Semifinals

Here's what we're looking at for semifinals on both diamonds:

Softball-
Wednesday, June 10
Class L: #1 Naugatuck vs. #5 Waterford, 4:00 PM at Moody Field, Middletown
Class M: #1 Seymour vs. #4 Lauralton Hall, 7:00 PM at West Haven HS
Class M: #6 Woodland vs. #2 St. Joseph, 4:00 PM at West Haven HS

Baseball-
Wednesday, June 10
Class M: #8 Holy Cross vs. #5 Ellington, 3:30 PM at Muzzy Field, Bristol

Quarterfinal Scores

Baseball (and we can now include softball) quarterfinals are today:

Baseball-
#8 Holy Cross vs. #17 St. Joseph- UNH at 4:00 PM
#10 Wolcott vs. #18 Waterford- Palmer Field at 7:00 PM

Softball-
#1 Seymour vs. #8 Griswold- Seymour HS at 4:00 PM
#6 Woodland at #3 Rocky Hill- Rocky Hill HS at 4:00 PM
#1 Naugatuck vs. #8 Maloney- Naugatuck HS at 4:00 PM

Report any scores here; we'll post them too when they're posted to the CIAC website.

Second Round Games

Only 3 NVL teams are left after 5 went down in the first round yesterday.

#1 Seymour vs. #16 St. Joseph, 3:30 PM at French Park
#8 Holy Cross vs. #9 East Catholic, 3:30 PM at Holy Cross HS
#10 Wolcott at #7 Foran, 3:30 PM at Foran HS

Not sure about the other games, but I will definitely take St. Joseph to win. They looked absolutely outstanding yesterday and hit the ball even better than I saw Seymour hit in 3 games against Woodland. They said they have a lefty going today.

State Tournament Brackets Released

State tournament brackets are out. Most of the NVL's participation will come in Class M, but three teams qualified in Class L. Play opens Monday afternoon.

Class L:

#21 Crosby at #12 Middletown, 7:00 PM at Palmer Field
#24 Torrington at #9 Fairfield Ludlowe, 3:30 PM at Fairfield Ludlowe HS
#25 Watertown at #8 Notre Dame-West Haven, 3:30 PM at ND-WH

Class M:

#1 Seymour vs. #32 Joel Barlow, 3:30 PM at French Park
#8 Holy Cross vs. #25 Killingly, 3:30 PM at Holy Cross HS
#10 Wolcott vs. #23 Tolland, 3:30 PM at Wolcott HS
#16 Woodland vs. #17 St. Joseph, 3:30 PM at Woodland HS
#27 Ansonia at #6 New London, 3:30 PM at New London HS

Brackets can be found here:

Class L
Class M

NVL Semifinals

2:00 PM- #2 Holy Cross vs. #6 Crosby
4:45 PM- #1 Seymour vs. #4 Woodland

Both at Municipal Stadium. Post scores if you got 'em.

NVL Tournament

Straight from the Rep-Am:

NVL baseball tournament seeds-

1. Seymour 19-1
2. Holy Cross 16-4
3. Wolcott 15-5
4. Woodland 13-7
5. Ansonia 10-10
6. Crosby 10-10

Saturday’s quarterfinals (at Municipal Stadium)-

Woodland vs. Ansonia, 12:30 PM
Wolcott vs. Crosby, 3 PM

Tuesday’s semifinals (at Municipal Stadium)-

Wolcott-Crosby winner vs. Holy Cross, 2 PM
Woodland-Ansonia winner vs. Seymour, 4:45 PM

Wednesday’s final at Municipal Stadium, 4:30 PM

Regular Season Finale

Thursday is the last day for a few NVL teams, but for others, it's just the start of meaningful games. Here's the season finale schedule:

Naugatuck at Woodland, 3:30 PM at Woodland HS
Kennedy at Sacred Heart, 3:30 PM at Municipal Stadium
Wilby at Watertown, 3:30 PM at Deland Field
Wolcott at Seymour, 3:45 PM at French Park
Ansonia at Crosby, 6:30 PM at Montoe Park

Holy Cross beat Torrington, 8-0, on Wednesday, to wrap up the Copper Division. The Crusaders will have the #2 seed in the NVL tournament and will play on Tuesday against the winner of the #3 Wolcott/#6 Crosby game.

