Memories of Summer Nights of Kickball

I saw the above post on Facebook recently. There are many variations of this on the internet. 

I am definitely in that in-between generation of playing outside and inside on video games etc. We did both. 

I have great memories of playing kickball in the neighborhood outside during the summer when I was in middle school. 

We played with kids older and younger. There was a large age gap between the youngest and oldest kids, but that didn't matter. We all got along. 

It was mostly guys and a few girls as well. Whoever wanted to play, could play. 

It was kids on my block and the couple of surrounding blocks. 

We would mix up teams, with older kids and younger kids, depending on who was playing any given night. 

Most of the time we played at the end of my block where two other blocks connect. It was a wide sort of dead end with the side roads flaking it. This is where we would put home plate and hit towards the narrowing going up the street. 

Sometimes, we would play on one of the side blocks, where most of the people who played lived. Likely, this was if someone was told then needed to stay close to home. This was tougher because it made for more of a narrow field, to avoid going onto random people's property. 

The bases would be the edges of curbs, sewer grates or other spots that could be noticed. Occasionally, we would use chalk. 

We were always very respectful of cars and would move to the side right away. Knowing me, I probably moved when the car was at the top of the block. 

We would often play after dinner and only end when it got too dark to see, or if enough people were told they had to go inside, that we didn't have enough to play. Sometimes, we would play before dinner, take a break and eat, and then go back out. 

You know how I am in terms of being competitive, and the fact that I am a baseball person, I definitely took the games too seriously. However, from what I remember, we all had fun. That is what is most important. 

We played for a couple of summers. We started when all of us older kids were in middle school and played until at least the two or three of us older kids went into high school. Then it kind of just disbanded as lives changed and technology increased. 

Fun memories. Sometimes, I wish we could go back to this age. 

Thanks, Facebook, for the inspiration to remember and write. 

Say Hey

The Say Hey Kid has died. 

Willie Mays passed away earlier today at the age of 93, first reported by the San Francisco Giants on Twitter/X. 

It is with great sadness that we announce that San Francisco Giants Legend and Hall of Famer Willie Mays passed away peacefully this afternoon at the age of 93. pic.twitter.com/Qk4NySCFZQ

— SFGiants (@SFGiants) June 19, 2024

A player who I always enjoyed reading about and watching videos of, in large part because he is my dad's favorite player. 

Mays is arguably, one of, if not the greatest player in MLB history. 

Some are going to say Babe Ruth, others may say Hank Aaron. And others. It's a good debate. 

In my mind, it's Mays. 

Prior to his death today, I don't think there was any question that he was the greatest living player. 

Then you've got the discussion of the outfielders. From DiMaggio to Mantle to Mays to Snyder to Aaron and again, others. So many greats. Such a terrific era of baseball and too many we have now lost. Time marches on. 

As for Willie....

660 home runs.

.301 average. 

Two-time NL MVP. 

Two-time All-Star.

12 gold gloves. 

1954 World Series Champion.

And so much more.... including "The Catch."

Greatness. 

From New York to San Francisco and back to the Big Apple. 

Mays spent the majority of his major league career with the Giants. 

From 1951-1952* and 1954 through the beginning of 1972. 

He spent the rest of 1972 and 1973 back in New York with the Mets before retiring. 

*Mays also spent part of 1952 and all of 1953 in the military. 

Hope Willie is talkin' baseball in heaven with Mickey and The Duke (and Scully). 

Say Hey, Willie

Fairfield Graduation Day 2024

The high school graduations in Fairfield were held on Thursday. 

As you can assume, I was at the Ludlowe for their ceremony. (Wouldn't it be great if they weren't at the same exact time. I know that won't happen. The only time that happened were the COVID graduations at the beach.)

With that being said, congratulations to everyone at Warde as well who graduated. This is a class, especially the baseball seniors, who I have gotten to know decently well. I'll never know the Warde students, especially the baseball players, as well as I do the Ludlowe students. It's just the way it is. That's not to take anything away from the Warde people. 

As for the ceremony at Ludlowe, it went well, in my opinion. 

It was different because of the setup of the stage and the field. The stage was closer to the parents and families and the staff and faculty were faced in the opposite direction as we have been in the past. 

I've made it very clear on social media and on previous blog posts how special this Ludlowe class is for me. It's the baseball seniors, the basketball seniors and so many others. Obviously, mostly athletes, but even some non-athletes. 

I know I've used the word "special" to describe other classes throughout the years. Each one is special in a different way. 

