By Hal Levy, Shore Line Newspapers
Special to MaxPreps.com
It was certainly a memorable week for Ellington High School pitcher Andrew Janinga.
Friday, he threw a perfect game and struck out 18 in a 4-0 win over East Windsor.
Monday, he didn't get a perfect game - nor even a complete game - but he fanned 22 in 10 innings before the Purple Knights finally prevailed in 15, 1-0 over Coventry.
The 22 strikeouts is two short of the state record of 24, set in 1956 by the legendary Steve Dalkowski of New Britain in a CIAC state tournament game against New London.
Dalkowski, whose fastball was unmatched at any level, pitched for a number of minor league teams but his wildness, both on the mound and in his personal life, took their toll and he never made it to the majors.
His name evokes a couple of stories. One stemmed from the game in which he fanned 24. Jim O'Neill, who recently retired as the director of athletics at Waterford and who was a top-flight American Legion baseball coach, recalled being strikeout victim 24.
"I was a freshman and I pinch-hit in the ninth inning," according to a story he told. "It was getting dark, I was scared and I couldn't see. I wanted to light a match to make sure he could see me."
Dalkowski's catcher at New Britain High was Andy Baylock, who went on to become the head baseball coach at the University of Connecticut for many years. Baylock tells a perhaps apocryphal story about catching Dalkowski. He recalled getting a piece of raw beefsteak and putting it into his glove to soften the blow from the nearly 100-mph fastball. As the story goes, blood from the steak ran down Baylock's arm and already-wary batters had even more on their minds.
Veteran tennis coach George Crouse of Stonington achieved a rare milestone last week.
Crouse's girls' team lifted its record to 9-1 with a 6-1 win over Waterford and, in the process, gave the coach his 300th win in girls' tennis. His teams were 300-91 in that span. What makes it more notable is the fact his Stonington boys' teams compiled a 331-104 record when he coached them.
Until the last half-decade or so, Stonington and the entire Eastern Connecticut Conference played its girls' tennis schedule in the fall and the boys in the spring, so it was possible to coach both teams at the same time.
As the baseball season swings into its final month, Amity Regional-Woodbridge and Waterford remain atop both state polls. Neither has yet lost and each had a 15-0 record at this writing. The two cannot meet since they are in difference conferences (Amity is in the Southern Connecticut Conference and Waterford in the Eastern Connecticut Conference) and they are in different divisions for the CIAC state tournament. Amity is the defending Class LL champ and Waterford is in Class L.
Amity's biggest challenge in the SCC might come from streaking Guilford. The Indians lost two of their first three but have run off a 12-game win streak since. Guilford has good pitching depth with Nick Hahn (headed to Southern Maine), junior Will Jolin, Eric Schlitter and Anthony Callegari plus catcher Mike Gell (Franklin Pierce) and junior middle infielders Ryan Brockett and Sam Greenberg who have started at second at short, respectively, since they were freshmen.
Waterford has a lot of opposition in the ECC including Fitch, which features potential first-round draft pick Matt Harvey (who was not on the mound when the Lancers beat Fitch, 5-4, earlier in the year) plus St. Bernard and Montville, both getting votes in the state poll.
Conference playoffs will be around the Memorial Day weekend with state tournaments to follow. The state finals, scheduled for Yale Field, will be June 8 (one game) and June 9 (three more games).
Southington and Seymour, both undefeated and perennial powers, lead the state's softball poll with Amity third. Amity's credentials include a pair of 3-2 wins over the state's fifth-ranked team, Mercy-Middletown. Southington has beaten several top-10 teams including Bristol Eastern and Bristol Central.
The Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC) conducted its 24th annual Scholar-Athlete awards banquet last Sunday. Some 347 students representing every one of the state's high schools were honored. The selection process varies from school to school as long as the student-athletes meet the minimum CIAC requirements.
The event was sponsored, for the 24th time, by local McDonalds owner-operators. The toastmaster was Bob Picozzi (ESPN) and the featured speaker was legendary Connecticut radio and TV sportscaster Arnold Dean of WTIC.
The steering committee for the event, which included prime rib for 1700 at the AquaTurf Club in Southington, was headed by Jerome Auclair and Dennis Siegmann, principals at Darien and Bristol Central High Schools, respectively. Their committee included principals Richard Cavallaro (Wilcox Tech-Meriden), Steve Wysocki (Coginchaug-Durham). Joe Bacewicz (Tolland) amd Amm Pratson (Laurelton Hall-Milford).
