CHECKING IN WITH ... LIAM FLANAGAN
(Editor's note: The Day will be publishing a profile of a spring athlete for each day the high school athletic season was scheduled to be played before it was canceled.)
School: Old Lyme High School
Class: Senior
Sport: Baseball
Position: Pitcher/catcher
College choice: University of New Haven
Chosen major: Criminal justice with a focus in police science
Favorite sport besides baseball: Basketball
Athlete you grew up admiring: Dustin Pedroia
Checking in with Liam: "I would like to say thank you all for all the memories throughout the four years I have played. We have been through some rough times and also good times, but it has been some of the best times of my life."
What you need to know about Liam: Flanagan loves fishing and hunting with his dad and his friends and also enjoys video games. Like every spring athlete, he was revved up about this season. "I was most looking forward to surprising a lot of people because I think we were one of the best teams in the Shoreline (Conference)," he said. He also played for the TCB Hammerheads and the CT Crush. The right-hander's best pitch is his curveball that he could throw from 12-6 (the direction the ball breaks in relation to the hands on a clock) or 3-9. The toughest hitter he's faced is Jack Colella of Old Saybrook — "he just hits bombs off of me," Flanagan said. Flanagan's favorite class at Old Lyme was electric vehicle design. "I love the small school atmosphere (at Old Lyme) because we all know each other and we all mostly get along and it's fun," he said. "I did grow up with all my teammates playing with and against them in both Little League and AAU. I have been playing baseball ever since I could walk." He hopes to walk on the New Haven baseball team and chose the school for its academics because he'd like to be a state trooper after college.