I realize I am saying a lot of what I have said and am saying I said in my posts about the Ludlowe basketball and baseball seasons, but it extends beyond just those guys. 

It's just so many great kids. Respectful, caring young men and women. 

A lot of the students who I have gotten to know just from their high school time, but many I have known before they were in high school. With the number of years I was a camp counselor, there are so many kids every year who I had as campers when they were younger. It's awesome to watch them grow as people. 

Even those who I have only known in high school, friendships and bonds developed that will last a lifetime. 

As much as I want to give shoutouts, there are just too many people to name, and I don't want to leave anyone out. 

It's also the parents and families. We get to know so many of the parents and siblings and they are terrific. Some of them help out with events, and others we just talk to at games and other events. 

Then it's The Nest leaders, Scotty, Stuart, Freddy, Kiera, Katherine and Kayleigh. They had to not only lead the student section but deal with me asking them to post things and get information out about games, fan buses and things like that all year long. 

To this group as a whole, you have been through a lot. Coming in as freshman in the fall of 2020 having to wear masks as we were still in a pandemic, changes and losses of teachers and coaches, personal issues, some more documented than others and so much more. 

As was mentioned in one of the speeches at graduation, everyone's path isn't always a straight line. There are ups and downs. It's not about how you got to the finish line, it's that you persevered and got there. 

You are a resilient, caring group of individuals. 

Because of this, and so much more, you will go on and do great things in life. 

I probably rambled a little too much here, but I felt like I needed to note this class. 

Such special individuals that make up a special group. 

2024 Ludlowe Baseball Season

The 2024 varsity team (Photo: Jennifer Gibson)

The 2024 Ludlowe baseball has come to a close. 

First off, these are my thoughts as an assistant coach and as a writer/blogger, I write about things like this. I am not speaking for our Head Coach, Ken Geriak (although I'm sure he echos a lot of what I am about to say.)

It was a special season. While we didn't win anything, it was a special group, especially the senior class. Obviously, we would like to win, but high school sports are about so much more than that. It's about growing a person (different than one does in the classroom) and building and strengthening connections, friendships and bonds. Both players with other players and players with coaches. 

So proud of this group. This team dealt adversity as a team through the years, including this year. They dealt with a number of injuries and other issues and yet bonded together. There was also personal adversity, outside the team, that these guys dealt with through the years. All of this is not uncommon, unfortunately. But it is part of the story. 

This group cared about one another. It was a varsity team comprised of seniors through freshman, some playing more than others. Everyone embraced their roles. 

To recap the season a bit. 

We finished the regular season at 12-8, 7-8 in the FCIAC. 

We missed out on the FCIAC tournament by one game but earned the number 16 seed in the Class LL state tournament. 

We started 9-0, before losing three in a row. Then the second half of the regular season was up and down. Some great wins were beating St. Joe's, Greenwich (twice) and Newtown, to name a few. 

In the state tournament, we defeated Simsbury 2-1 in the first round, before falling to the top seed, Southington 7-3 in the second round, ending our season. The Southington game was closer than the score. We held a 3-2 lead in the fifth inning, in large part thanks to a two-run HR from senior captain Ben Crawford*. 

*Please go read the article Scott Ericson wrote on Ben earlier in the season. Just a tremendous young man and a tremendous family. I could write more but I'm not going to embarrass Ben (any more than I have already done.) Plus, Scott did a terrific job at telling the story. 

Congratulations to all our guys who were recognized by the FCIAC. Ben Crawford and Spencer Bradley were named All-FCIAC First Team. Kieran Scruggs and Cole Gibson were named All-FCIAC East Division and Luke Scaglione, Liam Grady and Dylan Davis were named All-FCIAC Honorable Mention. 

So many people to thank for making this season possible. 

Thank you to Art Cockerham for your photos and your graphics for the Instagram and Twitter. 

Thank you to Ludlowe students Stuart Kagel, Alex Parent, Sam Graziano and everyone else who was involved in the booth operations this season, including the scoreboard, PA announcing and the music. 

Thank you, Jennifer Gibson and Stacey Scruggs, for photos and videos. They were great for the boys to have, as well as for social media. 

Thank you to Amy Crawford, Jodi Moore, Dan and Andrea Seek, Kristen Frame, Kerry Veas, Katie Grady, Renee McGuire and anyone else I am forgetting for all your involvement in helping make this season (and the last few) as special as it was for the boys and the entire program. No offense intended if I didn't mention someone, just going off those I know who were involved off the top of my head. That is the issue with trying to list people by name and give credit where credit is due. 

