WATERBURY, CT 12/23/98 –1223H03.tif–Naugatuck’s number 50 Steve Pereira is guarded by Sacred Heart’s number 34 Randy Brooks during Wednesday’s game at Kennedy. JOHN HARVEY staff photo for John T story.
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Article 9
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Hoops
WATERBURY, CT 12/30/98 —Seymour’s number 32 Adam Rodgers moves through traffic in the game against Kennedy Wednesday at Kennedy. JOHN HARVEY staff photo
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Veteran Ski Patroller
NEW HARTFORD, CT–04 February 2005- 020405JS05– Harwinton, Conn. resident Harold Humphrey is retired but still very active. At 87, he still works the ski partol at Ski Sundown in New Hartford, Conn. — Jim Shannon Photo
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Swim Victory
TORRINGTON, CT 03 FEBRUARY 2005 -020306JS10–Torrington High School’s swim team celebrates their win over Watertown Friday at the Torrington YMCA. — Jim Shannon Republican-American —
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Waiting to Jump
SALISBURY,CT. 02/10/01–0210SV07.tif—–Robbie Goodwin and Willy Graves wait during one of the long delays at the annual Salisbury Invitational Ski Jump competition on Saturday. The warm weather caused the slope to need work which held up competition. Steven Valenti
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Jumping in the Wind
SALISBURY,CT. 02/10/01–0210SV12.tif– Strong wind blows as Marshall Ambros makes a jump during the annual Salisbury Invitational Ski Jump competition on Saturday.Steven Valenti
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Skiing Salisbury
Salisbury, CT-06, February 2010-020610CM07 Nina Lussi (#68), from the New York Ski Educational Foundation, leaves the jump at Satr Hill in Salisbury Saturday afternoon. The Salisbury Winter Sports Association was in it’s 84th year of ski jumping. The three day event included a Chili Cook off, Target Jumping, and the 9th Annual Ice Carving Competition. The action continues today when the Eastern US Jumping Championships will take off at 1:00pm. –Christopher Massa Republican-American
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Fire up for Ski Jump Weekend
SALISBURY, CT-020615JS09- With temperatures hovering in the single-digits, many people huddled around the bonfire as they wait for the target jumps during opening night festivities at the Salisbury Winter Sports Association’s 2015 Ski Jump weekend. Competition continues today with Junior Nordic Competition 20m and 30m, Salisbury Invitational Ski Jump, Ice Carving and SnowBall Dance and will conclude and Sunday with the U.S. Eastern States Junior Championship at Satre Hill complex in Salisbury.
Jim Shannon Republican-American
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Throwback Baseball
The group in this 08 September 1900 photograph is identified as “Drs. Baseball Team.” Those in the photograph are, seated in the front row from left to right: Dr. C.A. Monaghan, Dr. T O’Rourke, Dr. J.D. Freney, Fran Guilfoile, and Harry Minor. In the second row from left to right are: T.F. Carmondy, Judge McGrarer, Charles W. Bauby, Harry Durant, L. Heminway and Dr. N.A. Pomeroy. In the third row from left to right are: Dr. McLinden, Edward Byrnes, Dr. T.J. Kilmartin, Dr. John Poor, Judge Charles A. Meggs, Dr. P.J. Dwyer, and John Holihan.
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Best in Ball
Waterbury Watch Co./New England Watch Factory boasted one of the top amateur baseball clubs in Waterbury in 1892. Members of this 1892 club include, seated from left to right: Leo Hen, Miron Kennedy, Sig Klobedanz, John Holmes and Unidentified. Standing are: Bill Claxton, J. Culhan, unidentified, and Jack MacKeever. Klobedanz and MacKeever were outstanding in local amateur sports for many years.
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Throwing Down
WATERBURY, CT, 11 April 2006- 041106BZ13-
Naugatuck’s TJ Zahornesky (18) fires to the plate against Crosby Tuesday afternoon.
Jamison C. Bazinet Republican-American
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Seymour Dominates
SEYMOUR, CT -21 APRIL 2006 -042106JT02–
Seymour’s pitcher Danielle Liska raises her fist in victory after her team beat Watertown 7-0 at Friday’s game at Seymour.
