Overtime: High school athletics in Connecticut

In a stellar year for female high school athletes in Stamford, Julie Osipow stood taller than all the rest.

Osipow, the star center fielder for Westhill’s softball team, was named tonight as the 24th recipient of the Allyson Rioux Award, which is given to the city’s most outstanding female student-athlete.

“It’s a huge honor,” Osipow said. “I’ve been playing sports since I was about 3. It’s great to get recognition for it, and to be honored after someone like Allyson Rioux, who was such a great athlete and person, makes it very special. I’m very humbled by it.”

Rioux, who was named to All-State teams in three sports at Westhill and was a second team All-American selection in softball at the University of Massachusetts, died of a brain tumor in 1989 at the age of 27.

Osipow, who has been considered one of the best center fielders and hitters in the Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference the past two seasons, was also the goalkeeper for the school’s soccer team and played for the Stamford Spinnakers hockey team.

“A lot of kids don’t play three sports anymore,” said Francene Moavero, Rioux’s sister and a board member on the award committee. “She not only played three sports but really excelled at them. We had a preliminary vote and she was the frontrunner, then we kept talking about the other candidates and she kept coming up.”

Rioux will receive a $5,000 scholarship.

Osipow is the seventh recipient from Westhill. Jillian Masi was the last one, in 2007. Stamford High’s Karlie Tiscia won the award last year.

The selection of Osipow is even more impressive given the field she was up against.

“There are so many girls in other years that would have won hands down,” Moavero said.

In the aftermath of Rachel Sottosanti’s tragic death Friday night, there have been two central themes, one I found somewhat surprising and one that was totally expected.

While I knew Sottosanti, 19, who was a sophomore at Southern Connecticut State University and a three-year starter for Westhill High School’s softball team, was exceedingly popular, I had no idea just how many lives she touched. Right now it is 8:30 and there are over 100 people still waiting to get into the wake, which started at 4 and was supposed to end a half hour ago.

“It’s unbelievable,” said Nick Santagata, a close friend of the family. “I’ve never seen anything like this.”

What will cause not one head to turn is this: Stamford remains a city that operates with the heart of a small town. And while it is easy to nitpick at many of the problems that afflict the local sports world, one fact is indisputable: When one of our own is in need, this community rallies with hurricane force.

At this point over $10,000 has been raised to help the Sottosantis, and that figure is still growing. The Westhill softball team raised around $2,000 on its own, selling baked goods, some of which were donated by Grade A, and walking the halls with empty water jugs as students and faculty members donated what they could from their pockets.

“I’m not really surprised because I know how many people care, but you are surprised when it happens,” said Brittany Longo, Westhill’s second baseman and co-captain, whose family is close with the Sottosantis. “It’s really overwhelming. You see in bad times everyone come together.”

I can’t think of too many stories I have covered both so tragic and inspiring. Sottosanti spent many of her weekends sacrificing the social activities of a college student so she could make the trip from New Haven to her hometown to work with young athletes who, if we are truly blessed, will turn out to be like her one day.

There were probably days Sottosanti didn’t have a smile on her face. I just can’t recall any.

The news of Sottosanti’s passing was a kick in the gut. No parent should have to bury a child, no child should have to mourn a sibling.

The Westhill community has been forced to deal with way too many tragedies, yet again it has proved both resilient and strong enough to rise to the occasion.

Just how highly regarded was Sottosanti? On Tuesday afternoon at 4:30 p.m., there will be a dedication service at the entrance to the Westhill softball field, where a bench will be placed next to the memorial for Allyson Rioux. The Westhill softball players will wear black patches on their uniforms in their former teammate’s honor for the remainder of the season.

“Everyone who knew Rachel, and I was fortunate to know her real well, knew she was a great, great kid,” said Mike King, Westhill’s athletic director, who was Sottosanti’s girls basketball coach. “I think everyone at Westhill liked her, and that says a lot about her.”

At Trinity Catholic, where Sottostanti’s sister Erin is a sophomore, students started out selling bottles of water to raise money. That expanded to selling ribbons and baked goods. The officers in the school’s sophomore class decided to go into their own account and match the total amount raised.

“Everyone is just showing such great compassion for the family,” said Jack Kelly, a history teacher at Trinity who is also the assistant basketball coach at Westhill. He was Sottosanti’s freshman coach. “Everyone is contributing in so many ways. I’ve had kids I don’t even know giving money, and Trinity is not that big.”

Santagata has served as the point person for the Sottosanti family. He has spent the last few days collecting the many checks that have started to arrive in the mail or were handed to him.

“I always knew she was special because I’ve known her forever,” Santagata said. “The way Stamford has rallied around her is amazing. It’s been a roller-coaster ride for the family, but they have been able to see the positive.”

I hope we have seen the last of these tragedies, but there is something comforting knowing that if you live in Stamford, you have a large safety net at your disposal if you ever need it.

Longo summed it up best: “There is something to really be thankful for. We really have a good community.”

