City Baseball Team Assures High School Help is on the Way
By Ken Lipshez | Sport Correspondent at July 13, 2024 | 10:00 am | Print
The shortcoming that was most evident for the young New Britain High baseball team this spring was the lack of offensive production.
Nobody revels in a 5-15 season that falls short of Class LL tournament qualification and miles short of the outstanding semifinal finish of the previous season, but coach Roberto Mercado knows he can rest easy that help’s on the way.
The proof is in the efforts put forth by the New Britain Parks and Recreation Department, the city’s entry in the Farmington Bank/Vantis Life Senior Division. The players deemed too inexperienced to help the Hurricanes advance beyond the CCC West’s second division are putting in their time and the results are first rate.
On Saturday, manager Randy Brochu’s nine used its power speed and a typically plucky performance from Bobby Turka to hold off a veteran Cricket Press-West Hartford squad, 8-6, on the dusty, weed-ridden diamond at Walnut Hill Park.
Miguel Ortiz Jr. started the home first with a triple. By the time the junior-to-be got his motor in gear around first base, he was moving at a pace that will have Mercado inserting him in the leadoff slot without any second thoughts.
Kevin Dukes, the Hurricanes’ starting catcher as a sophomore, followed with a hit. He would reach base in all three plate appearances. Hugh Crundwell, whom Mercado will likely consider at first base next spring, also rifled an RBI single. He later doubled in a run on a vicious shot to center. Crundwell will also be a junior.
Third baseman Julio Jiminez, another junior, continued the first inning with a double. An error on a batted ball by Danny Annear resulted in the fifth and final tally of the frame. Yet another junior – Roderick Green – slammed a double with soon-to-be senior Tyler Gamber aboard to provide an insurance run in the sixth.
“It’s a team we fell to earlier so we’re real happy,” Brochu said. “I thought it was a really gutty performance by everybody. It shows me that these guys are maturing as ballplayers, individuals and teammates. We’re very young, and I thought we showed some maturity today in being able to gut out a win against a very good team.”
Turka is the lone NBHS graduating senior on the squad. Two other New Britain residents – shortstop Eddie Kieltyka and relief pitcher Sean Carroll – played at Xavier-Middletown.
“Turka pitched his heart out as he always does,” Brochu said. “He put us in a good position. We put him in a tough spot with some [errant] plays behind him. That’s why he’s our captain, our leader our ace. He sets the tone for the rest of this team and shows them what it means to be a New Britain baseball player.”
Brochu, armed with a panel of coaches including his mentor Ron Jakobowski, stresses discipline, fundamentals and, perhaps most importantly, love. The result is a well-organized operation both on the field and off, most notably a full roster of players.
“Everyone that puts the New Britain hat or jersey on loves New Britain baseball,” Brochu said. “We’re proud to have been a part of it. [Jakobowski] was my coach, the best I ever played for. It’s an honor to coach with him. I can look at the bench and look at these guys and they make me proud.”
Brochu’s team was 8-3 and headed for the league playoffs after Saturday’s win, but wins and losses play only a small part of what Brochu and his coaches – Dave Lazicki, Frankie Camacho and Rey Arroyo among them – pay it forward for the city’s youth.
“We all have a mutual love for the game so we have a connection,” Brochu said. “My best friends are players I met playing New Britain baseball. I wish for the very same thing for these players.
“Of course we want to win ballgames. Of course we want to win a championship. But at the end of the day, the most important thing is the lessons that you can learn representing New Britain on a baseball field.”
BUZZING ABOUT BEEHIVE: The question on the minds of coaches and players was, “We’re playing an important game against a strong team from West Hartford, so why can’t we play at Beehive?”
The West Hartford coaches made note of the “sandlot” conditions not being appropriate for players at this level. The New Britain coaches weren’t quite as vocal, showing due respect for the New Britain Parks and Rec Department. The great irony as I see it is that they proudly bear the department’s name as a sponsor, yet Beehive, reportedly not in use at the time of Saturday’s game (1 p.m. start), was not made available.
Several people in attendance noted that a considerable sum of money was used to re-sod the field at Walnut Hill, yet a variety of weeds poked their heads high above the grasstops on the infield. Making an investment in the turf then not maintaining it properly brings up some questions.
We talk about the tribulations inherent to youth growing up in the inner city. Many have been prone to join gangs, get involved with drugs and contribute to the crime rate. Here we have young coaches providing the kind of love that instills virtues needed to keep teenagers off the city streets. They are denied an opportunity to play at Willow Brook and don’t even warrant the maintenance required to keep the Walnut Hill diamond properly manicured.
Will somebody tell me if I am missing something here? I just know the kids are.
