Cool night at Thompson

It's a cool night at Thompson Speedway with fans sporting light jackets rather than shirt sleeves, a sure sign that summer is on the wane.
South Killingly's Scott Michalski outdueled Deep River's Danny Field for his third win of the season.
Scott Sundeen finally put an end to Ledyard driver Larry Barnett's win streak as the Douglas, Mass. driver captured the checkered flag in the Limited Sportsman division and Rick Gentes of Woonsocket, R.I. was best in the Late Models as he beat Putnam's Jeff Hartwell to the finish.
It will be interesting to see what transpires in the 50-lap Sunoco Modified feature. Keith Rocco and Bert Marvin had a lengthy, unpleasant exchange in the pits after their heat race. Now they have to go at it for real in the feature.

The next-to-last hurrah for Defenders

It's hard to believe I'm sitting here at the next-to-last home game of the season for the Connecticut Defenders.
Where did the summer go?
Unfortunately for the Defenders, once again, there will be no playoffs. After Pablo Sandoval and Ryan Rohlinger were called up, the Defenders started to fall in the Eastern League standings. With nine games left to play, Connecticut is five games out of first place. Do the math and there's little chance for any postseason action.
About the only unanswered question the last week of the season will bring is whether or not Connecticut can finish above .500. The Defenders finish up their home season Sunday and go on the road for the final week of the season.
The Defenders came into tonight's game one game under the break-even mark, but currently trail Erie, 3-1,after four innings.

Manfredo knocks out McCrary

It wasn't the most popular of decisions when referee Joey Lupino stepped between Peter Manfredo, Jr. and Donny McCrary and stopped the fight between the two 1:24 into the second round with Manfredo walking away with the knockout victory at the Twin River Casino in Lincoln, R.I.
Manfredo hit McCrary with a hard left hook to knock him down early in the second round.
"That's my left hook, baby," Manfredo said. "It's been working for me all training camp and I just saw him crumble to the floor."
Lupino checked McCrary and determined the fight could continue, but Manfredo followed with a combination which left McCrary unable to defend himself.
The second-round knockout gave Manfredo, Jr. the NABF interim super middleweight championship belt.

Manfredo up next

It's taken awhile, but Joey Spina's knockout of Jim Strohl in the second round of their scheduled six-round super middleweight fight has set the stage for Killingly boxer Peter Manfredo, Jr. to take to the ring tonight at the Twin River Casino in Lincoln, R.I.
Manfredo is scheduled to take on a fellow television "contender", Donny McCrary, in a 12-round bout for the NABF interim super middleweight championship.
Other winners on the card tonight included Angel Camacho, Jr.; Sandy Tsagouris, Edwin Rodriguez and Jesus Caro. Two bouts finished in a draw as Bobo Starnino, a crowd favorite in the Providence area, battled Joey McCreedy to a draw. Omar Pena, in his pro debut, battled Rasool Shakoor to a majority draw as well.

Camping out series begins Sunday

The high school football season is underway, at least, the wonderful conditioning part of it all.
High school teams have been out on the field for the last week working off the summer pounds and beginning to throw around the football. No pads were allowed this week, but that all changes when double sessions begin on Monday and scrimmages won't be far behind.The preseason jamborees take place on Friday, Sept. 5 with the official start of the season on Sept. 11.
The Norwich Bulletin begins its coverage of the high school football season on Sunday with our "Camping out" series. We'll begin with the Griswold Wolverines and follow that up over the next 20 days with a story from each of the local high school football camps.

Manfredo fights tonight

"The Pride of Providence" is back in the ring tonight at the Twin River Casino in Lincoln, R.I.
Peter Manfredo, Jr., a resident of Killingly, will be taking on Donny McCrary for the NABF interim Super Middleweight Championship. The bout is scheduled for 12 rounds and is part of a card that will feature eight fights.
Manfredo (30-5, 15 KO's) is scheduled to be in the ring at about 11 p.m.
Two other fights have already been contested with Omar Pena of Providence boxing Rasool Shakoor to a draw in a four-round junior lightweight fight.
Jesus Caro of Providence picked up his second win in his second professional fight as he scored a first-round knock out over Clarence Smith from Brooklyn, N.Y. who was making his pro debut.