The phone calls took place several days a week, almost always around 10 a.m. Sometimes we talked about that day’s paper, or something that happened in the office the night before. Most of the time we looked ahead to games or stories that should be covered.

The impetus for the conversations was always the same. Tom Renner and I were afflicted with the same malady: the inability to leave work at the office.

Unlike the staff writers, Tom was unrecognizable to most because almost all of his time was spent in the Advocate newsroom, first as a copy editor, then as assistant sports editor and, for the past year and a half, as sports editor.

But in so many unapparent ways, Tom was well connected to the community. He was the reason there were local stories in the sports section seven days a week. He was the reason for the increased football coverage in the fall. He was the reason for innovations like a redesign of the front page.

And, after our staff was reduced from seven people to five and he was named sports editor, he was the one who spent many of his free hours during the day working on stories so the breadth of coverage wouldn’t suffer.

Tom became one of my closest friends well before he became sports editor, and that made it even more painful last Wednesday night when he learned that his position was being eliminated. We learned about 8 p.m. that this would be the last night we would ever work together. It was one of the toughest shifts I’ve ever had.

The newspaper industry is contracting across the country, and while we all read about the state of the economy, this is the first time it really hit home for me.

Since many only recognized Tom from his head shot that accompanied his weekly golf column, here are some other things you should know about him:

— Tom had a deep passion and commitment to the Stamford sports scene. Because the writers are out in the field, we have the advantage of interacting with the public and getting many of the accolades (or the complaints). Tom, unfortunately because of his position, was shielded from the many compliments that were both offered and deserved.

— Tom is one of the calmest people I have ever met, which was a big advantage when dealing with a staff of diverse personalities. Yet Tom had the ability to carry out his duties as a department head without you ever feeling like he was your boss. He was the same person as sports editor he had been before assuming the position.

— Tom was always looking for new ways to make improvements to the sports section. He would start each day and ask himself one question: How can I do more with less?

The success of those efforts was apparent in each day’s paper. And while that philosophy will not waver going forward, it will be made that much more difficult without Tom driving the ship.

I know Tom and I will stay close. And I am betting that we will still have many more of our 10 a.m. conversations. We just won’t be talking about the same things.

And like seeing Tom every day, I am going to miss that more than I can express.

I stopped by to watch the final innings of the Westhill-Trinity Catholic softball game Saturday morning on my way into the office. As I caught up with friends watching beyond the outfield fence, the discussion turned to the tragic news of the day: Rachel Sottosanti, the Vikings’ three-year starting shortstop and a sophomore at Southern Connecticut State University, had died the night before. She was 19.

I felt like I had been kicked in the stomach. I knew Rachel better than some, not as well as some other high school athletes I have covered. I knew she was a hard worker who was outstanding defensively, was always smiling and had the rare ability to put smiles on the faces of everyone she encountered. I was never aware of her many charitable efforts and work with young athletes until talking to her many friends over the weekend.

Obviously my heart goes out to the Sottosanti family: her father, Dave, and three younger sisters. I feel for Rachel’s former teammates: having to witness Westhill coach Tom Pia and athletic director Mike King inform the players after their 5-1 win and watching their reactions was painful. And I feel awful for the entire Westhill community. Having to endure one death is too much; the school has suffered way too many in recent years.

I wrote a column on Rachel in today’s paper: http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/localsports/ci_12234431

There is nothing more difficult than writing about the death of a young athlete. Besides the subject matter, you never feel like you can write something well enough to do justice to the person.

The Sottosantis are asking in lieu of flowers instead for donations to help the family offset the cost of the funeral.

If you would like to help, please send your generous contributions to:

Nick Santagata, 44 Joan Road, Stamford, 06905.

Let’s hope this is the last tragedy the Stamford sports and Westhill communities have to experience.

(This is the latest in a series of entries by guest bloggers throughout the high school spring sports season. Returning captains Bobby Horn and Steve Rivera, who played a key role during the Westhill High School baseball team’s magical run to the CIAC Class LL championship last year, will take you along for the ride as the Vikings deal with the pressures of attempting to repeat.)

By Bobby Horn and Steve Rivera

We seem to be coming together after suffering a tough loss to our city rival Trinity Catholic, 6-2. It seemed to be the sign that let us know that we needed to step it up.

That is just what we did.

Our next game was against Weston, where we fell behind, 10-2, after the third inning. However, we put our heads together and stepped it up with a huge inning in the bottom of the third. We began chipping at the lead, eventually getting within, 10-6.

Then Stanley Paul stepped up to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs. He belted a grand slam to tie up the game.

It was unbelievable and it was something that let us know that we had come back too far to lose this game.

In the bottom of the sixth, we found ourselves tied at 11 apiece before Scotty Valenzano doubled to give us a one-run lead. We were not done yet. Paul, our hot hitter, came through with another home run to put us ahead, 14-11. That turned out to be huge since Weston scored twice in the top of the seventh, giving us the 14-13 win.