Josalee Thrift Republican-American
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All Clear
Woodbury, CT-27, April 2010-042710CM01 Terryville’s Ronny Blodeau won the men’s high jump after clearing 5′ 10″ Tuesday afternoon in Woodbury. Nonnewaug hosted Terryville in men’s track and field. –Christopher Massa Republican-American
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Pedro DeBrito tourney keeps a soccer legacy alive
Crosby graduate Zeltine Dos Santos, winner of the 2016 Pedro DeBrito Award, looks to swoop in on goal for the Waterbury All-Stars against keeper Luke Willson of the Naugatuck Legends and The Forman School, during the Pedro DeBrito Memorial Soccer Tournament this weekend at Wilby High School. (Palladino/RA)
WATERBURY
The Pedro DeBrito Memorial Soccer Tournament returned to Wilby High this weekend for two days of games and fundraising, and remembering the Waterbury man who was greatest soccer player, ever, from Connecticut.
DeBrito, a Cape Verde native who arrived in Waterbury at the age of 15, did not attend the “new” Wilby. He was a student at the first Wilby, on Grove Street. He never played soccer for Wilby because the Waterbury school board did not discover this mysterious game until the 1980s.
But DeBrito’s talents were far too immense to remain secret. They were revealed through area club teams, even without the aid of school sports programs.
DeBrito was the true Special One. He scaled the heights of the soccer world. He played for UConn, won an NCAA national championship there in 1981, was a first overall draft pick in the North American Soccer League, was NASL Rookie of the Year, enjoyed 10-plus years as a professional, and was a capped member of the U.S. National team.
The kid from Cape Verde and Waterbury did OK, and that is what this tournament is about, to make sure that other kids do OK, too.
This second DeBrito Tournament attracted teams in three age groups from Connecticut and Massachusetts. The net will be cast farther afield next year, with a women’s division added, too. Combined with a tournament and fundraising dinner held in February in Miami, the still-young DeBrito Foundation raised enough money to present $10,000 in college awards this year.
That’s a big number for a foundation just 20 months old. DeBrito, who died in an automobile accident in July of 2014 at age 55, had a wide and strong influence on the game, and on the people who
play the game, which why the foundation took root quickly, and why players from across the region returned for another tourney. “Pedro either played with them, or talked with them, or had something to do with them,” said tournament director and former DeBrito teammate with the Tulsa Ambush, Luis Silva, “in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, and Miami. Everyone is here for one cause.”
Of primary concern is to remember DeBrito, but also, do what Pedro did.
“This is what Pedro wanted to do,” Silva said, an allstate player at Kaynor Tech, “help kids in need go to college.”
For the first time this year, the Pedro DeBrito award winner — presented to the best city high school soccer player, Zeltine Dos Santos of Crosby in 2016 — received a $1,000 DeBrito Book Award. Award money will also be presented annually to graduating seniors whether they play soccer or not.
“We will keep his legacy going,” Silva said.
On hand again this weekend were the Carlos brothers, most of whom played with DeBrito, at the club level or at UConn, and who were Crosby graduates who did not play soccer in high school for the same reason that DeBrito did not play.
“Pedro was a real amicable guy,” said Joe Carlos, who played for the Huskies for one season. “Everybody knows he was an outstanding soccer player. He was awesome, and he had a lot of passion on the field. Off the field, he always had his arms open, and he always helped people. He gave the shirt off his back to help anybody.
“Everybody loved him,” Carlos added. “That’s why we’re here.”
To be clear, there was a moment on Saturday when a few players forgot why they were here. The high school all-star game broke into hostilities late in the game. It was the last event on Saturday. The game was suspended with just minutes to play.
C’mon guys. What were you thinking?
Silva made the teams shake hands which, I must admit, seemed risky. And then he lit into the young men, and reminded them why this weekend happens in the first place. His wise words were these: “This is not what Pedro was about. This is not what Pedro would want.”
I hope Silva’s words made an impression. To be fair to the kids, the senior players also have an occasional inyour- face moment. It is a tough game.
But fellas, please, remember Pedro. Like Joe Carlos said, he was why you were here.
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Seymour Softball
WOLCOTT, CT- 05 MAY 2005-050505JS03–Seymour’s Jess Hillman, left, celebrates with teammates Christine Bourdeau, center, and Nicole Downs, right, after coming in to score in the fifth inning during their game against Wolcott at Wolcott High School on Friday. — Jim Shannon Photo–Jess Hillman; Christine Bourdeau; Nicole Downs, Seymour, Wolcott are CQ
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Stadium will be ready for hectic summer of tournaments
In just one month Municial Stadium’s Bob Palmer Field went from a wasteland to a lush playing field. (RA photos)
WATERBURY
We are now one month away from, not one, not two, but three count ‘em three consecutiveweeks of World Series baseball at Municipal Stadium.