Pasteryak picks up home track win

Chris Pasteryak was pretty animated in victory lane at Waterford Speedbowl.
And why shouldn't he have been.
Pasteryak, who ran in the Legends and S-K modified divisions at Waterford, returned to the Bowl as a True-Value Modified driver and captured his first win in the Division.
In fact, he not only captured the win, he blew away the field.
The Lisbon driver opened up a full-stretch lead over Kirk Alexander when the 100-lap race went green for 36 laps. A caution flag on lap 96 didn't help but Pasteryak took off on the rest of the field in the single-file restart and took his first checkered flag.
"It doesn't get any better than this," Pasteryak told track announcer Matt Buckler in victory lane.
Buckler then asked Pasteryak how he was able to make the move off the restart.
"The car was great, weren't you watching," Pasteryak said with a big grin to Buckler.
After that, Pasteryak proceeded to douse his pit crew and other supporters in victory lane with champagne.

Yuhas wins first feature at Waterford

Ron Yuhas, Jr. of Groton hadn't seen victory lane in an S-K Modified since 2005, but that changed tonight at Waterford Speedbowl.
Yuhas took the lead 12 laps into the 35-lap opening feature at Waterford's Wings and Wheels program and survived three restarts to take the checkered flag ahead of Waterford's Rob Janovic.
A large crowd is on hand at the Speedbowl tonight with the NEMA's, True Value Modified Series and ISMA features still to come.

Waterford draws big crowd to Wings and Wheels

The parking lot is chock full and the stands are pretty much the same.
No wonder officials at the Waterford Speedbowl are smiling on this Saturday night.
According to public relations director David Dykes, this program was a risk, but it has paid dividends as he looked over the crowded stands.
Waterford brought in not only the True Value Modifieds for a 100-lap feature, but added a 50-lap ISMA feature, a 25 lap Northeast Midget feature and a 35-lap SK modified feature to the program.
The other thing that has worked in the Speedbowl's favor, the weather has been very cooperative.

A base hit would have been nice

Waterford could have turned this into a real close ball game in the top of the sixth.
Ben Farina reached on an error with one out and an errant pick-off attempt moved him to second.
Pat Epps got just the second hit off Aizenstadt as he slapped it into right field for a single to score Farina. Epps went to second on a base hit by Jake Simon, both advanced on a passed ball, but that's where they stayed as Aizenstadt got a key ground ball out.
Massachusetts champion, Hanover, still leads Waterford 6-3 through six innings.

Waterford catching up

It's not over yet.
Waterford fell behind Massachusetts 5-0 in its American Legion baseball Northeast Regional losers bracket game this morning at Muzzy Field in Bristol.
But the Connecticut champs rallied for two runs in the top of the fourth. Mickey Amanti got the first hit of the game off Massachusetts starter Andrew Aizenstadt, a solid single to center. Amanti went to third and Pat Epps found himself on second after his ground ball was mishandled.
A balk by Aizenstadt allowed Amanti to score and Epps came home on an infield ground out by Jake Simon.
Waterford starter A.J. Turnier has recovered after he allowed nine men to come to the plate and five to score in the first. He set down the next eight batters and got out of a first and third jam in the fourth inning.

Ouch!

The one thing Waterford didn't need, a big first inning by its opponents.
Hanover, Mass. did just that, however, as it sent nine batters to the plate and scored five runs in the first inning to take the big early lead at the American Legion baseball Northeast Regionals in Bristol.
Massachusetts starting pitcher Andrew Aizenstadt helped his own cause with a sacrifice fly to plate the first run for Massachusetts. Jack Hocking had an RBI single as he dropped one in front of Jack o'Keefe in left field. Eric Haughn plated Hocking, who stole second, with a slow grounder that took a bad hop past Pat Quinn at first and into right field.
Haughn came home when Kevin Lambert smoked a shot to center-field for an RBI double, he came home when Ryan McDermott singled past Pat Renehan at third.
Aizenstadt has set down the first six Waterford batters.