I'll take: Woodland, Sacred Heart, Watertown, Wolcott, and Ansonia.

Monday 5/18 Games

A couple big games on tap for Monday:

Woodland at Kennedy, 3:30 PM at Municipal Stadium
Torrington at Sacred Heart, 3:30 PM at Fulton Park
Ansonia at Seymour, 3:30 PM at French Park
Crosby at Wilby, 3:30 PM at Montoe Park
Watertown at Wolcott, 5:00 PM at Wolcott HS
Holy Cross at Naugatuck, 7:00 PM at Naugatuck HS

Crosby holds the edge, at 9-8, for the final spot in the NVL Tournament starting Saturday. Torrington and Naugatuck are both 7-10, and essentially need to win out and get some help from the Bulldogs to make the tourney. Holy Cross/Naugy is the huge game of the night. If Holy Cross wins, they pretty much wrap up the Copper Division (unless they suffer an unlikely upset later in the week), but if Naugatuck wins, the door is wide open for Woodland to win out and take the Copper.

I'll take: Woodland, Torrington, Seymour, Crosby, Wolcott, and Holy Cross.

Thursday/Friday Games

A few big Thursday/Friday games to end this week:

Thursday-
Crosby at Watertown, 3:30 PM at Deland Field
Wilby at Kennedy, 3:30 PM at Municipal Stadium
Seymour at Torrington, 4:00 PM at Fuessenich Park
Woodland at Ansonia, 6:30 PM at Nolan Field

Friday-
Naugatuck at Crosby, 3:30 PM at Municipal Stadium
Holy Cross at Wolcott, 3:30 PM at Wolcott HS
Sacred Heart at Watertown, 3:30 PM at Deland Field

Lot of good games here. Just on a side note, once again disappointed in the Rep-Am for covering the Torrington/Watertown game instead of Seymour/Woodland, as are most people I've talked to. Seems like they always have something against coming up to the Woods for a real game story...

Anyway, post scores here.

Mon. 5/11 Recap . . . Tues. & Wed. Preview

On Monday, we had a bunch of interesting divisional matchups, which featured top-tier pitching, timely hitting, and overall, very close outcomes.

Ansonia 6 Wilby 2 -- The Chargers (9-6) took advantage of several miscues in the Wildcat defense to lead them to the vistory. Ron Bilodeau led Ansonia with an RBI triple in the first inning. Christian Dzienkiewicz went the distance, giving up two runs on eight hits, striking out five. Jefferson Germosen led Wilby (4-11), going 2-for-3 with an RBI.

Holy Cross 10 Sacred Heart 2 -- Holy Cross (12-3) scored five runs in both the third and sixth innings, behind hot-hotting from Tim Bessette, who contributed a single, double, and three RBIs. Kyle Murphy (6 IP, 3 K) and Chris Beauvis (1 IP, 1 K), contribured a one-hitter. Nick Rosa and Jim Caporale both had an RBI for Sacred Heart (5-10).

Woodland 5 Torrington 4 -- Nick Boucher of Woodland (8-7) knocked in Jason Skibek with the game-winning in the bottom of the 7th to lead the Hawks to victory. Kyle Georgia picked up the win, going the distance and striking out 11. Conor Bierfeldt pitched well for Torrington (6-9) in the loss and also had a single, double, and two runs scored.

Seymour 2 Watertown 1 -- The undefeated Seymour Wildcats (15-0) survived a scare from the Indians at French Park, surviving 2-1 behind a HR by Chris Renzoni in the 5th. Watertown (5-9) was led by CF Matt Quatrano with a sac fly in the 2nd, scoring Brad Mahar. Sophomore Mitch Kelly pitched well for the Indians, going six innings, giving up two runs on eight hits, while striking out two.

