Warde's Softball "Bridesmaids" Suffer Another Heartbreaking Defeat in FCIAC Title Game

Just three years after longtime coach Bill "BJ" Johnson fielded the first softball team at Andrew Warde High School, the Lady Eagles captured the Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference championship in 1977. However, 31 years later, the Warde girls are still in search of a second conference crown.

The Fairfield Warde Mustangs dropped a heartbreaking 3-2 decision in nine innings to Westhill High School last Thursday, May 22, in the FCIAC championship softball game at Pioneer Park on the campus of Sacred Heart University. The adjacent photo shows some members of the Lady Mustangs moments after the game ended.

It was a devastating loss for the Warde girls, who made a habit of fighting until the end and pulling out wins in the late innings. That formula helped fifth-seeded Warde win 11 straight and 13 of 14 heading into the title game against the number-two seeded Lady Vikings.

Unfortunately, finishing as conference runner-up is nothing new to Warde softball. Mr. Johnson, who retired as the skipper of the squad following the 1996 season, vividly recalls many painful defeats he and his team experienced over his 22-year reign.

"We won so many (Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference) East Division East titles (that) it seemed to other schools it was always Warde (in the East) and Norwalk in the West. Of course it all came to be playing for the state championship in front of 3,200 fans," he continued. "(It was a) good show, (but a) bad ending," Mr. Johnson lamented.

He consistently fielded winning teams, and he was always proud of the efforts of his players. "There were so many great teams and great players, many of whom went on to play in college," Mr. Johnson pointed out.

One year before claiming their lone FCIAC crown, the 1976 Lady Eagles (pictured above) provided the foundation for a solid program. After opening with a scrimmage victory over the University of Bridgeport, the squad finished with a 7-9 record. Warde was led by co-captains Marti Causey and Gayle Johnson.

Sophomore pitcher Joan Raiselis (seen below) pitched two no-hit games and earned a spot on the All-FCIAC team. The first no-hitter came in the season-opener against Central, and her next gem was thrown against Stamford Catholic.

Juniors Betsy Niesyn and Jill Niedermeier, sophomores Cindy Link and Martha Schwartz, and freshmen Mary McCarthy, Grace Rodriguez, and Sue McFarland were starters in 1976 who gained valuable experience on the way to winning the league championship the following year.

As for last Thursday's game, when the winning run crossed the plate many of the players from Warde (17-6), including pitcher Gina Treglia (seen at left), crumpled to the ground and buried their faces inside their gloves.

"This was the best season we've had in a long time at Warde, and the girls should be proud of what they accomplished," Mustangs coach Gary Quiricone said. "They're tough kids and they'll bounce back for the state tournament."

The Mustangs lost the 1986 and 1987 FCIAC finals when the school was known as Fairfield High School. "We put everything out there that we could," Warde senior Casy Duffy said.

"I've been coaching for 20 years, and that was one of the best games I've seen two teams play," Westhill coach Tom Pia said. "It was one of those games where it's a shame somebody has to lose."

Always a bridesmaid ...

Paul

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Eagles Nest & Wolcott House Foster Child Club Helped Warde Students Provide Service & Give Back to the Community

Two service-oriented clubs which afforded Andrew Warde High School students an opportunity to give back to the community were the Eagles Nest and the Wolcott House Foster Child Club. Both clubs were well-represented and illustrated the concern Warde students had for the less fortunate.

According to the 1976 Flame yearbook, the one organization at Warde which was solely concerned with the charities in the Greater Bridgeport area was the Eagles Nest. Under the leadership of Miss Goggin, the club organized an annual charity drive in December.

The club members made posters which corresponded with the different charities being served. The members also were responsible for collecting money and recording donations.

Concerned Wolcott students (pictured below) who cared about poor and underprivileged children formed the Wolcott House Foster Child Club. Over the course of several years, the club enjoyed much support from both students and teachers.

The club's goal every year was to support a foster child. To accomplish this, the members had to raise enough money every month to send to the child for food and clothing. The campaign for money started at the beginning of every new school year, and the response from the Wolcott students and teachers was tremendous.

The most rewarding aspect of the annual campaign, though, was the happiness of the foster child, who wrote numerous thank you letters to the school.

Were you a member of either club? Share your memories in the "comments" link below.

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Fairfield Citizen-News Asks: Why Is It So Cold and Windy at Warde High School?

The following article was written by Fairfield Citizen-News sports editor Pat Pickens and published today. Tony Procaccini and Paul Piorek, from the AWHS Class of 1976, contributed to the article along with former coaches Ed Bengermino and John Honey.