Aizenstadt sets Waterford down in first

It won't be easy for Waterford to get its bats going in its second game of the American Legion baseball Northeast Regionals in Bristol.
Hanover, Mass is throwing tall and lanky Andrew Aizenstadt who sports an 11-0 record. The right-hander has struck out 37 and walked only six this season and he put down Waterford in order in the top of the first inning.
A.J. Turnier (4-1) is pitching for Waterford.
As would be expected for an early Friday morning, the crowd for this game is sparse.The weather has so far been cooperative although showers are in the forecast for later on this afternoon. There was a 2 1/2 hour rain delay on Thursday which affected the Waterford game, pushing it back to 7 p.m.

Turnier going for Waterford

The hopes for the Connecticut American Legion baseball champions, Waterford, will rest on the arm of A.J. Turnier this morning.
Waterford fell into the loser's bracket of the American Legion baseball Northeast Regional tournament when it lost to Portland, Maine Thursday night.
That meant little in the way of rest for the weary as Waterford will play Hanover, Mass. this morning at 9:30 a.m.
11 walks were the downfall for Waterford against Maine as both Pat Quinn and Colin O'Keefe had their problems on the mound. That means Turnier will have to be solid today to give the rest of the Waterford staff a little rest.
If Waterford wins today, it will play again tomorrow afternoon.

Bud 150 underway at Thompson

Due to concerns about the weather, Thompson Speedway moved up its running of the Bud 150 for the NASCAR Whelen Modified tour. Rain has been skirting the Northeastern edge of the state, but has not fallen on the race track.
Todd Szegedy leads the race with 23 of the 150 laps run, there was one caution on lap four.
Other winners at Thompson Speedway tonight included Plainfield's Ernie LaRose in the Limited Sportsman division; Scott Michalski of South Killingly won the Mini Stocks race. Keith Rocco was the first across the line in the Sunoco Modifieds, George Bessette won the Pro Stock race and Brian Sullivan nipped Danielson's Glenn Boss in the Thompson Modifieds.

Worries abound at Bud 150

This is one race that the NASCAR Whelan drivers have become decidedly nervous about. The Bud 150 has had a bad history recently at Thompson Speedway as two drivers have been killed in this race in the last three years.
Tom Baldwin, Sr. died in 2004 and last year, John Blewett III lost his life in an accident with his brother, Jimmy, just outside of turn one.
A prayer was said prior to the start of tonight's racing for John Blewett III and the Blewett family is selling memorabilia in his honor on the midway.
The racing started just about on time despite a severe thunderstorm that struck Thompson around 2:30 p.m.
Brian Sullivan won the first feature event as he took the 20-lap Thompson Modifieds race just ahead of Danielson's Glenn Boss.

Thompson still running

A severe thunderstorm passed through Thompson around 2:30 this afternoon, but track officials have been working hard to clear the water from the track and it looks as like the Bud 150 will run tonight.
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour is in town for a 150-lap show that will be preceded by the Thompson Modifieds (20 laps), Mini Stocks (15 laps), Limited Sportsman (20 laps), Sunoco Modifieds (30 laps), Pro Stocks (30 laps) and Late Models (25 laps).
The Bud 150 is scheduled to begin around 8:45 p.m. tonight.
Thompson Speedway's phone system was struck by lightning during the storm and is apparently out at this time.

Big crowd for Wild n Wacky

The line stretched deep into the parking lot on Wednesday night, waiting to file in to Waterford Speedbowl for the Wild 'n Wacky Wednesday features.
The popularity of the Wednesday night series has been growing and the factors could be many.
One thought is that here we are, in the middle of vacation season, and many people have elected to stay close to home and are looking for things to do.
Why not go to the races?
A lot of people apparently made that choice.
It has people at the Speedbowl pleased as punch.
They're looking for a repeat performance Saturday night when the Speedbowl hosts one of its biggest shows ever with the ISMA Super-Modifieds, True Value Modifieds and NEMA midgets.

Who is this guy?

Mike Mooney came to the Connecticut Defenders with little fanfare.
In fact, Connecticut manager Bien Figeuroa said he knew little about his new outfielder Friday night although it was clear that "he had a little pop in his bat."
That could be the classic understatement of the season.
Mooney hit a home run last night and followed that up with a pair of homers in tonight's doubleheader opener against Portland which Connecticut won, 14-6.
Mooney hit one into the Dunkin Donuts sign on the left-field light tower for a first inning grand slam and followed that with a two-run dinger in the fourth. He also added an RBI double in the sixth to give him seven RBIs on the night, two shy of the all-time franchise record.
If anything, everyone knows who Mooney is now.
The Defenders could use more of that production in game two, they trail Portland 2-0 in the top of the third.

