Watermelon Cup Opens With Close Games

The 1st week of Watermelon Cup 2010 opened tonight with some intriguing results at Long Lots.

Three teams — Brazil, Somalia and USA — went 2-0.  The other 3 squads were winless.

Four matches were decided by 4-3 scores — including all 3 of the 7:15 p.m. games.

Best match of the day:  Brazil’s 4-3 squeaker over Argentina.  Brazil is made up of many former Staples and college stars, while Argentina fielded only 1 current varsity player (keeper Connor Walsh).  Experience and pace — along with some nice strikes — won out over intense, often intelligent play.

For standings, scores and more, click here.

Jack Hennessy Repeats As Norwalk Hour All-Area Baseball MVP

It’s tough to repeat.

Jack Hennessy accomplished that feat as FCIAC champion — with both the soccer and baseball teams.

Now he’s done it again.  For the 2nd year in a row, the 2nd baseman and leadoff hitter has been named Norwalk Hour All-Area MVP.

He was also FCIAC 2010 Player of the Year.

Jack Hennessy

Hennessy led the area with a .526 batting average. He collected a school-record 40 hits, including 5 doubles and 4 home runs; struck out just 6 times in 76 at-bats, stole 23 bases and scored 33 runs.

Hennessy — who finished as Staples’ all-time hits leader with 110 in his career — posted a .586 on-base percentage and a .776 slugging percentage.

Defensively he made 1 error all season — in the regular-season finale.

“He’s just a complete ball player,” Angelo Bruno, head coach at Norwalk High for 10 seasons, told the Hour. “He controls every game, one way or another.  He wants to win and he always finds a way to beat you.”

Writer Matthew Doran added:

Hennessy, who bats left-handed and throws righty, could hit for power.  He hit for average.  He bunted.  He used his speed to beat out infield singles.  Whatever it took to get on base, Hennessy did it.

“If you were out of position at third base, he’d make you pay, and if you were playing up tight on him, he’d slap it past you for a double.  He took what the defense gave him,” (Staples head coach Jack) McFarland said.  “He hit the ball from line to line.  He’s impossible to defend because he uses the whole field.”

The name of the game in baseball is scoring runs, and Hennessy did that better than anyone.

“I loved to play on the road because I wanted Jack in the batter’s box to start the game,”  McFarland said.  “When he gets on base, it’s look-out time.”

The quintessential Jack Hennessy photo -- combining soccer, baseball, and raw speed.

Hennessy set the tone for everything Staples did offensively, leading the Wreckers to the most regular-season wins (18) in school history and an 18-4 overall record.

Even more impressive, Staples went 62-30 overall and 50-22 in the FCIAC during Hennessy’s 4 years with the program and 52-19 overall and 41-13 in the FCIAC during his three seasons as a starter.

“He’s the kind of kid, if you’re starting a high school baseball team, he’s the one you pick first,” McFarland said.  “He’s one of those kids, when you put him in the lineup, you know he’s never going to give it up.  That was Jack.  Once we put him in the leadoff spot as a freshman, he was never going to lose that spot ever again.”

Hennessy is a 3-sport athlete — and it is the 3rd one that he will pursue at the next level.  He is headed to Boston College — as a 3rd-generation legacy — where he will run track.

Mike White Featured In Graduation Story

There is a Staples soccer angle in everything — even graduation.

Today’s Westport News Page 1 story on the Class of 2010 began with a description of forward Mike White’s big day:

For Michael White’s family, the partying Wednesday began two hours before heading to Staples High School for graduation.

“We were watching the World Cup at my house,” said White, dressed in cap and gown, under the baking sun, waiting for his turn to proceed into the ceremony where he and 404 other members of the Class of 2010 received diplomas.

His cousins were visiting from Florida, he said, and his grandmother was in town for the event as well. Surrounding the television set that morning, they all watched as the U.S. soccer team scored a last-minute goal against Algeria, clinching a key victory in the World Cup.

“The whole family just started screaming,” said White, who plans to play soccer at the University of Delaware, which he will attend this fall.  “Then I had to shower, eat and get ready real quick.  It was a great start to the day.”

The story then noted that World Cup fever reached far beyond the soccer players, to the entire class:

With that, he disappeared into the sea of blue robes making their way up the steamy stairwell toward the Staples field house.  Evidently, others had watched the soccer game.

“U.S.A! U.S.A!” they brayed.

Congratulations Mike; to fellow state champions Jason Bennett, Nick Cion, Mikey Fitzgerald, Nathan Greenberg, Justin Hawrysh, Jack Hennessy, Matteo Marzoli, Michael McCarthy, Drew McNair and Alan Reiter; to managers Sam Memelok and Gabby Wendroff; to Superfan leaders Alex Dulin and Alex Werner — and all the other graduates of the Staples Class of 2010.

The graduates (from left): Jason Bennett, Justin Hawrysh, Drew McNair, Nate Greenberg, Jack Hennessy, Michael McCarthy, Nick Cion, Mikey Fitzgerald, Matteo Marzoli, Alan Reiter, Michael McCarthy. (Photo by Carl McNair)

Westport Patch Profiles Frankie Bergonzi

Westport Patch — an online news source — has given Colgate-committed Frankie Bergonzi a nice shout-out.