There's so much behind the scenes that the parents do that people don't know that make our lives as coaches easier and more important, make it an enjoyable experience for the boys. 

From fundraisers, to team dinners, to roster lanyards, to senior day, to the banquet, and other things I am likely forgetting. 

Thank you to Phil Veas for his involvement in Fairfield American Day. A terrific community day and an important day for our program. 

Thank you to all the parents, those mentioned and everyone else, for your support of your kids, and all the boys, as well as the entire program. 

A great job by the entire coaching staff, and I am honored to be a part of. From our leader, head coach Ken Geriak, to Jeff Love, Tommy Howell and Chris Howell (with a nod to Vin Riccio). 

To this senior class. You are an extraordinary group of young men. Great players, better people. I know it's cliche, but it's so true about this class. 

Personally, with no disrespect indented to past classes, from top to bottom, this is a favorite class of mine. Some groups I have been very close with some guys, but this seems to be a class I am closest with as a whole. A lot of them I have only know in high school, but I have gotten to know them well since their freshman year. I was around their freshman team a lot for a number of reasons. 

Then there are guys I have known before high school, as I had some as campers with Fairfield Parks and Rec camp**, some I knew because of their siblings, some I knew from broadcasting and watching the Fairfield American Little League games, and some I just knew from around town. And there is plenty over overlap on my dealings with them in the groups listed above. 

**Having Gavin McGuire and Jack Veas twice as campers was a blast. When they were going into third grade and then going into sixth. From talking baseball, both professional and their games, to them convincing me to let them play basketball while the rest of the campers watched a movie. Good memories. 

To the seniors: Ben Crawford, Cole Gibson, Luke Scaglione, Liam Grady, Luke Anderson, Spencer Bradley, Gavin McGuire, Jack Veas, Sawyer Crays and Will Burnham. Thank you and best of luck you will all do great things in life! 

I'm going to miss this group, but I hope we stay connected. As I've said to them, they are "my guys for life." 

A special season. 

The 2024 Seniors (Photo: Stacey Scruggs)

The 2024 Seniors as freshman in the spring of 2021 (Photo: Contributed)

Baseball and Lacrosse Saturday

Warde/Enfield baseball quarterfinal action

The Ludlowe baseball season ended earlier this week. I will have more on that soon in a separate post of its own. 

Once the Ludlowe baseball season ends, I often think my sports year for high school sports is over. I say this every year. And it never is. I find games and events to go to. It's just different. 

With that said, I turned Saturday into a doubleheader of Warde and Ludlowe sports. 

First, it was over to Warde to watch their baseball state quarterfinal game. The Mustangs, the number two seed in Class LL, hosted the seven seed Enfield. 

It was a terrific ballgame. A pitcher's duel between Warde's Austin Howard and Enfield's Jake Lubanski. 

The game was scoreless through four and a half innings before Warde got on the board in the bottom of the fifth. 

The Mustangs did what the Mustangs do. They used their speed and smarts as they scored three runs on only one hit. They took advantage of Enfield's mistakes while also being aggressive on the bases to put the pressure on Enfield and make thing happen. 

Howard and Hayden Lee did the rest for Warde on the mound. Enfield did put two on in the sixth, but Howard got out of it thanks to a diving catch by Carson Swaim in right field. 

Howard threw six innings allowing four hits and two walks, while striking out seven and walking just two. Lee came on to throw a perfect seventh to get the save. 

Warde advances to the state semifinals for the third year in a row. They will face Staples on Tuesday at a location and time to be determined. 

After that game ended, I headed to Ludlowe for their boys' lacrosse state quarterfinal game with Guilford. 

The Falcons came out with a 15-7 victory. 

Ludlowe took a 3-1 lead after one quarter, then broke the game open in the second, outscoring Guilford 6-0 in the quarter to take a 9-1 halftime lead. 

The Falcons won the third quarter, 4-3 before Guilford won the final quarter, 4-2, but it wasn't enough as Ludlowe came away with the victory. 

Ludlowe advances to the Class L semifinals where they will face St. Joe's on Wednesday. Time and location are to be determined. 

This is the first state semifinal appearance in school history. 

So yeah, I am definitely not done with high school sports for the year. In addition to these two teams, Ludlowe softball won their state quarterfinal game on Friday and advance to the state semifinals this week. 

Busy week ahead. Plus, the Barnums season is underway. We will see what games I end up at. 

Let's keep the sports going.