Home run derby at Dodd Stadium

The celebrity home run derby was held a couple of weeks ago, this is the Defenders own version of it.
Connecticut has hit four home runs in the first two-plus innings to take a 9-1 lead over Portland.
Mike Mooney hit his second homer for Connecticut in just his third game with the team as he slapped a grand slam off the Dunkin Donuts sign high on the left field light tower.
Antoan Richardson hit his first homer in a Defenders uniform in the second inning and Simon Klink and Dave Maroul both went yard in the third with back-to-back shots.
Here's hoping the Defenders have something left for the second game of this doubleheader.

Waterford has had some scares

Waterford is well ahead of Berlin in the American Legion state championship game, 6-0, at Palmer Field in Middletown after seven innings.
They have had a couple of close calls, however, most of them remedied by pitcher Pat Quinn.
The soon-to-be freshman at the University of Maine saw Berlin load the bases against him in the second inning. Quinn got out of the jam with a nicely executed pickoff at second base in conjunction with shortstop Mickey Amanti.
Quinn got out of a fourth inning first and second pickle with a called third strike and did the same in the fifth inning, only this time with a swinging third strike.
Since then, Quinn has retired the last six batters in a row, has allowed just four hits and has struck out nine.

A beautiful day for baseball

After plenty of battles with the elements, it's once again a beautiful day for baseball and Waterford is taking advantage.
The Zone VI champs are matched up with Berlin in the championship game of the American Legion baseball state tournament and already own a 3-0 lead after the first inning.
Ben Farina took 15-year-old Anthony Marzi over the left field fence on the young lefty's third pitch of the game. Mickey Amanti followed with an infield single, stole second and scored on a Jake Simon double.Simon came around when Jack O'Keefe lofted one over the head of Berlin's second baseman, but Kyle Turnier, who had reached on a fielder's choice, was cut down at the plate attempting to score on the play.
Pat Quinn (8-1) set Berlin down in order with two strikeouts in the top of the inning.
Should Waterford win, it advances to the Northeast Regionals in Bristol beginning Thursday. A loss means a second game today against Berlin, 30 minutes after the first game ends.

Mooney looking good

He's only playing in his second game for the Connecticut Defenders, but he will quickly become a crowd favorite if he keeps this up.
Mike Mooney, who was 0-for-3 in his debut Wednesday night, is two-for-two in the nightcap to the doubleheader with Portland.
The centerfielder doubled over the head of Portland centerfielder Josh Reddick in the second inning and scored. He followed that up in the third inning with a solo homer to left that briefly gave the Defenders a 5-2 lead over Portland.
Portland has since rallied to take a 6-5 lead into the top of the sixth inning.

Bye-bye Johnny

Defenders' on-field announcer Johnny Gill worked his last game for Connecticut against Portland tonight.
Gill is leaving Norwich and will be headed south to work in corporate sales for the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League who are based in Raleigh, N.C.
Gill spent the last five years as on-field announcer for the Defenders, he worked in sales in his off-field guise.

Defenders capture first, 1-0

Connecticut climbed within a game of the .500 mark with a 1-0 win over Portland in the completion of a suspended game between the two teams.
The completion of the game took less time than it did to get it started as there was a one hour, 47-minute rain delay before the first pitch was thrown.
Carlos Sosa scored what proved to be the game's only run when he walked, stole second, went to third on a single by Dave Maroul and scored on a sacrifice fly.
One interesting note; Portland starter Kris Johnson (7-7) took the loss even though he didn't throw a pitch on Friday. Johnson was responsible for Sosa as the game was suspended with Sosa at the plate with a 2-1 count on him.

About time!

The suspended game between the Connecticut Defenders and Portland Sea Dogs is finally underway at Dodd Stadium.
Despite little in the way of actual rain, the threat of rain held off the resumption of the game (originally scheduled to begin at 5:05) until 6:52.
Portland and Connecticut are locked in a scoreless tie with one out in the bottom of the fourth inning. Both games of this double dip are scheduled for seven innings.

