Zanor column: NFA Senior Night, Legion All-Stars, and other thoughts

Just thought I’d empty out my reporter’s notebook while rooting for the Texas Rangers, formerly the Washington Senators, to win their first World Series …

*The Norwich Free Academy boys soccer team celebrated Senior Night in grand fashion on Thursday night, topping Fitch, 3-0, on NFA’s Turf Field. The Wildcats got a pair of goals from senior Louis Hawkins, a goal from senior Erik Portillo, and two assists from junior Remington Walsh in what was also their regular-season finale.

Seniors Nathan Judge, Jaden Perkins, Jhon Lopez, Griffin Chapel, and Logan Jenkins also joined Hawkins and Portillo in a nice pregame ceremony with their families.

“It’s a great senior class. I’m definitely going to miss them,” NFA coach Robert Briones said. “We’ve got a couple of kids that are brothers and for them they’re going to appreciate that when they get older. I’m very proud to see that. It’s a great group of kids with good energy, and the leadership is there.”

The Wildcats improved to 9-6-1 and will be a dangerous side during the upcoming Eastern Connecticut  Conference and CIAC Class LL tournaments.

“We’re happy. We had a good season,” Briones said.

Briones, who is in his 27th year as head coach, was also thrilled to see two of his former players attending the game. Jemmy Cange (Class of 2006) and Frantzy Noze (Class of 2007) were All-State and All-New England players for the Wildcats.

“I just came here to see the boys play and have fun,” said Cange, who played collegiately at Barry University in Florida. “They’ve got a lot of talent. They’re having fun and that’s the most important thing. Playing and winning is always good too.”

Cange has had a rewarding career as a high school soccer coach in Massachusetts. He is currently the head girls soccer coach at Belmont High School.

Noze is in his first season as the assistant women’s Soccer coach at the University of Bridgeport. He also coached at Plattsburgh State and was the assistant men’s soccer coach at Connecticut College in 2011.

“They dominated tonight,” said Noze, who played at Post University in Waterbury. “And it’s nice that they get to play here (NFA Turf Field). We always played at Fontaine Field.”

*The Norwich Sea Unicorns have announced preliminary plans to celebrate the 30-year history of Senator Thomas J. Dodd Memorial Stadium throughout the 2024 season. The tentative plans are to celebrate a different year of Dodd Stadium’s history during each home game, starting with the second game of the season.

The Sea Unicorns home opener will be a final celebration of the Sea Unicorns 2023 Futures League Championship.

“We are very excited to have so much going on at Dodd Stadium right now,” Sea Unicorns general manager Lee Walter, Jr. said. “Beginning with the 2022 season, fan engagement with the Sea Unicorns has been incredible. Attendance climbed 53% over 2021 numbers during the 2022 season. We saw another 21% increase in 2023. Now, coming off of a championship run and being able to celebrate Dodd Stadium’s 30th season of baseball, we feel like 2024 will be our best year yet.”

More: There's baseball joy in the Rose City once again thanks to the Norwich Sea Unicorns

*Here’s hoping that @BCgenius doesn’t get his blood pressure out of whack during Saturday’s UConn versus Boston College football game. Go Eagles!

*Speaking of the Huskies … UConn is coming off a 24-21 loss to South Florida in another game that got away from the Huskies late in the fourth quarter. “That was a gut-wrencher there, a gut-grinder,” UConn coach Jim Mora said. “When you play your ass off, when the players played as hard as they could play, when it came down to it, we didn’t do enough as a team to win it. So, a very painful loss.”

*American Legion Baseball Zone 6 Chairman John Krot recently announced the 2023 Zone 6 All-Star Selections. Kudos to Mason Bordeau (SS/3B, Norwich), Anthony Sanchez (OF, Norwich), Chris Southworth (OF, Norwich), Randy Jimenez (OF/P, Norwich), Tyler Ezzel (P/1B, Moosup), Josh Hanks (C,  Moosup), Keon Lamarche (OF/DH, Danielson), Zachary Roethlein (3B, Danielson), Brandon Baker (P,  Danielson), Zion Fraser (CF, Waterford), Justin Saad (P, Waterford), Joe Basso (C, Waterford), Cam McGugan (3B, Waterford), Brian Ingraham (SS/2B, Waterford), Evan McCue (Utility, Waterford), Jack Valliere (C/P, Willimantic), Parker Woodmansee (CF, Willimantic), Gavin Covell (OF/1B, Willimantic), and Sam Lacombe (P, Willimantic).

Zion Fraser (Waterford) was selected the Zone 6 Player of the Year, while Anthony Jessuck (Waterford) was the Pitcher of the Year.

More: Baseball players from Dominican Republic thrive with Norwich Legion team

*Former Griswold track coach Chris Morth has been hired as the head coach for the boys indoor track program at East Lyme High School.

“We are thrilled to hire a quality coach and person in Chris Morth to lead our boys indoor track program,” East Lyme athletic director Kevin Marcoux said. “He has had nothing but success in every position he has held. Aside from being a great coach, he is a tremendous role model for our student-athletes.”

After graduating from Waterford High School, Morth went on to UConn where he was a member of the track team for four years as a javelin thrower. After graduation, he accepted an assistant position at Griswold High School in the spring of 2005. His first season the Wolverines won the ECC, State Class M and State Open title. He was at Griswold for several years before taking the position of assistant coach for the East Lyme Indoor and Outdoor track teams in 2019 under head coaches Carl Reichard and Steve Hargis.

“Since arriving at East Lyme, we’ve continued to build upon the amazing foundation that already existed with a steady flow of ECC and State Championships across all three sports,” Morth said. “I’m looking forward to leading the boys track program moving forward, building upon the great atmosphere and tradition that Coach Steve Hargis created before me.”

Morth has been an English teacher at Fitch High School for the past 13 years. He and his wife, Sarah, live in Mystic with their three children.

*With players already committed to Alabama, Georgia Tech, Northwestern, UMass, St. Bonaventure, and Gardner-Webb, and other Division I prospects still on the roster, two-time defending national champion Putnam Science Academy is ranked No. 1 in the New England Prep School Basketball Coaches Preseason Poll. St. Thomas More School is ranked No. 5.

*Branford author Tim Shea, whose previous books “Fenway Pole Finder” and “Fenway! The Ultimate Fans Guide,” were both must reads for baseball fans going to Boston’s fabled Fenway Park for the first time, has written a powerful and important biography about the life and times of Willie Harris. It is called “Big Man: An Incredible Journey from Mississippi to Hollywood.”

“Big Man is a captivating biography of a Black Mississippi sharecropper who rises from the life of a sharecropper in the Jim Crow South to a career as a Hollywood stuntman, brilliantly documenting this man’s peculiar racial challenges all along the way,” wrote Elijah Anderson, a professor at Yale University. “His story is both compelling and provocative; representing truth-telling at its very best.”

Shea’s book is available on Amazon.

*STUCK IN THE ‘70s:  On October 29, 1975, Boston’s mighty J. Geils Band made a rollicking television appearance on “The Midnight Special” during their Hotline Tour. Peter Wolf and Company ripped through live versions of “Love-Itis,” “Orange Driver,” and “Give It To Me.” “The Midnight Special” was a late-night rock music series airing Friday nights (or early morning Saturdays) on NBC following   "The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson." The show ran from February 3, 1973 to March 27, 1981 with Wolfman Jack as a regular guest host.

Jimmy Zanor is a sportswriter for the Norwich Bulletin and can be reached at jzanor@norwichbulletin.com. Follow him on Twitter@jzanorNB.

This article originally appeared on The Bulletin: Zanor column: NFA boys soccer celebrates Senior Night with win