May 17, 2013 - Stonebridge Press and Villager Newspapers

12 • Friday, May 17, 2013
WOODSTOCK VILLAGER
SPORTS
Woodstock’s Almquist a quadruple track threat
BY BENJAMIN R. KIPP
SPORTS CORRESPONDENT
WOODSTOCK — Senior Jake Almquist
did know that May 7 would be a special day
for him. Almquist, a captain of the 2013
boys outdoor track team did something that
rarely happens during a track meet.
Current Woodstock Academy boys head
track coach Len Samborowski has been
coaching track there for the past six years
can’t remember it ever happening.
“He’s an exceptional athlete,” he said.
“It’s hard to believe it occurred, but if it did
it’s only happened once or twice in the history
of the school. This is a rare accomplishment.
You can only compete in four events
during a dual meet.”
Almquist scored 20 of the teams 46 points
in their meet against New London. What
that means is that Almquist scored a first
place in every event he was in. The pole
vault, javelin, 300 meter hurdles and the
high jump.
“New London has some really good athletes
which makes this accomplishment
more meaningful,” said Samborowski. “I
haven’t seen anything like that in track in
my six years of coaching.”
Almquist and coach Samborowski put
their heads together and wanted this to happen.
“Coach came to me and I knew it was a
possibility,” said Almquist. “When coach
pitched me the idea I felt it was something I
can do to continue my good season.”
It just so happened that teammate Nate
Giamundo sprained his ankle allowing
BY BENJAMIN R. KIPP
SPORTS CORRESPONDENT
PUTNAM — Soon to be graduating,
and former Putnam high
school girls basketball player
Ashley Espinosa recently
announced that she will be attending
Worcester State University and
she also announced that she will
be playing basketball. There were
rumors that Espinosa was heading
to play for the Lancers, but on May
6 she made it official.
“I’m going to Worcester State
and I will be playing basketball,”
she said.
Having medial issues with a
knee, Espinosa wasn’t 100 percent
Courtesy photo
Woodstock Academy’s Jake Almquist competes in the high jump against New London on May 7.
Almquist to compete in the pole vault.
“I hadn’t picked up a pole since my freshmen
season,” said Almquist. “I think I could
sure that she would be able to play
basketball at the next level, but
after a recent surgery, “everything
went well,” she said.
Espinosa recently finished her
high school career with 965 career
points and wants to take her skills
to the next level.
“I still have the ability to play
basketball,” she said. “My time to
not play isn’t over and I know I can
do this and I want to do this.”
Worcester State and UCONN
Avery Point were two schools that
pursued Espinosa but she felt obligated
to reward the Lancers for
their persistence and keep it in the
family.
“My uncle, Tom, went there and
Trish, his wife, went there as
well,” she said. “I look up to my
uncle and I’ve been familiar with
the program and everyone has
talked so highly of the program
and when I went to watch some
games, and when I stepped foot on
the campus I just liked it a lot, and
I felt that’s where I wanted to be.”
Espinosa didn’t realize that she
had the potential to play at the
next level.
“It was always in the back of my
mind,” she said. “I wanted to go
further and since I always looked
up to my uncle it was something I
always wanted to do.”
have cleared higher than 9-foot-6, but since I
had already won I didn’t go any higher.”
The 300 meter hurdle event was not only
Espinosa knows that playing at
the next level won’t be easy.
“The best players from every
high school play at the next level,”
she said. “The competition is
going to be much harder and I
think it’s going to very different
from what I’m used to, but at the
same time I’ll meet a lot of different
people. From the games I saw
it’s going to be a much more fast
pace than high school basketball.
It’s just a whole new level.”
Espinosa is coming off a season
where she averaged nearly a double-double,
scoring 16 points, while
pulling down just over 10 rebounds
per game.
the most physical challenging, but also it
was the most competitive.
“New London has a pretty good hurdler
and I knew it would be challenge for him,”
said Samborowski. “He went against New
London’s best athlete. Jake ran against him
and his time of 43 seconds was good enough
to qualify him for states. We had kids scattered
around the track to cheer him on.”
Almquist threw 146 feet in the javelin, giving
him his third first place finish.
“After he won the javelin I knew it was a
real possibility,” said Samborowski. “We
had only four first place finished the entire
meet and they were all his, the rest of the
points came from others.”
Both athlete and coach knew that one he
got to the high jump it would happen,
because it’s the event he focuses on the
most. While Almquist was jumping a large
contingent of the track team was huddled
around the high jump pit anticipating the
win and the rare accomplishment.
