The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
A second season in cards for Malloves
The area’s summer baseball season is closed for business, which means it’s time for a quick review:
Malloves Jewelers will be back for a second season in the Greater Hartford Twilight League.
Before this season got started in May, the GHTBL last had a Middletownbased club 25 summers ago (also sponsored by Malloves). In addition to a Meriden entry, having another franchise outside Greater Hartford is important. Plus, Middletown has the best facilities — Pat Kidney’s Buzzy Levin Field as the Jewelers’ primary park, plus Palmer Field — and, one would think, a wide draw of talent to remain a viable league partner.
Malloves player/manager Christian Budzik remembered the time he spent on college breaks playing in the TriState League, northwest Connecticut’s version of the GHTBL.
“This league is head and shoulders above that. I think it’s the best Twilight League in the state,” he said. “There are so many expros and college players that are playing. This is a serious league and guys want to win. You see arms in this league (throwing) in the upper80s, into the 90s. You’re not going to go to other twilight leagues and see this quality of playing and throwing.”
The Jewelers went 716 in the regular season and were ousted in the doubleelimination playoffs by a South Windsor team that scored in its final atbat for a 32 victory.
“I thought we improved greatly after the Fourth of July break,” Budzik said. “Most of the players did not play in college, so it took a while for the team to come around. We had a tough time finding a catcher. Anthony Franco did a phenomenal job for us, and then we picked up Brandon Clark from Albertus Magnus.”
Meanwhile, Malloves had one of the league’s top power arms in righthander Marvin Gorgas, a reliever who was released in
March by the Marlins’ Class A Midwest League affiliate. Gorgas won a state title at East Hampton High in 2014 and was drafted that June by the Seattle Mariners in the 13th round.
“He hadn’t thrown a lot prior to the beginning of the season, but toward the end, he hit 95 on the gun once at Dunkin’ Donuts Park” in the regular season, Budzik said.
Gorgas struck out 16 over 61⁄3 regularseason innings.
“Marvin in the late innings was not a bad thing to have in your pocket — 95 with the fastball and 88 with the slider,” Budzik said. “If he doesn’t play (elsewhere), I’ll gladly take him next year.”
Malloves also had one of the GHTBL’s top hitters in Jared Pflaumer. The Middletown High graduate batted .393 in the regular season with a .433 onbase percentage, both team bests, and also led the Jewelers in hits, runs scored, RBIs and total bases. He struck out just three times in 56 atbats.
“He was by far our most consistent player on offense,” Budzik said. “It wasn’t even close. He was phenomenal all year, start to finish.”
Next spring, Budzik is eager to start his second season as Cromwell High’s coach, and one of the reasons is the success of the Rocky HillCromwellPortland Junior Legion team.
RCP won a Zone 3 division title and reached the 17U state tournament championship game, where it allowed a firstinning run to TriCounty and lost 10. Cromwell High’s Zach Zajac, Anthony Gagliardi and Brian Radziewicz were among RCP’s core players and will fill in around older Panthers who expect to make a run at the 2020 Shoreline Conference title.
When the Junior Legion tournament field reached the quarterfinal, singleelimination phase, RCP drew Middletown. Post 105 fell behind 41 early, only to rally from a 52 deficit in the seventh to send the game into extra innings. RCP scored in the 10th for a 65 victory.
Speaking of Middletown, both the 19U and 17U squads again qualified for the state tournament. The 17U team, like RCP’s, finished 166 in its division in Zone 3 and will feed the 19U club with seasoned players again next summer.
Post 75 already held registration for its fall season and will field teams at all three levels — 19U, 17U and 15U. Players from Middletown, Middlefield, Durham, Rockfall, Higganum, Haddam and Killingworth who were born between Jan. 1, 2001 and Dec. 31, 2007 are eligible to play.
BOYLE OR KIZER AT NO. 2?
Unlike a year ago, when he was getting acclimated to being a rookie in the NFL, Middlefield’s Tim Boyle might be playing for the backup role to Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay.
I’m not aware of any competition between Boyle and DeShone Kizer, Rodgers’ backup last season. But, man, Boyle looked incredibly sharp in the Packers’ preseason opener against the Texans. The undrafted free agent out of Eastern Kentucky threw two secondhalf touchdown passes right on the screws.
