Seniors James Frusciante and Lily Rappaport were honored by the CIAC as Staples High’s scholar athletes for the 2012-13 school year.
The two were among 342 athletes recognized at the 30th annual Connecticut High School Scholar Athlete Awards Banquet at the Aqua Turf Club in Southington on May 5.
Each year, the CIAC selects one boy and one girl from each of the high schools statewide “whose academic and athletic careers have been exemplary, whose personal standards and achievements are a model to others, and who possess high levels of integrity, self-discipline and courage.”
Frusciante has been a captain of the football, basketball and baseball teams at Staples this year. He will attend Princeton University in the fall.
Rappaport captained the volleyball team at Staples and is president of the school’s Teen Awareness Group and vice president of the student assembly. She will attend the University of Miami in the fall.
Both Frusciante and Rappaport were nominated by Marty Lisevick, the athletic director at Staples.
The banquet was attended by Lisevick, Staples Principal John Dodig, head volleyball coach Jon Shepro and head football coach Marce Petroccio, among others.
Staples’ Frusciante and Rappaport lauded by CIAC
No-hitter, no problems in Van Zant’s season on the mound
Oliver Van Zant, a Westport native and Greens Farms Academy alum, is enjoying quite the season for Bowdoin College.
Bowdoin College pitcher Oliver Van Zant, of Westport.
A senior pitcher on the school’s baseball team, Van Zant hurled a no-hitter in Bowdoin’s 7-0 win over Colby on April 13.
He struck out out 11, walked none and had two batters reach base on errors in what was the fifth no-hitter in the school’s 146-year history.
“Stuff-wise, I really had a good fastball that day,” Van Zant said on Thursday. “I was throwing harder than usual.”
Van Zant said his fastball usually sits around 88 miles per hour, but he was routinely throwing between 90 and 92 against Colby, topping out at 96.
“I was throwing to spots too, which obviously helps a ton,” Van Zant said.
In 48 innings this season (seven starts), Van Zant is 3-1 with a 1.12 ERA. He’s struck out 54 and walked just seven for the Polar Bears, who are 22-12 on the year.
The Polar Bears’ right-hander has been pleased with the results.
“It’s been great,” Van Zant said. “Nothing really to complain about.”
Lacrosse event at Staples to benefit Sticks for Soldiers
The Staples Lacrosse Association will be holding an event to benefit Sticks for Soldiers at Staples High School on Saturday.
All proceeds from the event — coinciding with the Staples boys lacrosse game against St. Joseph at noon — will support the Sticks for Soldiers Tournament, dedicated to supporting wounded veterans and their families.
The Sticks for Soldiers Tournament is held each November. In seven years, the tournament has raised over $200,000.
A lacrosse shooting contest run by Westport PAL lacrosse will begin at 11 a.m. At approximately 11:45 a.m., there will be a pregame ceremony welcoming Jim Tommins, president of Sticks for Lacrosse. There will also be a color guard and the singing of the National Anthem by a student.
During halftime, third-grade Westport PAL lacrosse will play a game on the field.
Food will be available, and baked goods and T-shirts will be sold.
For additional information about Sticks for Soldiers, please visit www.sticksforsoldiers.org.
Blansfield and Keblish place at Short Course National Championships
The Westport-Weston Family Y Water Rats National Team competed at the YMCA Short Course National Championships in Greensboro, N.C. on April 3-6.
The team finished 33rd out of 55 teams in the men’s division.
Scoring for the Water Rats were Jonathan Blansfield (fifth in the 500 free and 16th in the 1,000 free) and Bryce Keblish (15th in the 200 free).
Water Rat swimmers compete at Short Course Championships
Lily Kernaghan and Esme Hunter of the Y Water Rat swim team competed in the 9-10 age group at the Eastern Zone Short Course Championships from March 28-30 in Webster, N.Y.
Family Y Water Rat team members Esme Hunter and Lily Kernaghan were among 70 swimmers from Connecticut competing at the Eastern Zone Short Course Championships in Webster, N.Y. on March 28-30.
Nine teams, from Maine down to Maryland, participated in the event.
Both Water Rat swimmers competed in the 9-10 age group.
Hunter placed 10th in the 50 backstroke and 50 freestyle, recording her best time in both events. She was also a member of two relays that finished in fourth place. Her split of 27.9 in the 200 free was the second fastest.
Kernaghan placed seventh in the 50 backstroke and 12th in the 100 backstroke. She also swam the lead backstroke leg of the 200 medley relay, which came in fourth.
Vallone’s gem pushes Staples to 2-0
Staples High right-hander Rob Vallone allowed just one hit and walked four over seven innings in the Wreckers’ 4-1 win over Brien McMahon on Friday.
The lone hit — a clean single off the bat of McMahon catcher Mike Giordano — came with no outs in the sixth inning.
Before that inning, while in the dugout, Vallone thought — or perhaps, reminded himself briefly — that he had a no-hitter intact. And after the game, he joked about how those thoughts came back to bite him.
“I was thinking about it between innings in the fifth and the sixth,” Vallone said. “I was like, ‘Did anyone get on base besides me walking them?’ Of course, the first or second pitch, the baseball gods come back to haunt you. You can’t think about it.”
*** Vallone struck out nine in the win, but he also got some help behind him. For the second straight game, Staples committed zero errors. The Wreckers also threw out a runner on the basepaths.
“Our defense has been great. I thought a big play in the game was when in (the sixth inning) our catcher threw the kid out stealing,” Staples coach Jack McFarland said. “Our defense has been fine. We stress here that it’s a game of 21 outs. If we can keep it to 22, 23 on defense and keep all our outs on offense … our chances of winning the game have increased.”
Connors homers twice in Staples High softball’s opening win
Staples High's Shannon Connors, middle, homered twice and drove in five runs in the Wreckers' 8-1 win at Joel Barlow on Thursday. (File Photo)
Shannon Connors had quite the day in the Staples High softball team’s 8-1 win over Joel Barlow.
Connors, a senior, went 3-for-4 for two home runs and five RBI as the Wreckers moved to 1-0 on the season.
Freshman Emily Lustvader went 2-for-4 with two runs scored, while seniors Nikki Bukovsky and Maggie Mills both tripled.
STAPLES 8, JOEL BARLOW 1
STAPLES 200 040 2 — 8 10 4
JOEL BARLOW 000 010 0 — 1 5 4
Batteries: S — Katie Burke (W, 1-0) and Maggie Mills. JB — Emily Marshall (L, 1-1) and Ashley Prusak. HR –Shannon Connors 2.
Westport gymnasts qualify for New England Regionals
Westport’s Simon Sandrew, a student at Saugatuck Elementary School, and Geoffrey Keeton, a student at Coleytown Middle School, placed at the Connecticut State Gymnastics Championships on March 17 in Plantsville.
Keeton placed second on the floor exercise and high bar, and was fourth on pommel horse, vault and rings. Keeton earned fourth place in the all-around in the 11-and-older age bracket. Sandrew placed eighth on the high bar in the 9-and-10 age bracket.
Both gymnasts compete at level 5.
Sandrew and Keeton qualified for the New England Regionals on April 7 in Springfield, Mass.