Naugatuck 4 Kennedy 2 -- Arber Mehmedi and Brandon Halbert led the 'Hounds to the win with three hits each. Rich Pimental picked up the win for Naugatuck (6-9), going six innings and giving up just two runs. James McMahon had two hits and Jimmy Joy had an RBI single to lead the winless Kennedy Eagles (0-15).

Wolcott 4 Crosby 0 -- Spencer Kane dominated the Bulldogs, giving up one hit with nine strikeouts, bringing his record to 6-1 on the year. Kane also hit a 3-run HR to put Wolcott (11-4) over the top. The win gave Wolcott coach Tary Scott his 200th career win. Ferdinand Agosto had the lone hit for Crosby (8-6).

Tues. 5/12 Schedule --

Crosby at Watertown, Deland Field, 3:30

Wed. 5/13 Schedule --

Seymour at Woodland, WRHS Field, 3:30
Wilby at Holy Cross, HCHS Field, 3:30
Watertown at Torrington, Fuessenich Park, 3:30
Crosby at Kennedy, Municipal Stadium, 3:30
Sacred Heart at Ansonia, Nolan Field, 6:30
Wolcott at Naugatuck, NHS Field, 7

I will take Watertown over Crosby this afternoon. Tomorrow, I pick Seymour, Holy Cross, Watertown, Crosby, Ansonia, and Wolcott to win.

Till next time,

NVL Baseball

Weekend Preview and Scores

With only 7 games left in the regular season, we are heading into the home stretch here on the NVL Baseball Blog, with several teams fighting for state tournament berths. On top of that, we've got a bunch of key divisional games on tap this weekend.

Friday, 5/8 --

Woodland at Holy Cross -- A huge Copper Division game on Oronoke Road between the Hawks, the division leader at 5-0 and 7-6 overall and the Crusaders, who trail the Hawks by one game at 4-1 and 10-3 overall. Despite the mid-season losses of two key players, the Crusaders have continued to play well. The Hawks have been blowing by all Copper opponents behind the superb pitching of Kyle Georgia. Undoubtedly, this is a huge game in the Copper Division. I look for ace Kyle Murphy to pitch a gem, leading the Crusaders to a huge win.

Kennedy at Torrington -- Torrington is one of the NVL teams standing at 5-8, and with 7 games left, are in need of 3 wins to gain entrance into the state tournament. Kennedy has had a rough season in the rough and tumble NVL, but have been showing signs of improvment these past few games. I expect Torrington to win this game, but I think Kennedy is only games away from their first win.

Seymour at Wilby -- Without a doubt, the Seymour Wildcats at 13-0 are the cream of the crop this season. The Wildcats have it all -- Pitching, hitting, defense, chemistry, etc. Around the league, everyone is wondering who can knock off the 'Cats. Despite being 4-9 on the season, the Wilby Wildcats are a solid team who have come very close to winning in a number of games. I consider Wilby the most underrated team in the league. If you sleep on them based on your record, you will be walking away with a loss. In this one, I think Seymour will win, but this will be a close game. Having said that, I think if Seymour doesn't come to play, don't be surprised if Wilby walks off with a W.

Wolcott at Ansonia -- Another very interesting matchup here against two of the better teams in the league. In their first matchup, Wolcott beat the Chargers 4-0. Again, I look for a very low scoring game and just a classic high school pitcher's duel. Whoever wins will be the team that makes the routine plays and runs the bases smart, but aggressive at the same time. I look for Ansonia pitcher Pete Lovermi to have a huge start for the Chargers, picking up the win.

Saturday, 5/9 --

Naugatuck at Sacred Heart -- This should be a good game as well between two teams that really need a win to stay in the state tournament hunt. The Hearts have probably been the biggest disappointment in this league thus far. Coming into the season, I think all of us expected the Hearts, with 10 or so seniors, to challenge for a NVL and State Championship. The 'Hounds, on the other hand, are right around where I expected, with a very young team. I am going to take the Hearts in this one as Darryl Wilson has a huge game.