Boyle wasn’t kidding when he told me in July that his arm strength is better this year than last. He is a pro quarterback, no doubt about it. He put those touchdown passes in spots where the defender had no chance of defending.
Kizer (8 of 13 for 102 yards and a TD) looked equally on his game, so how well he and Boyle perform in whatever time they get Thursday in Baltimore and in the two games that follow, bears watching. Rodgers did not play against Houston and it remains unclear if he will take any snaps in the preseason.
Asked after the Texans game about what he liked most about the play of Kizer and Boyle, Packers rookie coach Matt LaFleur said: “More than anything else was the command. That’s what we’re looking for. I thought they commanded the huddle. It seemed to me that the communication was on point … I just thought the operation was clean.”
SUNSHINE STATE OF MIND
Some observations from a recent Florida vacation:
** The Tropicana Dome is a bright and inviting park, and not at all like the dingy warehouse projected by TV. The ushers are genuine, cheery and happy to assist. As a firsttime guest anywhere, it’s nice being asked if one needs help before one actually needs help. A lesson for the “fan hosts” at Fenway Park and Yankee Stadium.
** On the night of the RaysBlue Jays series opener, the recorded attendance was 11,948. Put another way, the Trop was 65 percent empty. OK, it was a Monday game against Toronto, a team that isn’t trying to win. Still, the Rays play a good brand of ball despite a frugal payroll and no star players. They remain a playoff contender after a 90win season in 2018.
** I wanted to have meaningful conversation with my wife during the game, but I was afraid fans in the bleachers would overhear us (we sat in a reserved section behind the plate). The Trop is uncomfortably quiet with so few fans in the seats.
** The “Charlie Freaking Morton” Tshirt was popular at the Trop. Morton, who struck out nine that night in a 20 loss to the immortal Jacob Waguespack, grew up in Trumbull and played his high school ball at Joel Barlow in Redding. In Little League in Trumbull, he played with Craig Breslow, who played at Yale and pitched for the Middletown Giants of the New England Collegiate League in the summer of ‘99.
** Of Toronto’s three sons of former big leaguers — Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette and Cavan Biggio — the shortstop Bichette plays like the one headed for stardom. He hits for power, runs well, plays with confidence and has a very good arm plus quick release. And he’s got the hair, too.
** Every tenth of a mile, Florida highway billboards tout a lawyer specializing in personal injury.
** Speed limits are respected in Florida, but there is a downside to this.
The left lane is used by many as a personal travel lane, and they refuse to give it up.
** A shoutout to Stephen from North Adams, Mass. He works at Epcot, is a Rays fan and thumbs his nose at the Red Sox. He also helped me map out the My Disney Experience app and closed 475 Safari browser pages (no exaggeration) on my phone.
THIS AND THAT
** Jerry “RemDawg” Remy will discuss his book, “If These Walls Could Talk: Boston Red Sox,” at a special Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce member luncheon Aug. 28 at the Red Lion Hotel in Cromwell.
Remy, a New England icon and former Red Sox second baseman, has been NESN’s color analyst for Red Sox broadcasts since 1988. “If These Walls” was written with longtime Boston Globe sportswriter Nick Cafardo, who died in February.
The event is presented by R.J. Julia Booksellers and begins at 11:30 a.m. Cost is $25 for the luncheon or $44 for the luncheon and book purchase. To register, visit middlesexchamber.com.
** Andrew Cashner, since being acquired by the Red Sox: 14 in five starts spanning 282⁄3 innings, 38 hits, 24 earned runs, 7 home runs, 4.68 ERA, .333 opponents’ batting average.
** On page 53 of the “Wesleyan” chapter of Ian O’Connor’s book “Belichick,” John McVicar recounts the time Bill asked to take his lacrosse teammate’s stick home for the night.
“He restrung my stick so the ball would stay in there better. He taught me how to make my lacrosse stick illegal and then fix it before the ref could catch you. He strung it loose, the depth of the pocket. In those days, the depth could be no deeper than the ball. He made it extra deep. If someone on the other team said I had an illegal stick, Bill showed me how to pull a string to tighten it up and then hand it to the ref.”
One takeaway: Belichick achieved genius status well before McVicar graduated and became a liver transplant surgeon.