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by Mark DiPaola
Last Monday afternoon, there was a
three-game unbeaten streak between Rocky
Hill High School baseball and its April 28
9-1 blowout road loss to Edwin O. Smith
High School.
In three games, the Terriers had dis-
played the dominance that had them just be-
neath the top spot in the Central Connecticut
East, shutting out and blowing out Bloom-
eld 24-0 before notching victories over
Tolland and East Hartford, but April 28s
defeat might have still been in the Terriers
minds, especially since the Panthers team
that handed it to them owned the number
one seed in the conference.
With Edwin O. Smith coming to town,
Rocky Hill would have the opportunity to
address both of those issues. And behind the
dual pitching and batting heroics of junior
Bryon Foust, whose two-run homer in the
fourth inning proved to be the difference-
maker, they did just that, with a 7-2 victory.
In the fourth, the Terriers were trailing,
as they had been since the second inning.
Foust came to the plate with a Rocky Hill
runner on rst. If you go by National League
baseball, you might not expect much when a
pitcher comes to bat, and Foust had already
done more than his share defensively to
hold the Panthers to their two early runs, but
he was about to make his presence felt in a
different way.
Foust started the at-bat with two big
swings and two strikes. He calmed down,
watched two more come in outside the
strike zone to work the count to 2-2. The
Panthers pitcher puts one right in his wheel
house. He swings and connects, sending the
ball out to left. Going, going, gone. Foust
has just given Rocky Hill the 3-2 lead. Now
he just has to protect it.
In the fth inning, things got complicat-
ed. A Panthers batter managed a base hit and
then stole second after a pitch eluded the
Terriers catcher. Edwin O. Smith notched
another single to take rst and third with
two outs. After the runner on rst steals sec-
ond, Foust walked the next batter to load the
bases.
With a 3-2 count on the next batter,
Foust is one ball away from walking in
the tying run. He res one in. The umpire
watches the ball hit the catchers mitt, hesi-
tates, and calls it: Strike. The Terriers es-
caped the at-bat with the one-run lead.
Just for assurances, Foust would pop
off again in the sixth, doubling out to center
for two runs-part of a Rocky Hill rally that
saw Cody and Connor Edkins tally back-to-
back RBIs of their own.
by Kathleen Pulek
The Rocky Hill softball team is three
steps closer to a regular-season goal of 19-1
after victories over E.O. Smith, Ellington
and Fermi.
The Terriers are unbeaten on the road at
6-0 after recording a 3-0 win at E. O. Smith
May 12 and are 8-1 at Vicino Field after de-
feating Ellington (3-1, May 14) and Fermi
(8-2, May 15).
Rocky Hill (14-1) looks to add to its
14-game win streak with all-important CCC
East meetings at Tolland and Rockville this
week before hosting Bloomeld Friday,
May 23, to start the Memorial Day week-
end.
I spent 11 years as the Ellington soft-
ball coach, Terriers head coach Gil Gioia
said. My last season there was 2010, so
Ive never coached any of the players on
the Ellington roster. When I left there, I told
the athletic director [Tim McCluskey] that I
wouldnt schedule a game until the players I
had coached had graduated, which was last
year. I didnt want to play against them. He
called me this year. I thought hed forgotten
about it, but he remembered.
Jess Greenspan had a nice hit in the
second inning and also played well on de-
fense. Shes been a very important part
of our team Gioia said of the diminutive
sophomore, who may walk softly, but car-
ries a big bat for the Terriers. Greenspan sin-
gled up the middle off of Sam Anthony and
scored Rocky Hills rst run when a throw
sailed over the head of third baseman Cass
Holmes.
Terriers shortstop Erika Leonard
jumped on the rst pitch in the bottom of
the fourth and laced a double to center eld.
First pitch right down the middle--you
gotta pay for it, said the senior co-captain,
who crossed the plate with two outs to give
the home team a 2-0 edge. Rocky Hill upped
its advantage when Brittany Moore drove in
freshman Erin Kelly with a base hit to right
eld.
Erika hit that ball very well in the
fourth, which was nice to see after her rst
at bat [a called third strike]. We need Erika
to hit the ball for us to win. Its as simple as
that. This is a team game but we need her
individual performance at the plate every
night and every at bat.
We used Erin as a pinch runner to-
night. We put her out at second base and she
ran the bases well. She took a nice turn at
third and scored a big run.
Katie [Slavin] has been the best pitch-
er in the CCC East all year, Gioia praised
his ace, who scattered ve hits while fan-
ning three and walking two against Elling-
ton (10-4) What people havent realized is
that shes also hit the ball well all season.
Erika and Katie have been very, very
important parts of this team. It will be
strange when the day comes that I write a
lineup card and Erikas and Katies names
arent on it. Both have been four-year start-
ers who will be missed tremendously.