Sitting in Kiwanis Field's press box in mid-April as one of the most beautiful days of the spring at the time passed, I was freezing.

The wind was blowing in off of the Sound, and it made the 60-plus-degree day feel like about 40. Sitting with me was Ludlowe's public address announcer Art, who said: "The two coldest places in town, here and Warde's baseball field."

I had been to Warde only once at the time, on a similar day earlier in the week, and wondered, "How can on a day this nice, with no water around, can it be this cold?"

The parents, fans and family members of Warde feel the same way. Every time there is a baseball game at Warde, parents come prepared with blankets and coats. They constantly ask each other "why is it so cold here" or "it is a beautiful day everywhere else, and it's freezing here." Even the Ludlowe parents can attest that there is something different about the weather at Warde.

"It's really cold," Warde athletic director Chris Manfredonia said. "It is windy and cold, I think it is from the wind that blows off of the Sound."

Even softball games are cold. The trees that cover the right side of the infield cause a sun-covering effect. But the real question is why?

Needless to say, a professional was needed to answer a question like this. Enter News Channel 12 weather anchor Paul Piorek, who is both a meteorologist and a 1976 graduate of Andrew Warde High School and Fairfield resident.

"Warde high school is one of the highest elevated places in Fairfield," Piorek said. "The higher up one goes, the thinner the air gets. Also the higher up one goes, the windier it gets.

"That's why on the calmest days on Route 1 or on Black Rock Turnpike, at Warde it will always be windier and colder there."

Warde is 177 feet above sea level and only the Catamount area in northwest Fairfield is higher than the school at the corner of Melville Avenue and Knapps Highway.

"The property was donated in the 1950s and it was one of the highest elevated places in town," Piorek said. "It's been cold since the school opened, and has always affected outdoor sporting events."

Ahh yes, those outdoor sporting events that have been impacted over the years. This simple reporter has only been cold, and (one time) drenched by the wind and elements over at Warde, but what about those who have been attending, competing in, and working games for years over at Warde?

"The wind impacted us by blowing the infield dirt into the air and causing batted balls to go either farther or for less distance, depending on the direction of the wind," Former Warde baseball player and 1976 graduate Tony Procaccini said. "That also made it hard for outfielders to position themselves. I should know; I was one of them.

"I could blame the wind for my four-base error against Stamford, but I won't."

Former baseball coach Ed Bengermino would know about the weather and wind at Warde. He was the varsity baseball and volleyball coach for a number of years.

"The springtime is the worst," Bengermino said. "When you're coaching on that field, you have to get your players ready to play, and it is cold and windy, and I had hats and coats on and the guys are looking at me like 'what are you doing?'

"A lot of times I would start things out by saying 'in Boca, Raton, Fla., it's 85 degrees and the guys are playing their 35th game right now.'"

Bengermino also has memories of games and practices of past players. "One time we were out on the field practicing and it was cold, so we go outside and it started snowing and sleeting," Bengermino recalled. "I called them all over at the end and I congratulated them and said 'good work' and I pointed out a kid named Charlie Field, who was our first baseman, and I said, 'Look at Charlie, he's got a smile on his face' and Charlie said 'that's because it is frozen.'"

Bengermino also heard of a way to control the whipping winds around the fields, which never came to fruition. "Originally when they built the high school someone told me that they wanted to have a line of trees down the third base line of our baseball field," Bengermino said. "It got cut out of the budget, I guess.

"Those trees would've made my career a lot easier and a lot longer."

Former Fairfield High boys' tennis coach and current Ludlowe boys' tennis coach John Honey knows a thing or two about the winds over at Warde too. Honey was the coach at Fairfield High before the Blake courts were built, and had a way of dealing with the winds at the Knapps Courts.

"I never put my winter coat away until May 1," Honey said.

"The wind was horrific," Honey continued. "They put up wind screens and the wind blew them down. Every year during tryouts I would ask myself if I really wanted to be the tennis coach."

Honey also has stories of the Warde elements affecting players, and teams, especially in the tryout stages. "Tryouts were the worst. Kids would throw up lobs and the ball would fly back in their face," Honey said. "Then in the early matches, if you were playing with the wind, the ball would go long, and if you were against the wind, it was like a drop shot."

So fans and parents of Warde, take solace in the fact that we now have an answer of why it is colder at Warde than anywhere else in town or in the county. Bengermino also had an idea to protect the baseball team of the frigid temperature.

