|
Berkshire League Baseball Roundup |
|
|
|
May 9, 2008 - By William Dayton - The baseball job at Thomaston High school is one of the most challenging coaching positions in the league. The task of guiding the smallest school in the league to victories over the likes of Class M Northwestern and Lewis Mills is not an enviable one. Big East basketball fans could liken the Bears’ recent run of success to the daunting task each year at Providence College, where new head coach Keno Davis will have to figure out a way to consistently lead his small-Catholic school to wins over national powerhouses like Connecticut and Louisville. Both programs face their share of challenges, yet both have had periods of remarkable success.
Rick Pitino led his Providence Friars, a band of misfits and sharpshooters to the 1987 Final Four behind a man named Billy Donovan. Most college hoops fans might recall his name, if only for the back-to-back national titles he won as coach of the Florida Gators in 2006 and 2007. And Pete Gillen continued that success in the late ’90s, bringing the Friars to within a whisker of another miraculous Final Four run, losing in overtime to eventual national champion Arizona in the Elite Eight.
Thomaston baseball has never ascended to those heights, but a run of six consecutive winning seasons and a share of the regular season title in 2004 punctuates a decade of improvement in Clocktown. The Bears have also consistently produced talented Berkshire League pitchers, from all-league selections Devin Rogozinski in 2004, Mike Johnston in 2005 and 2006, and David Fredlund, a preseason All-B.L. pick this season. Several players, including 1B Jon Conlon at Western Connecticut, OF Aaron Granahan at ECSU, and SP Mike Johnston, at UConn-Avery Point, have gone on to play college baseball, which is an exceptional feat at a school with graduating classes usually made up of about 70 to 80 students. Johnston has hopes of continuing his career at UConn-Storrs, playing Division 1 baseball, if everything pans out.
Though they’ve been an up-and-coming league power for some time now, this season may finally be the year that the Bears capture the outright Berkshire League crown. At 7-3, ranked fourth in Class S, Thomaston has the lineup, led by 3B Ben Yaffe and OF Chris Laliberte, and the pitching led by David Fredlund, the son of former Red Sox farmhand and Thomaston product Jay Fredlund, to compete with perennial powers Northwestern and Shepaug Valley. Upcoming games with 5-7 clubs Gilbert and Nonnewaug should go a long way in determining whether or not the Golden Bears will come away with the Berkshire League’s gold trophy.
|