Leonard said the Terriers came out
strong and came out hard. We knew we
had to have good at bats and be strong de-
fensively. Katie pitched a great game and
everybody just jumped on everything we
needed to jump on.
The Knights rallied and started the top
of the sixth with a pair of base hits. After
right elder Julia Sevigny recorded Elling-
tons rst out, RHHS assistant coach Jim
Ferris went out to the mound.
Coach said, Relax. Were ne, said
Leonard. Usually when he comes out he
just reassures us that were ne. We know
that were a good team but sometimes we
just need a little reassuring to settle down
and take care of business.
The visitors averted the shut out when
clean-up hitter Ariana DiCioccios single
up the middle scored Holmes and got the
Knights on the scoreboard in the sixth.
Im really proud of my team for pull-
ing through and playing well defensively
because the win is really important to us,
noted Slavin. I try not to think about the
win streak. I dont want it to go to anyones
head. I worry about it sometimes because I
dont want it to affect how we play.
Winning the 2012 Class M state cham-
pionship has denitely been the highlight of
my softball career. I really hope that we can
do it again this year. Im proud of the girls
for trying to improve as much as we can ev-
ery day at practice. We go as hard as we can
and focus on getting ready for the state tour-
nament, Slavin said.
Gioia called the win over Ellington a
big victory and a big night for us. Every-
body contributed. It was another game on
the schedule that we had to win to achieve
our goal of 19-1. This is the type of game
that will get us ready for the state tourna-
ment.
Another Perfect Week for Rocky Hill Softball
Sophomore Jess Greenspan beats the throw to second before notching the Terriers rst run against the Knights.
by Josh Howard
Newington and Wethers-
eld high schools competed in
the 83rd Greater Hartford Track
& Field Invitational at Simsbury
High School. It was both schools
last chance to compete in a multi-
school event before the state class
and open competitions start in
June. Several local athletes post-
ed top-10 nishes and two ath-
letes took home rst place at the
36-school invitational.
Newingtons Wilmarie Ro-
driguez captured rst place in the
girls triple jump. The junior eas-
ily won the competition, nishing
with a distance of 33 feet 11.50
inches, a full foot clear of the
second-place nisher. She ranked
10th in last seasons Class L triple
jump nals and is primed to im-
prove on that nish this season.
Wetherselds Whitton
Devaux also took home rst place
in boys javelin. The senior tossed
the long, light spear 170 feet 2
inches, two feet further than sec-
ond-place. Hell be looking to du-
plicate that feat at the Class MM
nals, where he placed third in the
competition last June.
John Tapia, another one of
Wetherselds strong group of
throwers, nished third in the
shot put. The junior heaved the
12-pound spherical ball 47 feet
5 inches. He also spun the discus
125 feet 3 inches, nishing sev-
enth at the invitational. Senior
classmate Giancarlo Serrao also
cracked the top-ten in the shot put,
nishing ninth with a toss of 44
feet 3 inches.
Wetherselds Faith Burnett
led all the local girls throwers, n-
ishing third in the shot put, a mere
two inches shy of a second-place
nish. She followed it up her im-
pressive shot put by placing ninth
in the discus.
Several runners also made
names for themselves at the com-
petition, including underclassman
Elijah Young. The Wetherseld
sophomore nished fourth in the
100-meter dash and then placed
eighth at the triple jump. The ver-
satile athlete then joined Brennan
Rhodes, Connor Jones, and Lo-
renzo Burgos to anchor the 4x100
meter relay team. The relay team
nished ninth overall.
Wetherselds girls 4x100
meter squad placed sixth at the
invitational. Sophomore Agnes
Ning paced the Lady Eagle sprint-
ers, who do not have a senior on
the relay team. The schools 4x800
relay team placed ninth at the in-
vitational.
Local hurdlers impressed on
the track as well. Wetherseld
junior Armin Begovic nished
seventh in the boys 110-meter
hurdles and then posted a respect-
able 15th in the 300-meter nals.
Begovics classmate, Samantha
Martin, nished 12th in the girls
300-meter hurdles and Newing-
tons Laura Buonocore nished
14th in the same competition.
Newingtons standout dis-
tance runner, Gregory Zydanow-
icz, nished 12th in the boys 800
meters, less than a second away
from a top-10 ranking.
Newingtons Kurt Swenor
rounded out the invitational, n-
ishing tied for 10th to lead all the
local pole vaulters.
You can witness these and
other local tracksters at Middle-
town High School Monday, June
2, and Tuesday, June 3, for the
class championships. The best per-
formances from the class cham-
pionships will have a chance to
compete in the state open champi-
onships at Middletown High Mon-
day, June 9.
Photos by Dave Burnham
www.esnapsport.wordpress.com
Track & Field Athletes Compete in Hartford Invite
Terriers Baseball Takes Down Rival E.O. Smith
Rocky Hills Bryon Foust propelled the Terriers to a
7-2 victory over E.O. Smith.