NFA softball, Norwich Sports Hall of Fame, Taylor Swift, other thoughts

Just thought I’d empty out my reporter’s notebook while wishing all of our local teams the best of luck as state tournament play gets underway …

*Despite losing to Waterford in the Eastern Connecticut Conference tournament championship game, the Norwich Free Academy softball team seems ready and capable to make a deep run in this year’s Class LL tournament.

The battle-tested Wildcats feature a pair of terrific pitchers in Hailey Smith and Jill Dykema, a top-notch defense led by shortstop Melina Graziano, center fielder Emma McAvoy, first baseman Leah Manke, and catcher Aubrey Martin, and a heavy-hitting lineup that recently welcomed back Madison Waltke from a season-long knee injury.

“That’s a really good team,” Waterford coach Andy Walker said. “They’re a program that is well respected around the state. They had a lot of determination to beat us and we knew we were in for a battle.”

The fifth-seeded Wildcats (15-5) earned a first round bye. They will host the winner of No. 12 West Haven and No. 21 Conard on Wednesday, May 31 at DePina Field in Norwich.

“Our team chemistry is huge and that’s what is motivating us and pushing us,” NFA coach Athena Jaskiewicz said. “The bye is huge. We set ourselves up in a good spot for sure. We’ll have a day off or two and get refocused.”

2023 Norwich Sports HOF inductees announced

*The Norwich Sports Hall of Fame, which has celebrated Norwich’s finest athletes for over 50 years, announced its 2023 Hall of Fame inductee recipients. This year’s outstanding class includes Raymond Bernier, Kafi Davis, Tony Gizio, Jennifer Guernsey, Robert Larkham, Danny Murphy, Nate Murphy and John Padgett.

Other award recipients include Leonard Miller (Joseph Kapteina Service Award), Sarah Ericson, Cedric Smilien and Tyson Wheeler (Sportspersons of the Year), Norwich Tech’s Caitlyn Flynn and NFA’s Anna Ricketts (Thamesville AC Scholarship Award), NFA’s DeAndre Ducael and Norwich Tech’s Joshua Hanks (Jack Lonardelli Memorial Award), and the Legends Teams recognition to NFA Wrestling 80’s-90’s.

The banquet takes place on June 11 at the Holiday Inn.

*In last Sunday’s Boston Globe, which still has the best sports section in the country, columnist Kevin Paul Dupont wrote a terrific piece on the Shelburne Falls (Mass.) Bowling Alley. The building, a quaint, clapboard-sided house, opened its doors to candlepin bowling in 1906.

In the early 1970s, my grandmother took my two brothers and me candlepin bowling every Saturday. The alley was in Malden Square. I remember my late brother Eddie got mad over something and tossed his ball towards the low ceiling where it hit some lights and the broken glass rained all over our lane. I don’t think we went bowling the following week.

“A walk through the alley’s front door, much like the village center itself, is a delightful, nostalgic stroll back in time,” Dupont wrote. “Other than the clickety-clack of the automated pinsetters, and the welcomed relief of an air conditioner, it’s very much the candlepin bowling experience of six, eight, 10-plus decades ago.”

I need to get to the Shelburne Falls Bowling Alley soon.

*The Killingly High School Alumni Athletic Association Hall of Fame is holding their annual meeting on June 8 at 6:30 p.m. in the school library. The agenda will include, but is not limited to, the nomination of the association Executive Committee; president, two vice-presidents, secretary, treasurer and three at-large members. Alumni, coaches past and present, and all friends of Killingly Athletics are invited to attend.

*The Boston Bruins Game 7 loss against the Florida Panthers isn’t looking so bad now, right? During their incredible run to the Stanley Cup Finals, the Panthers showed once again what is needed to navigate the grueling NHL postseason: a bone-crunching defenseman (Radko Gudas), a hot goalie (Sergie Bobrovsky), a superstar (Matthew Tkachuk), and a seasoned, veteran coach (Paul Maurice).

Maurice, by the way, was the coach of the Hartford Whalers when the team moved to Raleigh after the 1997 season and became the Carolina Hurricanes. Maurice led the Hurricanes to the 2002 Stanley Cup Finals where they fell in five games to Scotty Bowman’s Detroit Red Wings.

*Speaking of the Whalers … I love that Gov. Ned Lamont is trying to get the Arizona Coyotes to relocate to Hartford. It’s time to get an NHL franchise back to our hockey state and a professional sports franchise, in general, to Hartford.

*Fun stat of the week: In their first 92-career playoff games for the Boston Celtics, Jayson Tatum and Larry Bird have both scored exactly 2,191 points. It’s a good day, indeed, when you are mentioned in the same sentence as Mr. Larry Bird.

*I saw the Pope celebrate Mass on the Boston Common; I interviewed one of the most beautiful women in the world, Paulina Porizkova, at R.J. Julia’s Cafe in Madison; and I stood in the pit at Giants Stadium and saw Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band perform the entire “Born to Run” album.

I saw Bobby Orr score a goal, Carl Yastrzemski get his 3,000th career hit, Doug Flutie throw a touchdown pass in the Cotton Bowl, and John Havlicek sink a game-winning shot in the NBA Finals (before they put one second back on the clock).