Running late? Don't worry, so are the Defenders

The completion of the suspended game between the Portland Sea Dogs and Connecticut Defenders was scheduled to begin at 5:05 p.m.- it hasn't yet.
Some rain has passed through and more is on the radar still to come which may mean it will take awhile to get this one started.
The two teams are scoreless in the bottom of the fourth in the suspended game. Joey Martinez is pitching against Kris Johnson in the suspended game. Ronnie Ray is slated to go for Connecticut in the second game against Mike James and Portland.

Waterford to race tonight

The Waterford Speedbowl's Wild 'n' Wacky Wednesday race card will take place tonight despite Lake Waterford on the front stretch.
Today's dose of heavy rain left a large amount of water on the infield, including a large body of standing water on the entrance to pit road on the frontstretch. Due to the fact that most cars running tonight have treaded tires, the water is not as big a concern and racing will go on as scheduled although there was a half-hour delay.

Talking mercy in Middletown

No one in the press box wanted to say, but everybody is thinking it.
Waterford has the potential to end its game with Berlin early.
The Zone VI champs own an 8-0 lead in the fifth inning and need just two more runs to invoke the seven inning, 10 -run mercy rule.
The latest Waterford tally came in the bottom of the fifth when Jake Simon reached on an error, stole second, advanced to third on a base hit by Matt Tuneski. Kyle Turnier brought home Simon with a single.
The Legion tournament schedule has also changed due to rain in Torrington today. Windsor Locks and Shelton have to complete a suspended game with Windsor Locks leading, 9-4, through seven. That game has been moved from Torrington to Middletown on Wednesday.
That completion will take place at 11:30 a.m. with the winner playing Simsbury at 1 p.m. Norwalk and Oakville will play at 4:30 p.m.and the winner of that game will play the 1 p.m. game winner.
The only problem, rain is in the forecast for Wednesday.
At least, there are no games in Torrington.

Turnier in control for Waterford

A.J. Turnier has pitched three innings of two-hit ball for Waterford against Berlin at Palmer Field in Middletown tonight.
Turnier got the side in order in the first inning, but allowed a lead-off single in the second inning. Matt Carasiti was stranded at second base after Turnier made a nice play covering first base.
Turnier also allowed a single to Jake Matuszak in the third inning, but he never left first base. Turnier struck out two in the third inning and has three K's for the game.
Waterford helped its pitcher in the bottom of the third inning with three more runs. Matt Tuneski drove in his third run of the night when he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, a ground out and a passed ball produced the other two runs.

Amanti's arm looks OK

If there was a question about Waterford shortstop Mickey Amanti's arm, it was answered in the first inning.
Amanti, who experienced numbness in his throwing arm in Waterford's 8-6 win over Oakville earlier today, had to range to his right to get a ground ball by Joe Balowski of Berlin and threw across his body to get the runner.
A.J. Turnier put Berlin down in order in the first inning, but Berlin's 15-year-old southpaw starter Anthony Marzi did not do the same.
Ben Farina had a check-swing, infield single, but was out on a force play. Amanti reached on the force play and went to second on an errant throw. Pat Epps walked and Amanti scored when Simon reached on an error. Matt Tuneski then delivered two runs with a solid double to left field.
That gives Waterford a 3-0 lead going into the second inning.
The winner of tonight's game advances to the American Legion state tournament championship game Friday night here at Palmer Field in Middletown.

Waterford readies for Berlin tonight

A trip to a pizza restaurant and a little rest, Waterford is hoping that's the ticket to success tonight at Palmer Field in Middletown.
Waterford can't afford to bask in the glory of an 8-6 win over Oakville for long as it has to play Berlin tonight and to the winner of tonight's game go the spoils; a trip into the state championship game on Friday night at Palmer Field.
A.J. Turnier is going to pitch for Waterford tonight against Berlin. The other factor that Waterford has to be concerned about is the health of shortstop Mickey Amanti.
His arm went numb in the sixth inning of the first game due to a recurring nerve problem, but he finished the game.

Wheels back on for Waterford

A half-inning after the wheels almost fell off for Waterford, Ben Farina put them back on again.
The Waterford centerfielder hit a two-run homer to right field to help give Waterford an 8-4 lead over Oakville going into the bottom of the sixth inning.
Oakville had scored four runs in the bottom of the fifth to make it a one-run game,but Pat Renehan walked and Farina deposited one into the empty bleachers in right to make it 7-4.
After a strikeout, Pat Epps walked, Jake Simon singled and Kyle Turnier drove in another run with a single.
Matt Fulton is still on the mound for Waterford.