As you can see, we've got some interesting matchups and big games on tap for this weekend. I certainly can't think of a better place to be than at an NVL baseball game!

Post all scores/recaps for Friday and Saturday here!

And, also, check out the new blog poll found on the right hand side of the hompage. The question is -- Who will win the Copper Division? Voice your opinion!

Till next time,

NVL Baseball

Wed. 5/6 Games

Here's our schedule for Wednesday.

Crosby at Woodland, 3:30 PM at Woodland HS
Watertown at Kennedy, 3:30 PM at Municipal Stadium
Wilby at Sacred Heart, 3:30 PM at Fulton Park
Seymour at Holy Cross, 3:45 PM at Holy Cross HS
Wolcott at Torrington, 3:45 PM at Fuessenich Park
Ansonia at Naugatuck, 6:00 PM at Naugatuck HS

I'll take: Woodland, Watertown, Sacred Heart, Seymour, Wolcott, and Ansonia.

Mon. 5/4 Games

Again, looks like rain for Monday's games, but if your game goes as scheduled, you can report your scores here.

Fri. 5/1 Scores

If the games for Friday are still on, post your scores here afterward. Sacred Heart/Seymour is the headliner, with Seymour being the obvious big favorite.

Wed. 4/29 Games/Scores

Before we start with the games for Wednesday, we can take a quick look at each division's standings, as we're through the first half of divisional play:

Brass
1. Seymour (9-0; 5-0)
2. Wolcott (6-3; 3-2)
3. Ansonia (6-3; 3-2)
4. Crosby (6-3; 2-3)
5. Watertown (4-5; 2-3)
6. Wilby (2-7; 0-5)

Copper
1. Woodland (5-4; 5-0)
2. Holy Cross (7-2; 4-1)
3. Naugatuck (3-6; 3-2)
4. Sacred Heart (3-6; 3-2)
5. Torrington (3-6; 1-4)
6. Kennedy (0-9; 0-5)

Here's Wednesday's games:

Holy Cross at Ansonia, 3:30 PM at Nolan Field
Naugatuck at Watertown, 3:30 PM at Deland Field
Sacred Heart at Wolcott, 3:30 PM at Wolcott HS
Torrington at Crosby, 3:30 PM at Crosby HS
Woodland at Wilby, 3:30 PM at Montoe Park
Kennedy at Seymour, 3:45 PM at French Park

I'll take: Holy Cross, Naugatuck, Wolcott, Crosby, Woodland, Seymour. Post your predictions and scores here.

Mon. 4/27 Predictions & Scores

First off, I'd like to apologize to our readers for my lack of updates this past week or so. I was very busy with personal matters, making it hard for me to keep info (scores, standings, etc.) on the homepage updated daily.

Anyway, as we move along in the baseball season (so glad we finally have baseball weather!), we begin to have more and more important divisional matchups. And on Monday, we have some critical early season matchups within divisions on tap.

Woodland at Naugatuck - The Hawks seem to be coming together as a team after a sluggish start. They have been smoking past divisional foe, racing to top in the Copper. Naugatuck, while very young, has surprised me so far. This should be a very good game. Greg Rice will likely be on the mound for the 'Hounds. I am going to go with Naugatuck in a tight game, 6-4. Sorry Kyle! Haha.

Holy Cross at Torrington - Holy Cross came into the season as the favorite to win it all and I think their out struggles out of the gate have quieted those talks. However, despite the weak start, they have been coming on as of late. I think there is too much Holy Cross for Torrington to handle here. Crusaders win easily 7-1.

Sacred Heart at Kennedy - The Hearts have without a doubt been the disappointment of the league so far this season. However, despite their struggles, I still think they are one of the better teams in the league overall and can put on a huge win streak at any time. Kennedy has been over-matched all season long, but continue to work hard. Hearts win, and start to catch fire, 5-0.

