Sunday, December 31, 2023

Sports Moments of '23

Well, we've come to the end of another year. 

There are always things happening, so who knows what a normal year is anymore.  Every year has its ups and downs. Some events that happen are more public and others are more private. It depends on the event and the people involved. 

I know people don't like to do rankings/lists. It's easy content and not very rich content. 

Well, I'm still going to list my top local games of 2023. I'm going to try to add some commentary with each game and not just list. As I say ever year, these are only games I was at, and I'm sure I missed some. Also, these are listed in order of date, not by ranking. Every moment and game are different, I didn't feel like I should rank them. 

 Not surprising, I have a lot of baseball listed. 

On to 2024, which will hopefully bring a lot more highlights. 

Here we go. These are my top games of the year. Let me know your thoughts and what I may have missed. 

February 23 - Ludlowe Girls Basketball Wins FCIAC Championship

Following a perfect regular season, the Ludlowe girls' basketball team won the FCIAC Championship, 52-42 over St. Joseph. It was the first girls' basketball championship in school history. 

Ludlowe would finish the season 26-1, with the only loss coming in the state championship. 

May 8 - Ludlowe/Warde baseball

Warde 8 Ludlowe 2 in 10 innings. The game was much closer than the score. 

Ludlowe held a 2-1 lead into the seventh before Warde tied it with two outs on a single by Paddy Galvin. Game remained scoreless until Warde look the lead in the tenth on a Carson Swaim three-run double and added three more to break the game open. 

Incredible game. Great game for the town and baseball in a great baseball town. #OneTown 

 As a Ludlowe coach, and working at both schools, a tough loss. 

Thanks as always to Rob Adams for broadcasting this game. I often try to get Rob on Ludlowe games, and especially Ludlowe/Warde games, so I like when we can make it work out. 

May 25 - Warde baseball wins FCIAC Championship for third year in a row

For the third season in a row, the Warde baseball team won the FCIAC Championship. This year, they defeated Westhill 6-1. 

You can hear Rob Adams' call of the game below. 

Warde baseball also repeated as state champions on June 10 in an incredible game against Staples, but I was not in attendance, so that is why that game was not included. 

May 31 - Ludlowe/Hamden Baseball

I wrote about this a little bit in my season ending blog post. It was a state playoff first round game, and we (Ludlowe) were trailing Hamden 4-0 in the fourth inning. 

With the bases loaded and one out, Ben Crawford, who had not played all season due to injury, came up to pinch-hit. Crawford drove the first pitch he saw off the wall in right-center field for a bases-clearing double. Awesome moment. And I'm only telling part of the story on purpose. 

June 3 - Jimmy Dobbs walk-off hit for Warde baseball in playoffs

With Warde and Southington tied at one in the seventh inning of the state quarterfinals, freshman Jimmy Dobbs came up with the game-winning single to propel the Mustangs into the state semifinals. 

June 10 - Ludlowe softball wins state championship

Ludlowe softball defeated Southington 5-2 to win the Class LL softball championship. 

The win for Ludlowe snapped Southington's impressive 40-game win streak. 

Ludlowe softball also won the FCIAC Championship for the third year in a row. Much like Warde baseball's state championship, I was not in attendance so that is the reason it was not included.   

July 8 - Trumbull/Waterford Babe Ruth game

It was another summer of broadcasting Babe Ruth baseball with Rob Adams. We saw so many great games. Whenever Trumbull and Waterford matchup, you know you're getting a great game between two terrific programs. 

July 8 in the CT State Tournament was no different, Matt Shampine and Ryan DeMelo were locked in a pitcher's duel with Trumbull holding a 1-0 lead into the bottom of the seventh before Waterford scored two including the game winning hit by Kian Gordy to lift Waterford to a 2-1 victory. 

Trumbull scored their run in the third when Luke McDermott reached on an error to score DeMelo, who had singled earlier in the inning. 

These two teams would face off later in the tournament, including in the championship, and Trumbull would come out with the victory to head to the New England Regional. Trumbull would end up advancing to the Babe Ruth World Series. Terrific run and a special group. 

July 11 - Waterford/New Milford Babe Ruth no-hitter

A few days later, Waterford would come away with another big win. 

Colby Sheehan threw five no-hit inniings and Thomas Flanagan did not allow a hit over the final two as Waterford came away with a no-hitter in an 8-0 win over New Milford. 

You can hear the final out and the full game below. 

Final out: http://sndup.net/stys

October 28 - Ryan Menozzi game-winning catch vs McMahon

Ludlowe's Ryan Menozzi caught a 22-yard touchdown with thirty-six seconds remaining in the game to give the Falcons a 35-32 lead over Ridgefield and Ludlowe would go on to win by that score. 

It was a hard-fought back and forth game that (at the time) kept Ludlowe in state playoff contention. 

November 9 - Ludlowe boys' soccer defeats Ridgefield in state playoffs in PK's

Alex Parent came up with some clutch saves in goal as Ludlowe defeated Ridgefield 2-1 in PK's in the second round of the state tournament. Alex missed a cello solo as part of a Veteran's Day concert due to the game running long. 

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I've mentioned Rob Adams a bunch of times in this blog post and in many blog posts. He posted a blog post earlier today where he included a highlight package of games, he called this year. Go give the blog a read and listen to the highlights. 

 

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