The Amity Regional baseball program just made history on Saturday afternoon by becoming the first in the state to win four straight championships.
The Spartans walked off against Fairfield Warde on a walk for a 4-3 victory.
There is a strong local connection via Amity’s coaching staff. Head coach Sal Coppola just finished up his 23rd year of teaching social studies at Wolcott High School. Ironically, the Eagles just won their first state title on Friday night.
“Amity coach Sal Coppola is a teacher at Wolcott High,” tweeted Ray Curren, who does work for the Southern Connecticut Conference. “Rubbing off on everyone, apparently, good stuff.”
Curren made the comment when he shared Ray Bartoli’s championship-winning home run.
Coppola has been the top man at Amity for those same 23 years.
“Congrats to Mr. Coppola and Amity!” read a Twitter post from the Wolcott athletics account.
Amity assistant coach Brian LaRochelle is no stranger to the area, and no stranger to winning championships. LaRochelle is a manager/player on the two-time defending Connecticut Twilight League champion Bristol Knights. LaRochelle got some congratulations via the league’s Twitter account following Amity’s victory.
“Congrats again to Amity Asst. Coach Brian LaRochelle (who we know a little). That guy only wins.”
LaRochelle is a counselor at Amity Regional High School.
Four state champions from the NVL
The Naugatuck Valley League sure knows how to compete on the baseball and softball diamonds.
The league collected four state championships over the weekend. Here’s who did it:
- Wolcott baseball — The program’s first-ever title was clinched on Ray Bartoli’s walk-off, two-run home run in the Class M final against Northwestern Regional on Friday night.
- Holy Cross softball — The Crusaders captured their second straight Class S state championship on Saturday with a 2-0 win over Notre Dame-Fairfield. Meg Dwyer is two years into her head coaching career with Holy Cross, and she has two state titles. Amazing.
- St. Paul baseball — The Falcons beat Morgan 4-2 on Sunday afternoon for their first championship since 1972. St. Paul hadn’t even been in the final since 1976. Vic Rinaldi captured the title in his first season as head coach of the Falcons.
- Seymour softball — One of the best programs in the state claimed its 10th championship. According to a post on the team’s Twitter account, the Wildcats have won nine of those 10 via shutout and have outscored opponents 32-2 in the process. The ninth shutout came in Saturday’s Class M final against Rocky Hill by a score of 1-0.