Crosby at Ansonia - This should be a great game of two Brass Division rivals. Both teams have gotten off to great starts this season and are near the top in the league. The Chargers have really surprised me this season and I can see them being there in the end. This is a game to go see for sure. I'm going to go with Ansonia though, 5-4.

Watertown at Wilby - Watertown started the season off solid, but has been struggling a bit as of late against divisional foes of Ansonia and Wolcott. I look for the Indians to get back on track on Monday with a win against an underrated Wilby team, 7-5.

And finally, the big game, Seymour at Wolcott - Without a doubt, this is the game of the day. For me anyway, this game has NVL Championship game implications this early in the season. I believe these two teams match-up at almost every spot and it should be a dandy. The pitching matchup of Chris Renzoni vs. Spencer Kane is special enough in itself. I picked Wolcott from the beginning, and I'm going to with them here, as the Eagles win it, 3-2 in a classic high school pitchers duel.

That is a wrap for Monday. We've got some great, great games on tap for Monday, so you'd be foolish not to check out a game or two on Monday. I know I will!

Till next time,

NVL Baseball

PS - Got any ideas for a new poll on the blog? Post 'em in the comments!

Mon. 4/20 Predictions/Scores

The league's starting to work itself out a little bit, as we can see that Seymour and Wolcott are probably 1-2 in the league. But there's a bunch of teams in the middle, including Naugatuck, Woodland, Holy Cross, Torrington, Crosby, and Ansonia, and a few more teams in the hunt, such as Watertown and Sacred Heart.

This week we'll continue to get a little more separation. Here's our Monday games:

Wolcott (4-1) at Holy Cross (3-2), 3:30 PM at Holy Cross HS
Kennedy (0-5) at Wilby (1-4), 3:30 PM at Montoe Park
Watertown (2-3) at Sacred Heart (1-4), 3:30 PM at Municipal Stadium
Crosby (4-1) at Naugatuck (2-3), 3:30 PM at Naugatuck HS
Ansonia (3-2) at Woodland (2-3), 3:30 PM at Woodland HS
Torrington (3-2) at Seymour (5-0), 4:00 PM at French Park

I'll take: Wolcott, Wilby, Sacred Heart, Naugatuck, Woodland, and Seymour.

All these games scheduled for Monday were postponed due to rain until Tuesday. Still, post your predictions/scores here.

Fri. 4/17 Games/Scores

Here's our Friday games:

Torrington at Watertown, 11 AM at Deland Field
Kennedy at Crosby, 11 AM at Crosby HS
Ansonia at Sacred Heart, 11 AM at Municipal Stadium
Holy Cross at Wilby, 12 PM at Montoe Park
Naugatuck at Wolcott, 3:30 PM at Wolcott HS
Woodland at Seymour, 3:30 PM at French Park

Highlight of the afternoon looks to be Woodland/Seymour, with Torrington/Watertown and Naugy/Wolcott potentially being solid games too.

I'll take: Torrington, Crosby, Ansonia, Holy Cross, Wolcott, Woodland

Wed. 4/15 Games/Scores

Here's our next set of divisional games for Wednesday:

Seymour (3-0; 1-0) at Watertown (2-1; 1-0), 11 AM at Deland Field
Wolcott (3-0; 1-0) at Crosby (2-1; 0-1), 11 AM at Crosby HS
Ansonia (2-0; 0-1) at Wilby (1-2; 0-1), 11 AM at Montoe Park
Sacred Heart (0-3; 0-1) at Holy Cross (1-2; 0-1), 1 PM at Holy Cross HS
Kennedy (0-3; 0-1) at Naugatuck (1-2; 1-0), 3:30 PM at Naugatuck HS
Woodland (1-2; 1-0) at Torrington (2-1; 1-0), 3:45 PM at Fuessenich Park

I'll take: Seymour, Wolcott, Ansonia, Holy Cross, Naugatuck, Woodland.

Post your predictions here, and since we have a bunch of early games, post your scores here if you've got 'em.