"It is colder and windier there, more so than any other field in the county," he said. "It's the only field that doesn't have dugouts either."

So bundle up next time you are around Warde. With the elevation and the lack of trees and the wind blowing off the water, it'll make for a fun, but cold and blustery time.

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Watch the AWHS 1976 vintage "film".

Warde's Win Over Ludlowe Stirs Memories of 1976 Classic Comeback for Baseball Bragging Rights

Fairfield Warde High School's 6-3 victory over Ludlowe at the Ballpark at Harbor Yard this month was strikingly similar to the baseball contest between the two schools 32 years ago.

Ludlowe entered each game as the heavy favorite on its march toward state tournament berths in 1976 and 2008. However, as cliche as it sounds, whenever Warde and Ludlowe get together, it's time to throw the record books out the window.

The Crimson Eagles defeated the Flying Tigers at Ludlowe, 4-2, on May 12, 1976, after a dramatic four-run seventh-inning rally. Bob Henry, the crafty southpaw, pitched a complete game three-hitter before a large and enthusiastic crowd.

The weather was sunny and warm on that May afternoon 32 years ago, just about perfect for a ballgame between the cross-town rivals. Paul Rossitto, John Zadrovitz, John Varholak, Tony Procaccini, Tim Kelly, Greg Aiello, and Frank Fekete helped Warde to the exciting victory.

"I started the scoring by hitting a deep sac fly to the left field fence with the bases loaded in the seventh," pointed out Zadrovitz. "I was down, 0-2, on the count, and Brian Lee threw me a knuckleball that didn't do squat. He had thrown me a curve ball the previous pitch, and I was in a hole. I guess he was cocky, so he figured he would mess with me. Unfortunately, I had only warning-track power, but I still got us on the scoreboard. The rest is history."

Henry struck out seven and only walked three in fashioning an impressive showing on the mound. "I told coach Bob Jackson, 'I want the ball,' for that game against our arch-rival Ludlowe," admitted Henry. "I was very upset when Ludlowe's Jim Barletto hit a seeing eye two-run single off me that left us trailing, 2-0. My Dad was never prouder of me after the team came back to win that game."

Henry said his Dad had the game clippings plastered all over the walls at the family gas station, Wells Rest Texaco, on Stratfield Road, until he finished managing the station in 1978.

Procaccini caught the last out, and he still has the baseball to this day. The Eagles finished the season with a 6-12 record, while Ludlowe made the state tournament. Now, thirty-two years later, Warde posted another upset victory over Ludlowe. It seems the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Paul

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Warde Beats Ludlowe, 6-3, at Ballpark at Harbor Yard to Continue Baseball Hex & Town Bragging Rights Over Cross-Town Rivals

The following story is reprinted from the Fairfield Citizen-News. Despite facing the best team in the FCIAC, Warde snapped Ludlowe's 14-game winning streak and beat the Falcons for the third straight year before over 1,000 fans at the Ballpark at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport last week. The game was played Thursday evening, May 8, 2008.

Apparently, a 14-game win streak and the most talented baseball team Fairfield Ludlowe High School has ever had is no match for the hex that Fairfield Warde and the Ballpark at Harbor Yard seems to have on them.

Warde got a complete game pitching performance from senior John Sheets, as the Mustangs staked him to a 6-0 lead and held on to win 6-3 in front of approximately 1,000 people at the Ballpark at Harbor Yard on Thursday night.

The Mustangs earned bragging rights for the third consecutive season over their cross-town foes. Warde defeated Ludlowe 3-2 last year and in 2006 as well.

"We've had three great experiences here," Warde head coach Mark Caron said. "Our kids came out and they played a whale of a game; by far the best game they've played all season."

The Falcons fell to 15-2 overall and 14-1 in the FCIAC. The loss was the first for the Falcons since a 5-4 defeat to Notre Dame-Fairfield on April 2.

"Whenever we play Warde it is an emotional game," Ludlowe head coach Keith O'Rourke said. "These kids grew up together, and there is the belief that they could beat each other on both ends."

Warde had men on base in every inning of the game except the second, and twice left the bases loaded, or else the score could have been significantly worse. The Mustangs left a total of eight men on base in the seven innings.

"We put pressure on them in every inning," Caron said. "When you do that every inning, occasionally you're going to have some men that are left on base."

The Mustangs broke the game open in the fourth inning. Third baseman Eric Burns walked and so did pinch hitter Drew Barlaam. Barlaam, and pinch runner Alex Stanco, each advanced on a wild pitch, and then junior second baseman Kyle Burns singled through a drawn-in infield and both base runners scored. Burns reached second on the throw home to the plate.