“We’re actually going for the school
record,” said Samborowski. “We’re knocking
on the door and were only three-fourths
of an inch away from it, and we hoping he
breaks it before he graduates.”
What made the accomplishment more significant
was the fact that it came from multiple
events that challenged different
aspects of track and field.
“It’s not just running or field
events, it’s a combination of events where
each one was totally different than the other
events which I think makes it more difficult
to do,” said Samborowski.
Putnam’s Espinosa chooses Worcester State for hoops
Killingly’s Leduc takes on leadership role
BY BENJAMIN R. KIPP
SPORTS CORRESPONDENT
Last week was a short week for the
Charter Oak Credit Union / Killingly Rec.
Modified Softball League. Only two games
got off the ground, Mother Nature took out
the rest of the schedule.
In the opening contest, Universal
Fiberoptics / Mercer Monuments unleashed
a 24 hit barrage and scored 25 runs topping
Pages Tree Service, who scored a single run.
In game two, Capitol Bail Bond came from 9
runs down in the 1st inning and defeated
A&A Management 16-11.
In the opener Aaron May scored the winning
run in the 1st frame as his brother,
Trevor May , drove him in on a ground out.
Leonce Bedard picked up his first win while
Killingly’s Jaime LeDuc has been a key cog for
Killingly’s softball team.
KILLINGLY — Junior Jaime
LeDuc isn’t a current captain on
this years Killingly girls softball
team, but according to her head
coach Bill Rahall, she’s doing
everything he asks of a captain.
“She’s taking a leadership role
on the team,” said coach Bill
Rahall. “She’s always enthusiastic
and she’s trying to get the
other kids involved. She’s very,
very high energy. I didn’t expect
that from her this season, and
I’m glad it’s a part of her game.”
LeDuc started playing softball
when she was 9 years old and
loves playing the sport.
“I would like to play in college
and right now I’m thinking
about going to Eastern
Connecticut State to play,” she
said.
LeDuc is almost leading the
entire team in just about every
offensive stat. With 54 plate
appearances, she’s walked eight
times, scored 12 runs with 15
hits, five doubles and one triple
and nine singles, with 14 runs
batted in. Also included in her
offensive prowess is a .472 on
base percentage, to go along with
a .435 slugging percentage and a
.325 batting average, as the number
four hitter.
“She’s a great talent and she’s
very hard to get out,” said Rahall.
“The most important thing that I
love about her is that she’s only
struck out three times all season.
She’s always putting the bat on
the ball. She’s one of the main
reasons why our offense is doing
what we’re doing.”
LeDuc attributes the turnaround
in her offense from her
sophomore to junior seasons
because she played softball this
summer.
“I had some coaches this summer
that helped me with my
stance and my swing and they
taught me a few things which I
feel turned around how I hit the
ball,” she said.
LeDuc plays multiple positions
including left field and catcher,
but first base is her primary position
and she plays it at a high
level.
“She’s only made one error all
season and it was a throwing
error to third base trying
to get a runner,” said
Rahall. “Her defense is
outstanding and she gets
everything. She tells all
the other infielders to just
get the throw close and I’ll
get it. I love her defense at
first base because she digs
a lot of balls out of the dirt
for the out or to save an
error.”
Rahall has enjoyed her
company for the past two
seasons and it’s just a
bonus to have her this
year and one more.
“I never have to tell her
twice to do something and
she’ll do whatever is asked
of her even though she
may not be the best at
doing it,” said Rahall.
“She’ll come to me and ask
if she needs to play a different
position if someone
Courtesy photo is out or hurt. That’s just
the way she is.”
The Redgals are currently
5-10, LeDuc is a big
reason for the five wins
and will be a big reason if the
they can grab three more wins to
make the playoffs.
“It’s huge, I know what she’s
capable of doing and I know she
stepped up her game from last
season,” said Rahall. “She’s
doing what she’s doing to help the
team out.”
LeDuc just wants to help the
team win.
“Wherever coach puts me is
where I want to play,” she said. “I
don’t mind playing anywhere I
just want to help the team win.”
pitching a five hitter and allowed a
single run. In the 2nd inning
Universal / Mercer scored 16 runs
on 12 hits to put this game out of
site. Steve Vanase and A. May had 4
hits each. Between them they
scored 7 runs and 5 RBI; May also
had 2 run home run. Alan Fish had
3 hits and led his team with 6 RBI
and a triple. Dave Muir had 3 hits
and 2 RBI, both scored 3 runs. Pages
Tree had just 5 hits, 2 by Scott Davigian,
Alan Shippee, Carter Balcom and Todd
Ducat had the three other hits. Shippee
scored the lone run on a Balcom single.