Three? Really? Yes, three.
The Roberto Clemente World Series returns to Waterbury for a second consecutive year, July 21-24 at the Stadium and the PAL baseball field.
Mark Laires of the Stadium grounds crew gives Palmer Field its first cut on Sunday. (Palladino/RA)
With little time to pause, the American Amateur Baseball Congress (AABC) brings the Mickey Mantle World Series back to town for the first time in more than two decades, July 27-31, at the Stadium, Holy Cross High and Bristol’s Muzzy Field.
And then Tony Santoro, president of the Connecticut chapter of the AABC, announced last week that the city needs room for one more feather in its ball cap.
“We will also host the Musial World Series this year,” said a delighted and soon-to-be sleep-deprived Santoro. “Farmingdale, N.Y. was the Musial host but pulled out at the last minute, and we got it.”
When our little plot of green yes, it is green on Watertown Avenue turns on the lights again, those lights will remain lit for three consecutive weeks of championship baseball.
“This is a big deal for the city,” said Santoro, who was thrilled when the city landed the Clemente Series in 2015, and then went through the roof with the return of the Mantle Series.
“We focused all our efforts on Mantle, and it has been a big undertaking,” added Santoro. “We want to do it right and get back on the map with Waterbury.”
The focus just got bigger, and so did the map.
But cartography is pointless unless Municipal Stadium opens for business, and there were times when that seemed unrealistic. However, relax, the end is near. We will host.
The new sod is down, it has taken and it has grown. On Friday the city’s golf course crews put down a load of fertilizer and on Sunday, Mark Laires of the Stadium crew made the first cut of grass. It is at 3 1/2 inches now, perfect for the first cut of rough at the Open. It will likely be 2 1/2 for the games.
What did I do on Father’s Day: I watched a man cut grass. It was actually pretty cool, and so was the demonstration of the new irrigation system.
“They put down about two acres of sod,” said city park’s foreman John Egan. “We already had irrigation in the infield, but the new system now gives us coverage of the entire field.”
To demonstrate, park’s supervisor Mark Lombardo turned on the system using his phone. 
“The irrigation and sod was installed by Winterberry Garden,” said Egan of the Southington firm that also handled the field project at Dunkin’ Donuts Park in Hartford. You just can’t make this stuff up.
The Yard Goats may be locked out of the new stadium, but it wasn’t because of the playing surface. The Donut grass is spectacular, and so is Bob Palmer Field.
“The new turf looks great,” Santoro said. “It is growing well, and the new fencing is going in around the Stadium too.”
Last week, as city crews ripped out old, decayed trees and shrubs, a crew was right behind them driving in fence posts.
Santoro said he never doubted that Municipal Stadium would be ready to host the Mantle Series, despite construction delays.
“Everything happened far enough in advance,” he said.
The most recent crisis concerned the grass, when the firm TruGreen mistakenly hit the Stadium field with chemical treatments. Tru-Green ripped out that grass, a new subsurface was put in, then Winterberry came in with sod and irrigation.
No one said this would be easy, but right now, it is beautiful. The ball yard that many of you wanted to level has a pulse again, and is the new go-to site for World Series play.
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Mickey Mantle World Series needs YOU
Municipal Stadium’s new turf and scoreboard. (Palladino/RA)
The Mickey Mantle World Series is looking for a few good men, and women. Make that a lot of good women, and men. They want to put you to work on the project that will put the city back on the map, for the right reason: The return of the Mantle Series to Waterbury for the first time in 24 years.
Not all jobs are glamorous, but every job is vital: monitor parking lots, wrangle cars and people, drive team cars, serve as team liaison, sell tickets, tear tickets, announce, run social media accounts, marshal the parade route, work VIP and hospitality, site directors and cater to every whim of the media.
Yes, the Mantle committee needs volunteers for everything you can think of and, most importantly, for everything that you can’t.
Last Friday night at Municipal Stadium, close to 20 volunteers gathered to get a first look at the new Muni, and hear what needs to get done.
It was an eyeful and an earful.
“July 27 is opening night,” said Waterbury’s Ray Brown, vice president of the Connecticut Amateur Baseball Congress and chief Mantle Series organizer with Tony Santoro, the CABC president. “We need all hands on deck. After that night, everything else has to be perfect.”
Sounds simple enough.
One piece of perfection is already in place: Municipal Stadium.
Bet you never thought you’d hear those words.
On Friday, Santoro showed off the newest addition to Bob Palmer Field: a 40-foot scoreboard that stands just beyond the 382-foot mark in left-center field.