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Watch the AWHS 1976 vintage "film".

Andrew Warde High School Hockey History: Talented Eagles' Skaters Just Miss CIAC State Tournament Six Years After Start of Program

The Fairfield Warde High School Mustangs' ice hockey team reached the state championship game for the first time in school history this year. Warde lost to Amity in the title game.

The foundation of the Warde hockey program was constructed 36 years ago when Arnie Larsen, the school's first hockey coach, organized a team midway through the 1972 season.

This is the fifth and final installment on the early days of Andrew Warde High School hockey. Six years after the start of the program, an entirely new cast of talented skaters nearly took the Eagles to the state tournament in 1978.

Andrew Warde High School hockey coach Arnie Larsen steadily built a solid hockey program in his first five years at the helm. By the time the 1977-78 season rolled around, an entirely new cast of talented players believed they were ready to take the Eagles to the next level, a berth in the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference tournament.

The Eagles christened the new season by defeating Wilbur Cross in a shootout, 8-5, on December 3. Sophomore goalie Al Radovic stopped 28 of the 33 shots he faced from the Governors. Tom Larsen tallied the hat trick for the winners to lead all scorers. Cross scored the first goal of the game and the season just 54 seconds after the opening whistle, but Paul Larsen tallied the equalizer midway through the session.

Warde took command of the game for good by scoring two goals within nine seconds early in the final period to snap a 3-3 deadlock. Tom Larsen, assisted by Eric Peterson, tallied the go-ahead goal at 10:26, and Dave Keith followed with an unassisted score after the ensuing faceoff.

The Crimson Eagles were undefeated in their first five games, including a dramatic 1-0 overtime victory over Roger Ludlowe at the Milford Ice Rink on December 17. Randy Carter scored the winning goal in the extra session, and Radovic, the sensational sophomore goalie, turned away all 26 shots he faced. The team also posted a 4-4 tie against Trumbull and a 3-3 draw against Wilton, earning eight out of a possible ten points to start the campaign.

However, Warde lost four of its next five, including a 4-1 setback at the hands of Ludlowe on January 7, and never seemed to fully recover. In fact, the Eagles only won one of their final seven contests to complete a 7-9-4 season, good for 18 points. Warde missed qualifying for the state tourney by just one point, since the last two qualifying teams earned 19 points.

Warde's hopes for a playoff spot were dashed when it dropped a 6-2 decision to league rival Greenwich in the last game of the season on February 13. The Cardinals raced out to a 4-0 lead in the first period, with all four goals coming in a six-minute span against beleaguered goalie Al Radovic. Greenwich added another tally in the second period before Tom Larsen and David Keith notched the final goals of the season for Warde.

Paul Larsen, seen in the photo above, led the team with 32 points on 20 goals and 12 assists, including a six-goal game. Larsen tallied four hat tricks during the season, while Carter and Tom Larsen posted one three-goal game apiece. Eric Peterson tallied four assists in one game.

Defenseman George Swift was voted to the All-State Division II first team. Swift and forwards Paul Larsen, Carter, and Keith were nominated for All-FCIAC selections. Keith was the only senior who played all four years with the varsity team. Swift also had the dubious distinction of leading the squad with 51 penalty minutes.

Despite missing the state tournament by just one point, it was the most successful season yet for the Crimson Eagles' hockey team. The team was invited to a Winter sports awards banquet on March 15th to recognize the school's athletes in basketball, gymnastics, wrestling, track, swimming, and hockey.

The dinner, which included oven-roasted chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, vegetables, rolls and butter, milk or coffee, and dessert, was priced at $2.75. You can't even get a cup of coffee for that today!

Arnie Larsen and the Crimson Eagles' hockey team had become part of the fabric of Andrew Warde High School's sports landscape. In just six years after starting the program, the team came within a whisker of making the state playoffs. Today, the descendants of those hockey pioneers advanced to the state championship game.

The Warde hockey players today are indebted to Arnie Larsen for his hard work, sacrifice, and determination. He should be honored and applauded for starting the hockey program at Andrew Warde High School.

Paul

Special thanks to Arnie Larsen for providing me with the hockey scrapbook for the five-part feature series. The book will be given to Fairfield Warde athletic director Chris Manfredonia to be placed in the school library.

Please sign the AWHS Guest Book.

Visit the Andrew Warde High School Gift Shop.

Watch the AWHS 1976 vintage "film".