died in 2008 after a Hall of Fame career as the sports editor of the Shore Line Times in Guilford.

The Dinner remains a tribute to another of our fallen colleagues, master storyteller Bohdan M. Kolinsky of the Hartford Courant until his untimely passing late in 2003 at only 48-years-old. Bo, whose name was affixed to the scholarship program in 2004, was represented by his widow Jill. His spirit flashed through the room and the hearts of those who had the pleasure to have known and loved him.

The CSWA’s other major fund-raiser, the Bo Kolinsky Memorial Golf Tournament, will be held June 28 at the Lyman Orchards Golf Club.

Perhaps the most inspiring moment of the dinner came when former city sports journalist Robert Mayer presented the Bob Casey Courage Award to Dave Balfore of Berlin. Balfore was a promising young athlete when he was stricken with leukemia. A contemporary of current UConn running back Max DeLorenzo, Balfore spoke about what enters a youngster’s mind when he encounters a life-threatening challenge.

The speech touched Casey Cochran to the extent that he made it part of his presentation moments later.

Manchester High School track coach Thayer Redman offered another heart-rending moment when he thanked his older brother for helping raise him during a challenging childhood in Portland, Maine. Redman, whose squad brought home the school’s first track-and-field state title in more than 50 years last spring, was overcome by emotion several times during his presentation.

The founders of the Connecticut Sports Writers’ Alliance would have had a hard time recognizing the 71^st Gold Key Dinner without the fanfare generated by past award winners like baseball’s grand old man Connie Mack, beloved boxer Willie Pepe and NBA legend Calvin Murphy. But whatever flourish may have been missing was replaced by the inspiration that the state’s great athletic achievers will always be able to supply.