Honor Roll call
UMass-Amherst sophomore Liam Lynch achieved Dean’s List status and has a 3.9 GPA…Freshwoman Justyne Collier, an English Major at Colby-Sawyer College, was named to the Dean’s List…Boston Latin junior Conal Lynch was selected to the National Honor Society.
Help keep me in the “loop”
If you know of a “Townie” who is participating in a sports or recreational activity (elementary school, high school, college, or otherwise), please E-Mail me at [email protected] with the information and/or photographs and I will be sure to include them in a column. I’d also love to hear about any honor roll students or scholar athletes, or just about any story which would recognize the accomplishments of past and present “Townies.”
“Townies” sports update
HOCKEY NEWS: Phoenix Coyote defenseman Keith Yandle, son of former BC standout “Buddy” Yandle, represented the Western Conference in the 2011 NHL All Star game…Freshman defenseman John Caldwell notched an assist in Harvard University’s 6-2 victory over Colgate…Sophomore sensation Kevin Flanagan, second in the Catholic Central League with 13 goals, scored two goals for the fourth straight game and 7th grader Sean Wrenn added another tally as St. Clements tied Lowell Catholic by a score of 4-4…Tufts University center Tom DeRosa had a goal and an assist in a 5-3 loss to Amherst…St. Anslem (13-4-0) co-captain Alexa Hingston banged in two goals in her team’s 4-1 victory over UMass-Boston…Malden Catholic junior sensation Brendan Collier leads the MIAA in scoring with 15 goals and 23 assists for 38 points…Boston Latin sharpshooter Conal Lynch, who tallied two goals and four assists in his team’s 6-2 victory over Arlington, is also among the MIAA leaders with 16 goals and 11 assists for 27 points…Standout Latin Academy forward Ryan DeRosa leads the Boston City League with 5 goals and 6 assists for 11 points in 9 games…Boston Latin winger Julia Caldwell (3 goals, 3 assists) is emerging as an impact player in the Merrimack Valley Conference.
BASKETBALL NEWS: Akosa Maduegnunam notched 24 points and 12 rebounds to help #8 ranked Charlestown High waylay South Boston 104-78. Maduegnunam (22 points) and Omar Orriols (18 points) also spearheaded Charlestown (11-1) to an 88-55 conquest of Mt. Pleasant of Rhode Island…Junior forward Kacie Kelly grabbed 8 rebounds and tossed in 6 points as Mt. St. Joseph dismantled Cristo Rey by a 53-15 score…Kiersten Kelly deposited 11 points in Mt. St. Joseph’s (JV) 21-16 win over Mystic Valley…Patrick Kelly posted 10 points and 4 assists as St. Joseph of Medford (14-0) clinched first place and the #1 playoff seed in the Middlesex Catholic Elementary School League with a 33-25 victory over St. Charles.
Tournament hopefuls with “Townies”
BOYS BASKETBALL W L
Charlestown (ranked #8) 12 1
East Boston 6 3
Boston Latin 7 6
South Boston 3 4
St. Clement 4 7
GIRLS BASKETBALL W L
Mt. St. Joseph 6 8
BOYS HOCKEY W L T
Malden Catholic (ranked #1) 8 2 2
Arlington Catholic (ranked #11) 5 2 4
Austin Prep (ranked #12) 5 4 3
Boston Latin 9 1 2
Latin Academy 6 3 0
St. Clement 6 5 1
GIRLS HOCKEY W L T
Arlington Catholic 4 6 2
(Prep schools boys) W L T
New Hampton School NH 16 8 1
Hebron Academy ME 14 7 1
Belmont Hill 10 5 2
Groton School 10 5 1
(Prep schools girls) W L T
Brooks School 6 7 2
81 Days ‘til Opening Day
The Charlestown Little League program has begun indoor pre-season practice sessions every Tuesday at the Charlestown Community Center gymnasium. However, it is required that all players participating in the sessions be members of the Charlestown Community Center. Membership is free for children and applications are available at the gym desk. The practice times will be 6 to 7 p.m. for 6-9 year olds, and 7 to 8 p.m. for 10- to 12-year-olds. When weather allows, the practices will held outdoors on the field adjacent to the tennis bubble.
The Frosty truck
My dad, a Boston Park League Hall-of-Famer, used to play baseball for the Dick Casey Club, a powerhouse team that was always in contention for the championship. Dick Casey was a long time scout for the Boston Red Sox so he made sure to get the best players on his roster. Their home games were played at Dorchester Town Field and it was not uncommon for the team to draw up to 5,000 spectators for a game, and more than 10,000 for the playoffs.
In the early 1960’s, me and my older brother Dennis began “tagging along” with our dad to his games. I enjoyed it when he played in Dorchester because there was a children’s park on the other side of the towering, concrete first-base-side stands that was usually crowded with lots of kids my age.
What me and my brother discovered, however, was that our dad would often hit the ball over the fence. Denny and I started taking turns checking to see when our dad was going to get up at bat. When he was on double-deck, we would start heading toward the left-center field section of the outfield fence in order to be able to retrieve the ball that would inevitably land behind it. Lots of times we would each go home with a ball our dad had hit over the fence.
The Dorchester Town Field clubhouse was a red brick building located directly behind home plate. It had a large set of granite stairs that led to an entranceway and a spacious area, filled with overused green lockers and long wooden benches, was used by the players (from the Casey Club, Johnson Bombers, Supreme Saints, Mass Envelope or Kelley Club) to change into and out of their uniforms. Sometimes, I’d go in there after a game to let my dad know if Denny or I had retrieved one of his home run balls. The familiar clatter of dozens of pairs of metal baseball cleats walking on a concrete floor would echo loudly as I’d navigate my way around the locker room in search of my dad.
Once, I caught sight of my dad from a distance talking to a well-dressed man, who handed him something that my dad put in his back pocket. I didn’t know what it was, but it made my dad smile. They shook hands and went about their business as I approached. I later found out that my father was paid to play baseball and that the items given to him were rolls of quarters. During the playoffs, he received them before the game.
Armed with this vital information, I concocted a scheme that I would employ during my dad’s next game (which happened to be a playoff game). As me and Denny went about our routine of alternately frolicking in the park and watching our dad play third base, I heard the unmistakable music coming from an approaching Frosty Ice Cream truck. That was my cue to spring into action. As the truck slowed to a stop near the baseball diamond, I sprinted onto the field toward third base. The home plate umpire immediately jumped out of his position, removed his mask and stopped play while screaming “time out.”
As my flabbergasted father inquired “What the heck are you doing?” I calmly explained that the Frosty truck had arrived, that I knew he had a pocketful of quarters and I wasn’t going to leave the field until he gave me two of them (one for me and one for Denny). I knew very well that any intent of malice on my father’s part was an idle threat as he had never lifted a finger against me despite my countless provocations. I stood my ground.
The umpire, on the other hand, was another matter. He instructed my dad to “give your (expletive deleted) kid the money or your team is going to lose the (expletive deleted) game by forfeit.”
I opted for the soft-serve twist with jimmies while Denny devoured a cup of vanilla ice cream with whipped cream. Fortunately, my dad’s team won the playoff game. I sat in the back seat of the car on the way home, out of arms reach, just to be on the safe side. My strategy worked perfectly though because from then on my dad always gave Denny some quarters before each game, just in case the Frosty truck showed up.