Remember the old scoreboard, with numbers so small and dull that you could barely tell the score or inning? Forget that. The new beauty is huge, and Santoro beamed when he noted that the electronics automatically adjusts brightness levels to suit conditions.
Oh, I forgot: Can you run a scoreboard? The Mantle people could use a few folks for the 16 games scheduled for the Stadium.
“It took a long time,” said Santoro of the sparkling Stadium, “but it has come out great.”
And in the nick of time too. The Roberto Clemente World Series, for kids age 8 and under, runs July 21-24; the Mantle Series, for U-16 players, is in town July 27-31; the Stan Musial Series, 19 and over, is Aug. 4-7.
Brown laid out the needs plainly to the assembled volunteers. No job is too big or too small, and every task is vital.
“We need people,” he said. “Tell us what you’d like to do, and what you think you can do best.”
And if you have a few friends, tell them too.
The return of the Mantle Series brings together 12 teams for 33 or 34 games at three sites: The Stadium, Holy Cross High, and Bristol’s Muzzy Field.
But this event is about much more than baseball, and Brown was eloquent when he spoke of that last Friday.
“This is about reviving baseball in Waterbury to the way it was 30 or 35 years ago,” Brown said. “The Mickey Mantle World Series is the jewell of AABC (American Amateur Baseball Congress) tournaments. This is the age when kids first get recruited.
“We want to create a warm and fuzzy feeling so that (the AABC) keeps coming back. We are looking for baseball people in the area to get involved. This is about the revitalization of baseball.”
There is a lot at stake for Clemente, for Mantle, for Musial, but most especially, for Mantle.
Want to help? Have an idea? A talent? A truck?
Any and all are welcome. Visit the Series website at mickeymantlews.com, send an email tomickeymantlews@AOL.com, or call Brown at (203) 217-3350.
The Mickey Mantle World Series wants you.
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Throwback: June 23rd
Watertown Undergarment Co. Strike June 1935.
Swimmers at Chase Park are shown here in this 1930 photograph. The woman diving, in mid air, is Peg Sugdinis.
Father Keating with Grand Marshal Dr. T.J. Kilmartin and aides all dressed up for the Holy Name Society’s Parade in Waterbury 1 June 1913.
Opening day at Chase Country Club in Wolcott, June 26, 1937. Chase officials were among those to first tee off on th rolling course. Pictured here from left are: F.S. Chase, F.A. Jackle, C.E. Hart, W.C. Husted, J.J. Gilbert, and Bud Geoghegan, Highland Country Club professional.
Girl Scouts swimming in Bantam Lake in 1930.
Local youngsters woodworking at a YMCA camp in the area, 1933.
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City’s summer of baseball set to begin
WATERBURY – If you meet Tony Santoro and Ray Brown in a casual setting, you might believe that they are reasoned fellows. But the Waterbury men — Santoro is the president of the Connecticut Amateur Baseball Congress (CABC) and Brown the vice president — are set to launch an ambitious, some might say impossible, task: Host three American Amateur Baseball Congress (AABC) World Series events on three successive weeks. And it all begins today.
The first is the Roberto Clemente World Series, which is back in Waterbury for a second consecutive year. The tournament features the best U-8 baseball teams in the East and from Puerto Rico.
Wolcott’s Joey Sconziano delivers a pitch during their Robert Clemente game against Overlook in Waterbury on Thursday. Christopher Massa Republican-American
The marquee event of the summer is the return to Waterbury of the Mickey Mantle World Series for players U16. Mantle begins with a grand opening ceremony, parade, fireworks and a baseball game, too, at Municipal Stadium on July 27. Our Triple Summer Series ends with the Stan Musial World Series for players 18 and up Aug. 4-7.
For the second straight year, Waterbury’s Clemente Series is the only Clemente Series in America. In an effort to limit travel expenses, the AABC hosts a Geographic Series schedule with, ideally, as many as three World Series locations. But the only series held in 2015 was in Waterbury. Again in 2016, it’s Brass City or bust for Clemente.
“It can be difficult to get teams at that age level to travel,” Santoro said. “Last year we had three teams from Michigan. This year we had hoped to pick up a team from the Chicago area, but it isn’t easy to canvass all the parents and get them to commit to a trip across the country.”
The 2016 Clemente Series features eight teams, including the Bunker Hill Reds, champions of the local Clemente league, and the Wolcott BAW Roberto Clemente, which recently won the state title and gained entry into the series for the fifth time in program history.