After three straight days of cancellations because of the weather, we had been anxious to play.

Our next opponent was undefeated St. Joseph. We were determined to hand the Cadets their first loss and to show the FCIAC that we are still here. We came out firing and won, 16-4. Our bats were hot and we were not ready to cool them off yet.

Then came Fairfield Warde, which was a hard-fought battle throughout the whole game. We quickly took a 5-0 lead in the first inning. However we had some troubles with our fielding, committing eight errors.

That was the only thing that was keeping Warde in the game. The contest was constantly going back and forth. Luckily, a frustrating day turned into a 16-14 win.

We finally finished our week off against Bridgeport Central. The bats once again came alive behind the pitching off Tyler Rich to give us another big win in the FCIAC, 9-0.

This put us back where we needed to be. We are now 6-2 overall with a 5-2 record in the FCIAC.

We are looking forward to the week coming up where we face two tough teams, Brian McMahon and Trumbull.

The Vikings, however, are ready for the challenges ahead. We are finally playing baseball the way the Vikings are known to play.

(This is the latest in a series of entries by guest bloggers throughout the high school spring sports season. Sammi Nemchek is entering her fourth-year as a starter on Trinity Catholic’s softball team. Her father, Mike, coached many of the city’s top players in youth leagues, including his daughter. Sammi and Mike will explore the topical nature of the parent-athlete dynamic.)

By Sammi Nemchek

In last week’s city game against Westhill, I experienced a really off game. Although it hurt the team, it was most important that I maintained a positive attitude.

My teammates never blamed me or pointed fingers, but I knew the result of my actions.

A battle against yourself is by far the hardest to overcome. I was so upset: in a big game you never want to be the one to mess up the fundamental plays. However, it happened and I let it occur more than once. I couldn’t get it out of my own head, even though during warmups and between innings I seemed to throw just fine.

My teammates’ support was really nice to have, but my coach helped me a lot as well. He had confidence in my abilities and encouraged me to keep trying.

Although some may have wished at the time for balls to stop coming my way, I was glad I wasn’t pulled and in the future given the chance to recover.

Mr. Kriz, our coach, told me “I need to start believing in myself,” and that hit me.

Another positive was coming home and talking to my father about the game and not being scrutinized. It was nice to hear a “shake it off” instead of him acknowledging my faults. Words of encouragement were nice to hear as well, and knowing that everybody trusted me in the next game was comforting.

I learned that bad days happen to everyone, but you can’t let it get you down. Always keep your head up.

(This is the latest in a series of entries by guest bloggers throughout the high school spring sports season. Stamford High senior Emily Powers, a starting defender for the school’s two-time state championship field hockey team, is playing lacrosse this spring though she had never picked up a stick before and the program is still competing on the JV level. She will tell you why and document the experience.)

By Emily Powers

Dedication is important in any sport. But to remain dedicated to a team that last season did not win a game is something I find inspiring.

Last Friday our lacrosse team won its first game ever, at Trumbull, in the program’s two-year history. The look on the coach’s face after our 6-5 win was something to remember for a long time.

But what really caught my attention was the fact that this was the FIRST win. I’ve built seasons around wins and losses for quite some time now, and I’ve noticed that the more a team loses, normally the dedication and work ethic begin to drop.

Not with this team. These girls have now been on the team for two straight seasons and went into this one with expectations just like last year.

Then they realized with a little hard work and a lot of dedication to becoming better at the sport, we could achieve a win.

And that is just what we did.

Luckily that win came in the third game of the season, after two losses to the FCIAC’s finest lacrosse programs, Greenwich and Darien.

The victory, though, was proof enough to feel that we can actually win a couple more. The season is going to be rocky and we don’t expect much, but the expectations just got a little higher from our coaches and, more importantly, ourselves.

Now the entire attitude of the team has changed, especially when approaching games. Its just amazing to me that so many of the girls stayed dedicated to the program, the practices, the coaches, and the team when it’s pretty well known that we aren’t supposed to do well.

The girls stuck to the idea that they would slowly but surely improve the program, and slowly but surely that is happening.

Because of Monday’s heavy rain, there were just one baseball and two softball games played in the FCIAC today. Not surprisingly, one of the contests took place at the Stamford High School softball field.

The Black Knights were able to get in their 8-4 win over Norwalk because of the work of Tommy McIntosh, who is in charge of the turf and grounds at the school, and his assistant, Joe Messina.

This has been a trend over the years: if the Stamford field is in workable condition, McIntosh and his crew will have it ready for the first pitch. There have been a number of instances similar to today’s: what looks like a certain postponement ending with the field at least in near-optimal condition.

“Those guys were out there early in the morning,” Stamford coach Tony Esposito said after today’s win. “They said the field would be ready and the field was in good shape. They did a great job.”

While many teams are now backed up this week because of weather, the Black Knights are on schedule and have a little bit of an edge. They can thank McIntosh and Messina for their tireless efforts.