Mon. 4/13 Scores

Post 'em if you got 'em!

Till next time,

NVL Baseball

Mon. 4/13 Predictions

First day of games during most schools' Spring Break. Monday's games are the first divisional games of the year.

Copper:
Torrington (1-1) at Kennedy (0-2), 11 AM at Municipal Stadium
Sacred Heart (0-2) at Naugatuck (0-2), 3:30 PM at Naugatuck HS
Holy Cross (1-1) at Woodland (0-2), 3:30 PM at Woodland HS

Brass:
Wilby (1-1) at Seymour (2-0), 11 AM at French Park
Watertown (1-1) at Crosby (2-0), 11 AM at Crosby HS
Ansonia (2-0) at Wolcott (2-0), 1 PM at Wolcott HS

My picks: Torrington, Sacred Heart, Holy Cross, Seymour, Crosby, Wolcott.

Thurs. 4/9 Scores

Post 'em if you got 'em!

Also of note, Woodland / Crosby has been moved from Crosby HS to Fulton Park this afternoon at 3:30.

Should be a great day of baseball with Holy Cross / Seymour as the highlight of the day. Woodland / Crosby and Naugatuck / Ansonia are also decent games.

Till next time,

NVL Baseball

Thursday 4/9 Schedule

Post your predictions here:

Naugatuck at Ansonia, Nolan Field, 3:30 PM
Woodland at Crosby, Crosby HS, 3:30 PM
Kennedy at Watertown, Deland Field, 3:30 PM
Sacred Heart at Wilby, Montoe Park, 3:30 PM
Holy Cross at Seymour, French Park, 3:45 PM
Torrington at Wolcott, Wolcott HS, 3:45 PM

I'll take: Naugatuck, Woodland, Watertown, Sacred Heart, Holy Cross, and Wolcott.

Wed. 4/8 Scores

Post 'em if you got 'em!

Also, a small schedule change - Holy Cross / Watertown has been moved from HCHS Field to Deland Field in Watertown due to field conditions at HC.

The results are in from the first NVL Baseball Blog poll. The question was - Who will win the 2009 Naugatuck Valley League Baseball Championship? 32 votes were cast... And the results...

Seymour - 10
Holy Cross - 7
Naugatuck, Sacred Heart, Wolcott - 3
Torrington - 2
Crosby, Ansonia, Wilby, Woodland - 1
Watertown and Kennedy - 0

Till next time,

NVL Baseball

Copper Division Preview

The Copper Division should be a pretty competitive one this year. We have Holy Cross, Sacred Heart, Naugatuck, and Woodland all to look out for near the top of the division.

Holy Cross figures to be the division favorite. They lost nearly nobody from the Class M runners up a year ago. They boast one of the best one-two pitching punches in the league, with seniors Kyle Murphy and Tim Bessette, and Ryan Plourde will be ready to fill in at any time. The Crusaders also return All-NVL catcher Christian Cuevas and have experience all the way around the diamond with Kyle Tehan and Rob Pagliaro, to name a few.

Sacred Heart could be a surprise to the league. They come off a semifinal appearance in the Class S tournament and look to build on that success this year. The Hearts return a solid pitching staff, including seniors Matt Finkenzeller, Darryl Wilson, and Jim Caporale, along with catcher Luis Serrano and position players Chris Chieffo and Brandon Spadolino. They are not to be taken lightly.

Naugatuck has a strong group this season as well, coming off an appearance in the NVL tournament. The Hounds will look to senior Greg Rice as their number one pitcher, while Chris Cretella and Matt Zahornasky will see time on the mound as well. Shortstop Xavier Ortiz is a solid leadoff hitter.

Woodland will have to overcome the loss of six seniors, including pitchers Steve Corbett and Mark McKay and second baseman Cody Kingsley. The Hawks will be relying on a bunch of new faces to fill in some of the gaps left. Key returners include pitcher/shortstop Nick Boucher, pitcher/catcher Jason Skibek, centerfielder Ryan Genua, and infielders Kyle Georgia and Mike Diurno.