The other series teams are: from New Jersey, the Axemen and Team Legit, two teams that were here in 2015; from Brooklyn, N.Y., the Bonnie Tigers, also back for a second straight year, and the Blue Storm; from Ohio, the Cincinnati Flames; from Carolina, Puerto Rico, the Rangers.
The Clemente Series was awarded to the city and the CABC for two years, and that agreement ends this season.
“We are not looking to have it move,” Santoro said. “We want to keep the momentum going. We definitely want to continue having the Clemente Series here.”
Santoro and Brown have had three balls in the air this summer, and the return of the Mantle Series has been the toughest to handle.
“We have tried not to shortchange anything,” Santoro said. “The fact that we are the only host for a Clemente Series means that we do not want it to fall by the wayside.”
The Clemente teams arrive today. The opening ceremonies, official welcoming and a bust-out party all happen tonight at Quassy Amusement Park in Middlebury. Here is the itinerary: 2:30 p.m.: teams and families arrive at Quassy. 3:154:15 p.m.: skills competition at Middlebury Baseball Field. 4:30 p.m.: teams parade through Quassy with a police escort. 4:45 p.m.: opening ceremony. 5-6 p.m.: cookout at Quassy pavilion. 6 p.m.: coaches meeting, seed draw. 6-8 p.m.: teams have full access to Quassy Amusement Park.
It’s good to be an 8-yearold baseball player.
Play begins Thursday and all games are at Municipal Stadium, on Joan Joyce Field or Stadium North. There is no charge for spectators.
Grab a bagel and coffee. Games start early. Here is Thursday’s schedule: Stadium North: 9 a.m., noon, 3 p.m., 6 p.m.
Joan Joyce Field: 9:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 3:30 p.m., 6:30 p.m.
Pool play wraps up Friday morning at the same times, and play in the double-elimination championship and consolation brackets begin Friday afternoon and continue Saturday at the same times.
The championship game is Sunday morning at 9 at Joan Joyce Field. If necessary, a second game will be played at noon.
It is surprisingly good baseball.
“What fans need to know, if they haven’t seen this level of baseball, is that it is exceptional,” Santoro said. “They may not execute every play, but they are well-trained in fundamentals. They dress and play like little major leaguers.”
Our epic summer of baseball is about to begin.
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Mayor’s Cup tee times announced
Tim Blake won the 2015 Mayor’s Cup title in the gross division. (Palladino/RA)
The eighth Mayor’s Cup golf tournament hits city links this Saturday and Sunday.
Play begins Saturday at East Mountain and then continues Sunday at Western Hills. There will be a champion crowned in both gross and net divisions.
Here are the Saturday tee times:
8th MAYOR’S CUP
at East Mountain Golf Course
Saturday tee times
8:16 a.m. — Rudy Hermstadt, Tom Dorso, Gil Lassen, Dave Pollo (G)
8:24 — Bob Sugrue, Tom LaVoy, Branden Strileckis, Todd Deschino (N)
8:32 — Bill Conlea, Mike Natale, Joe Massicotte, Tom Arisco (G)
8:40 — Henry Ricketts, Tim Fleck, Tim Blake, Tom Mulhall (G)
8:48 — Joe Catalina, Devon Dunbar, Bruce Loman, Mark Thomas (G)
8:56 — Ray Byron, Ryan Sullivan, Dennis P. Sullivan, Matt Calabrese (N)
9:04 — Hank Witkosky, Mike Kulla, A.J. Vitale (N), Roger Bournival (G)
9:12 — Dennis J. Sullivan, Paul Brouillete, Gary Dickey, Mike Traonetti (N)
9:20 — Pete Ventura, Tom Byrne, Gordon Jennett, Gary Bergin (N)
9:28 — Steve Cerasale, Ed Ricard, Ken Sanford, Frank Geigle (N)
9:36 — Greg Sullivan, Terry Fox, Chris Colt, Keith Shea (N)
9:44 — Ken Dechello, Bob Axon, Bob Holt, Gene Gravel (N)
9:52 — Tom Blake, Marty Girouard, Tom Sergi, John Healy (N)
10:00 — Jeremy Eterginio, Jim O’Donnell, Shea Zaccagnini, A.J. Barbieri (N)
10:08 — Carl Miscavage, Kyle Howles, Bill Harold (N)
10:16 — Mike Girouard, Ken Lotto, John McMahon, Alex Mulhall (N)
10:24 — Tony Mesto, Mike Yamin, Carmen Palatta, Dave Mancini (N)
G — Gross division
N — Net division
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