In game two, it took Capitol Bail 5 innings
“I talked to Bernie Norman
their scout and I talked to the head
coach a couple of times and the
assistant coach came to a few of
my games,” she said.
Espinosa is proud to just be a
part of tradition at Putnam high
school girls basketball program.
“I don’t think a lot high schools
send athletes to play at the next
level and I think it’s a good thing
that Putnam has been able to do
that in the past few years,” she
said.
Espinosa plans to major in
Health Education and hopes to
become a physical education or
health education teacher.
Ellis Tech softball makes turnaround
BY BENJAMIN R. KIPP
SPORTS CORRESPONDENT
KILLINGLY— When Drew Mizak took over four years ago as the Ellis
Tech head girls softball coach the program as a whole wasn’t very good.
Four seasons ago the Eagles won two games, this season the Lady
Eagles currently sport a 9-7 record which is a vast turnaround from
even before Mizak took over. The season before Mizak took over the softball
team didn’t have one win.
“Overall it’s been a very positive season,” said Mizak. “This year for
the first time since I’ve been a head coach we had a eight game winning
streak, and for us is very big. I tell my players it’s a step in the right
direction and be competitive, and at the same time we still have room to
grow.”
The bulk of starts belong to sophomore Sheridan Murphy who took it
upon herself to turn herself into a dominant starting pitcher.
“In the offseason, she paid for pitching lessons and she wasn’t even a
pitcher,” said Mizak. “She came to me and asked me what she could do
to help the team and she went out and got private lessons. She had no
pitching experience and she dedicated her off-season to getting a pitching
coach. That’s been a huge difference for us.”
Mizak doesn’t expect perfection from Murphy, but so far this season
she’s done a more than good job on the mound.
“She’s come a long way and she’s been a good pitcher for us and it’s
really a huge reason why we’ve had such a turn-around in our record,”
he said.
Even before Mizak took over as head coach the lady Eagles had a very
difficult time getting into the state tournament, that all changed this
year.
“I even sat down with my athletic director and we tried to find out
when the last time the girls softball team made the tournament and we
couldn’t find any information,” said Mizak. “It’s been a really, really
long time. I’ve been at the school for a long time and everyone I talk to
can’t remember the last time either.”
Junior Taylor Blanchard has been a player Mizak could count on to
have a big season and so far she has.
“She never played the position before, but I came to her and asked her
to play it and she said yes I do whatever you needed,” said Mizak. “I
know it wasn’t her favorite place to be, but she’s been doing a great job
at catching.”
Blanchard has also been a terror to the opposing pitcher.
“She’s been one of our best hitters for average and she’s leading the
team in doubles, triples and power and she’s been having a very strong
all around year,” said Mizak.
The lady Eagles are looking for a last push trying to end the season on
a good note.
“We’ve got one more week of Constitution State Conference (CSC)
play and one game against Tourtellotte, then we’ve got states, and I hope
we can make a good showing at the tournament,” said Mizak.
Charter Oak CU / Killingly Rec Softball League
STANDINGS
TEAMS WIN LOSS PCT
CAPITOL BAIL BOND 2 0 1.000
UNIVERSAL / MERCER 2 0 1.000
DESMARIS BROS. 1 0 1.000
FOXY’S GANG 1 0 1.000
A&A MANAGEMENT 0 2 .000
PAGES TREE SERVICE 0 2 .000
99 RESTAURANT 0 2 .000
to take their lead and never looked back. In
the 6th frame the winning run was scored as
Stan Gervais crossed the plate on a Steve
Danis sac fly. Danis also added 3 more RBI,
2 coming on a triple in the 1st inning.
Trento Palonen led his mates with 3 hits and
3 runs scored. Bubba Gauvin
added 2 hits and 3 RBI. Three
other players had 2 hits, Kyle
Jarvis, Tom Lindberg and Ray
Brown. Jarvis was the winning
pitcher, his second of the season.
For A&A Management it looked
as though this was going to be
their game with a 9 run out burst
in the 1st inning, however they
were limited to just 2 runs the rest
of the way. Dan Jones led his mates with 3
hits and 2 runs scored. Jim Hoyt added a 3
run home run in the 1st, and had 2 hits and
4 RBI. Tony Valade, Chris Dumas and Joel
Panteleakos had 2 hits each. Dan Vogt score