Torrington has had a few down years in a row after consistently being one of the top teams in the league. It may be difficult to rise to the top again with the strong top of the division this year, but the Red Raiders will try with pitcher Conor Bierfeldt. They also return a few position players, including Matt Fabiaschi, Mike Tedesco, and Jimmy Fuchsman.

Kennedy will probably be at the bottom of the division again, although they showcase some decent players, including James McMahon, James Joy, Ryan Coleman, and Roberto Quinones. Coach Gregg Pugliese said this about his team: "Kennedy's goal this year is the same as it has been, making the state tournament. This can be accomplished with strong senior leadership, consistent pitching, and minimizing defensive mistakes. I am confident that we will score
runs, but we must remain fundamentally sound to be competitive."

And since it's just about time to kick off the season, here are my Opening Day predictions. Feel free to comment about my Copper outlook or add your own predictions for the day.

Seymour over Naugatuck
Holy Cross over Watertown
Wilby over Torrington
Ansonia over Kennedy
Sacred Heart over Crosby
Wolcott over Woodland

Brass Division Preview

With the season beginning on Wednesday (hopefully mother nature will hold up!), it is time to take a more in-depth look at each team and how they should fare this upcoming season.

My Brass Division champ is Wolcott. The Eagles will be solid this season and I believe that they will also contend for an NVL Championship. They return a good core of players, including Steve Catalina, a solid pitcher who throws in the low 90s and is probably the Eagles best offensive player, Spencer Kane, a top-tier pitcher, and Ryan Pelletier, a very versatile player, every coaches dream.

Up on French Street, Watertown should be a solid team as well this season. Despite being a young team, they return a lot of players from the solid Freshman and JV squads from last season. The Indians will be near the top in the pitching department. The key for the Tribe will be hitting. Keep an eye on Freshman pitcher Tom O'Brien, who is absolute show-stopper on the mound, clocking in in the mid-80s.

Seymour lost a lot this past season, but also return a lot as well. They return some solid players in shortstop/pitcher John Murphy and catcher Danny Perez. You can never count of Bob Kelo and the 'Cats in the championship hunt. They never rebuild, they just reload. I expect the Wildcats to be near the top when all is said and done.

Every year there is one team that you call the "sleeper" team. This year, for me, that team comes out of the Brass in Crosby. I think the 'Dogs will be a solid team this season with all-league talent in Kody Kerski and Victor Gonzalez returning. Word on the street is that they have some new players who are solid.

Two teams that are somewhat of an uknown for me are Ansonia and Wilby. I don't remember the Chargers returning much from last season's team. Tom Bilodeau, the Chargers football quaterback star, is one of their top returnees this season. Mike Vacca is a veteran coach of 30+ years in the valley and he always seems to have his team in the state tournament hunt. Not much on Wilby either, but they could be a decent. These two teams are the two that I have to wait-and-see on.

Those are my thoughts on the Brass Division. This is a pretty good division with 4 teams that I think could make some noise in the league this year. I look forward to reading everyone's thoughts on the Brass! Just an update on what is to come on the blog - Kyle will be posting his Copper Division preview tonight or tomorrow. Be sure to check back for that. Tomorrow, either myself or Kyle will be posting a game prediction post for Wednesday's games.

Till next time,

NVL Baseball

City Jamboree Canceled

The City Jamboree scheduled for Saturday at Buck's Hills Park in Waterbury has been canceled due to wet field conditions. It will not be rescheduled as the regular season begins Wednesday.

That is too bad, as this promised to be a great event for city high school baseball. Hopefully we will see it again next season.

Till next time,

NVL Baseball

Scrimmage Schedule (Fri. 4/3 through Mon. 4/6)

Below is the scrimmage schedule from Fri. 4/3 through Mon. 4/6. Again, I likely do not have every scrimmage listed here, so if you know of one not included in this post, please do not hesitate to comment. As always, if you've attended a scrimmage, be sure to recap the game for us on the blog!

