New Haven Register (Sunday) (New Haven, CT)
Coginchaug falls to Warde as Basil returns to Fairfield
FAIRFIELD — When Warde first baseman Zach Broderick smoked an opposite-field home run to right field in the third inning, you could forgive Coginchaug coach Mark Basil if a little smile crossed his face.
Broderick is a name Basil knows very well having played with Zach’s dad, Mike Broderick, at Warde in the early 1980s.
For the first time as Coginchaug’s coach, Basil was back home at Warde, where he was part of the state championship team in 1981 with the fathers of two current Warde players.
“I played with Mike Broderick and John Swaim. They were all part of the ’81, ’82 and ’83 teams. It’s really cool to see their kids out here and to coach against them,” Basil said. “I played on the state championship team of ’81 and in ’82 we lost in the championship game. My AD knew we were looking for a game and they were looking for a game, not that we wanted to play them because they are so good, but he booked it.”
Warde showed why it is ranked No. 3 in the preseason GameTimeCT Poll, rolling over the defending Class S champions 11-2, moving to 4-0 on the season.
It was the first loss for Coginchaug (2-1).
For Basil, it was a chance not just to return home but also for his young team to see what it is like to play the one of the best teams in the state.
“It is nice being here. Brett (Conner) does a great job and that’s a beautiful team. They are solid through and through,” Basil said. “It was a real learning experience for this group of guys,, we graduated 10 seniors last year. Though we lost 11-2, I think we take a lot away from this game.”
Warde coach Conner was just looking to fill a game on his schedule with a high-quality team and did not find out Basil was a
Warde alumni until the rain delay in the first inning.
“(Warde Athletic Director) Dave Schulz said something to me this week about it but I forgot then during the rain delay someone mentioned it so I went over and had a conversation with (Basil),” Conner said. “It’s a great story and hopefully a great relationship we just built. This could be the kind of relationship where we play them every year for however long. That is a
state-championship caliber coach and he will have his team ready. We would love to play them every single year. These are the games we want to let us see what we have here.”
The FCIAC and Shoreline conferences routinely produce state champions but the two leagues rarely have teams meet in baseball.
In fact, this is the only FCIAC-Shoreline matchup scheduled for this season.
Leading 2-0, Warde
scored five times in the bottom of the third, started by Broderick’s home run.
Warde would get another home run by Jack Andrews in the fourth inning. Warde scored a run in every inning.
Catcher Ethan Covello hit two home runs for Coginchaug.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Aidan Dowd, Warde: The junior pitcher was in control all afternoon mixing his fastball with a nasty slider, striking out 10 and allowing one run in four Innings of work for the win.
QUOTABLE
“We had the fastball filling up early and dropping in the slider too, just filling it up and getting a lot of strikeouts and going to work,” Dowd said. “The energy today was immaculate. When the hitter are hitting and I’m out there throwing strikes, it’s the best thing ever.”
WARDE 11 COGINCHAUG 2
COGINCHAUG ................... 000 101 0—2 WARDE ............................ 115 211 X—11 Batteries: W—Aidan Dowd (W), Zach Barry (5), Carson Swaim (7) and Roman DiGiacomo; C—Conner Willett (L), Jayson Penny (3), Anthony Morro (5) and Ethan Covello.