Stamford’s Wainwright and Socci reunite in CCBL
Of all the things to come out of the pandemic and the subsequent shutdowns, two friends reuniting on the baseball field has to be one of the better ones.
With many summer collegiate baseball leagues canceled, former Westhill and Stamford American Legion teammates TJ Wainwright and Leo Socci were both looking for a place to play.
When the Connecticut Collegiate Baseball League expanded for its 13th season, the two players jumped on the opportunity to join a team.
They did so along with nearly every other college player in the state, with spots on rosters quickly filling up with guys eager to get back on the field.
Wainwright and Socci both ended up on the roster of the Manchester Mavericks, bringing the two friends back together for likely the last time on the baseball field.
“It means everything getting to play with TJ again. As we get older, we won’t get to play together anymore,” Socci said. “Once I left Westhill and reclassified at Brunswick, I wasn’t sure I would get to play with any of those guys again.”
In 2018, Socci and Wainwright played together as juniors for Westhill.
Socci, who missed his sophomore year after Tommy John surgery, transferred to Brunswick following his junior year at Westhill.
That move allowed Socci to reclassify as junior, gain
ing an extra year of eligibility but denying him a senior season with Wainwright and his other friends at Westhill.
Last summer, Wainwright played shortstop on the Stamford Senior American Legion team which won the state championship, while Socci spent the summer pitching for Baseball U.
The two have played with or against each other since they were 10-years old. Wainwright was on Stamford North Little League and Socci for Stamford American.
“We have played together for a long time. We played on Pro Swing when we were younger and we played against each other in Little League. It’s fun to play with him again,” Wainwright said. “It is a good experience and it is just fun to be playing again. I really learned
not to take it for granted because just like that, it was over.”
Wainwright was a freshman on the Central Connecticut State University team this spring, but did not get in any of the first 12 games before the season was canceled.
His last time on the field was for fall ball at CCSU in October.
Socci, who is going to UConn in the fall, played a few games in Alabama this spring with Brunswick just prior to the season shutting down.
“It sucks to miss my senior year at Brunswick, I was really looking forward to it. We had a good team coming back,” Socci said. “I missed it, a lot. I was able to go to the field and throw during the quarantine and I have a gym set up in the basement, so I stayed in shape, but it is not the same as playing.”
Socci has had a bit of an easier time readjusting this summer as a pitcher.
For Wainwright, not having hit since the fall made it difficult to get his timing back in game situations while facing guys routinely throwing in the 90s.
“The level of competition is really good,” Wainwright said “The pitchers are very good and the hitters are getting back into it. It has been a challenge. The first couple of games were tough getting back into it. Now, I am getting into the groove a little bit and doing pretty well. Even facing live pitching in practice is not the same as facing a guy in a game.”
The Mavericks will continue playing through the end of July.
And Socci and Wainwright said they will savor every moment they have remaining with each other on the field.