Fri. 4/3:

Thomaston at Kennedy, Waterville Park (Wtby.), 3:30
Branford at Naugatuck, Naugatuck High School, 3:30
Shelton at Seymour, French Park, 3:45

Sat. 4/4:

Pomperaug at Woodland, Woodland Regional HS, 10
City Jamboree, Buck's Hill Park (Wtby.), 10 - Kennedy, Wilby, Sacred Heart, and Crosby will participate. More info to come.
Derby at Ansonia, Nolan Field, 10:30
Watertown at Shepaug, Ted Alex Field, 11
Bristol Central at Seymour, French Park, 11
Torrington at Housatonic Regional, HS Field, 11
Holy Cross at Nonnewaug, Nonnewaug HS, 11
Harding at Naugatuck, Naugatuck HS, 2

Mon. 4/6:

Crosby at East Haven, East Haven HS, 3:30
Amity at Ansonia, Nolan Field, 3:30
Bristol Eastern at Wolcott, Wolcott HS, 3:30
Litchfield at Woodland, Woodland Regional HS, 3:45

We are looking forward to the City Jamboree on Saturday. As noted above, Crosby, Wilby, Kennedy, and Sacred Heart will all be participating. Holy Cross will not be participating due to a scheduling conflict (Scrimmage at Nonnewaug). Here is the schedule for Saturday: Crosby vs. Wilby, Sacred Heart vs. Kennedy, Wilby vs. Sacred Heart, Kennedy vs. Crosby, Crosby vs. Sacred Heart, and Wilby vs. Kennedy. Each game will be 2 innings (full innings regardless of score). Admission is free. It should be a great day of high school baseball.

Till next time,

NVL Baseball

Scrimmage Schedule (Mon. 3/30 through Thurs. 4/2)

Instead of making one long post of all the scrimmages leading up to Opening Day on Wed. 4/8, I have decided to make smaller posts which only include scrimmages for the next few days. This post includes scrimmages for Mon. 3/30 through Thurs. 4/2. I understand that I likely do not have every scrimmage listed here, so if you know of one that isn't listed, please post in the comment window.

Mon. 3/30:

Shelton at Ansonia, Ansonia High School, 3:30
Watertown at Pomperaug, Community Baseball Field, 3:30
Bristol Eastern at Wolcott, Wolcott High School, 3:30
Kennedy at Cromwell, Cromwell High School, 3:45

Tues. 3/31:

Derby at Seymour, French Park, 3:30
Bristol Central at Wolcott, Wolcott High School, 3:30
Crosby at Nonnewaug, Nonnewaug High School, 3:30
Wilby at Valley Regional, Valley Regional High School, 3:45
Kennedy at Wilton, Varsity Field, 4

Wed. 4/1:

Oxford at Naugatuck, Naugatuck High School, 3:30
O'Brien Tech at Woodland, Woodland Regional HS, 3:30
Torrington at Shepaug Valley, Ted Alex Field, 3:45

Thurs. 4/2:

Ansonia at North Haven, Bailey Road Field, 3:30
Derby at Naugatuck, Rotary Field, 3:30
Torrington at Avon, Avon High School, 3:30
Woodland at Newtown, Newtown High School, 3:45
Holy Cross at Pomperaug, Pomperaug High School, 4:15

Like myself, I am sure that many of you will be attending many of these scrimmages, so if you do, please be sure to post a small recap of the game and let us know what the respective NVL team is looking like!

Till next time,

NVL Baseball

Welcome!

Welcome to the Naugatuck Valley League baseball website!

As the winter sports season comes to a close, it is time to look ahead as we enter the spring sports season. I encourage you to check back often as the blog will be continue to be updated as we approach the season.

Within the next few days, we will have a scrimmage schedule for each team in the league. I personally will be getting to as many scrimmages as possible and will be reporting back here at the blog and I encourage all of you to do the same.

Over the course of the season, the blog will feature scores, stats, predictions, commentary, and much, much more!

Till next time,

NVL Baseball