What the doctor ordered

Waterford needed a good pitching performance from Matt Fulton in its first game today at Palmer Field in Middletown.
So far, it has got just that.
Fulton has held Oakville scoreless through four innings and both the offense and defense have done the rest.
Waterford now leads, 5-0, after a second sacrifice fly from Pat Epps in the top of the fourth inning.
Fulton has allowed three hits, but has also been helped by three double plays.
The winner of this game meets Berlin at 7:30 p.m. tonight in Middletown. The winner of that game advances to the American Legion baseball state championship game on Thursday night.

Waterford is having fun in Middletown

Four runs, three double plays in the first three innings.
It sounds like a winning combination and, so far, it has been for Waterford as it has opened a 4-0 lead over Oakville in the American Legion baseball state tournament at Palmer Field in Middletown.
Waterford scored three more times in the third inning as Ben Farina singled and went to third when Mickey Amanti reached on an error. Amanti stole second, Pat Epps lofted a sacrifice fly and Jake Simon doubled home another run.
After Jack O'Keefe walked, Kyle Turnier singled to drive in the fourth run.
About the only thing that didn't go right was Turnier being thrown out at the plate after a fly ball by Matt Tuneski.
Waterford pitcher Matt Fulton was helped again in the third inning by the third double play of the game for the combo of shortstop Amanti and second baseman Tuneski.

Waterford up through two, 1-0

Waterford knew it had to make the plays to survive.
That has been the case thus far this afternoon against Oakville at Palmer Field in Middletown.
Starting pitcher Matt Fulton has flirted with fire, but has been saved by a pair of double plays. The second of those came in the second inning after Vic DeSimone reached on an error, Mickey Amanti was able to turn a double play at short. Fulton then allowed a single and a walk, but got Kyle Tehan to ground out to end the threat.
The score after two innings, Waterford 1-0.

Waterford has a little early luck

It's nice to be good, it's great to be lucky.
Waterford got a little of that in the first inning of their American Legion state tournament game at Palmer Field in Middletown.
Mickey Amanti hit a one-out chopper that he beat out to first base. A ground out advanced him to second and Jake Simon followed with a hot shot down to third that resulted in a second infield hit.
Jack O'Keefe got the luckiest of all as his pop up to short left field was lost in the sun and dropped for a single that scored Amanti.
Starting pitcher Matt Fulton was also a little lucky as he walked the first two Oakville batters he faced before he got a called third strike. That was followed by a line drive to Matt Tuneski at second who flipped to Amanti for the double play.

Waterford needs as little as three more wins

Hurting.
That's the word from the Waterford bench when it comes to pitching and that could be a key today in Middletown for the Zone VI champs.
Waterford will play a doubleheader today beginning at 1 p.m. when it meets Oakville. If it wins, it goes into a 7:30 game tonight against Berlin, the winner of that game gets a bye into Thursday's state championship game.
If Waterford loses to Oakville, it plays Trumbull at 4:30 and would have to come back tomorrow to play a loser's bracket game either at 4:30 or 7:30 p.m.
Matt Fulton (2-1) gets the nod for Waterford on the mound in the first game today against Oakville.
Weather-wise, you couldn't ask for better as temperatures are around 80 degrees with plenty of sun and a pleasant breeze.
All in all, not a bad day to play two.
That's provided you have the pitching.

Niantic ready to play

The Niantic American Legion baseball team did the smart thing- it stayed in Torrington Friday night.
Trust me, you don't get to Torrington from Eastern Connecticut. At least, not very fast.
Niantic plays Shelton this morning in the first game of the Legion Senior state tournament. Shelton comes in with a 23-4 record and is labeled as one of the teams to beat.
Nate Belke (4-1) gets the nod for Niantic this morning against Shelton's Jason Foster (7-1).
The weather is supposed to deteriorate as we travel through this Saturday. That's bad news for Waterford. The Zone VI champ is scheduled to play Plainville this afternoon at 4:30 here in Torrington.