“The decision was easy to me,” he told writer Alex Wiser.

The 2010 Staples tri-captain added:

It’s  a defensive-minded style of soccer that they play, and I really felt good after meeting (head coach) Erik Ronning.  I’m definitely excited to play for Colgate.

Along with the coach and the style of soccer that they play, it’s also a great academic school.  I’ve also talked to people who go there as well as Colgate alumni, and everyone loves the school.

To read the entire story, click here.

Frankie Bergonzi on the attack.

Jack Hennessy Nominated For FCIAC Spring Player Of The Year

After batting .526, with 4 home runs and 18 RBIs, Jack Hennessy was named FCIAC Baseball Player of the Year.

Now he’s in the running to be the league’s Male Spring Player of the Year, in all sports.

Jack Hennessy (copyright Coaches Aid Corporation)

The standout soccer defender and team MVP has been nominated for the Blue Streak-Overtime award, administered by the Stamford Advocate.

The nomination notes that Hennessy set a school record, with 40 hits in the Wreckers’ 22 games.  He scored 33 runs and had a .586 on-base percentage, while committing just 1 error.  Hennessy was voted to the All-State team.

To vote for Hennessy (or any of the other 7 nominees, including Staples volleyball player Tom Prenderville), click here and scroll down.

Soccer Players Invited To Join ESM Zone

Andy Moss has invited Staples soccer players into the zone.

The ESM Zone, to be exact.

Andy Moss

ESMZone.com is the Westporter’s new social networking site.  Aimed at middle school and high school athletes, the plan is to use positive peer pressure to provide solutions to problems on and off the field.

For prizes.

After signing up and filling out a profile, athletes can ask or answer questions — about sports, or anything else.  Using a “like” button, questioners and respondents get awarded points for questions and answers.

Rewards — a VIP pass to a pro football training camp, gift certificates to sports stores, textbooks for college — are given at the end of the fall, winter and sports “seasons.”

A fee will be charged at some point.  For now, ESM Zone is free.  Staples soccer players are invited to click here, then register using a special code:  SHS2010-S.

Watermelon Cup Kicks Off June 30

The Watermelon Cup — a longtime Westport tradition — begins another season on Wednesday, June 30.

Teams have been announced, and schedules released, for the 6-v-6 league.  Each of the 6 teams — with players in high school, college and older — plays 2 games per night, every Wednesday at Long Lots, through August 11.

Click here for rosters, schedules, rules and more information.

Kyle Martino ’99′s ESPN World Cup Radio Schedule

Listen to match analyst Kyle Martino ’99 on ESPN radio:

• Thurs., June 17:  10 a.m., Greece vs. Nigeria
• Fri., June 18:  7:30 a.m., Germany vs. Serbia
• Sat., June 19:  10 a.m., Ghana vs. Australia
• Sun., June 20:  10 a.m., Italy vs. New Zealand
• Mon., June 21:  10 a.m., Chile vs. Switzerland
• Tues., June 22:  10 a.m.,  France vs. South Africa
• Wed., June 23:  2:30 p.m., Germany vs. Ghana
• Thurs., June 24:  2:30 p.m., Cameroon vs. Netherlands
• Fri., June 25:  2:30 p.m., Chile vs. Spain
• Sat., June 26:  10 a.m., Round of 16 (TBD)

Michael McCarthy Wins Loeffler, Coleman Brothers Scholarships

Michael McCarthy has been awarded 2 of Westport’s most prestigious scholarships.

Michael McCarthy

The state championship goalkeeper — who continues his career this fall at Washington University in St. Louis — won the Coleman Brothers Foundation and Loeffler Scholarships.  The awards were announced tonight, at Staples’ annual Scholar-Athlete banquet at Norwalk’s Continental Manor.

The Coleman award — named for Scott Coleman ’88 and his brother Keith (a Staples wrestler), bothwere killed at the World Trade Center on 9/11 — is presented annually by the Westport Soccer Association.  This year the Gudis Family Foundation matched the WSA’s $5,000 contribution, for a total of $10,000.

The presentation was made by Todd Coleman ’84, a former Staples captain.  The honor was particularly meaningful, he said, because he knows Michael’s father:  Stuart McCarthy ’79.  Neil and Jeanne Coleman — Todd, Scott and Keith’s parents — also attended the dinner.

The Loeffler Scholarship is presented annually to a Staples athlete who has played at least 2 varsity seasons in a sport Albie Loeffler coached (soccer, basketball, baseball/softball or track).  The winner must exhibit high personal standards, and a commitment to excellence.  Michael’s father was coached by Loeffler — who was himself a goalkeeper at the University of Connecticut in the 1930s.

The Loeffle Scholarship was worth $3,000.

The dinner featured 2 soccer players as Scholar-Athlete honorees:  Nick Cion (soccer) and Jack Hennessy (baseball).

Congratulations to Michael, Nick and Jack!

Registration Continues For Wakeman Speedcamp

Spots are filling up fast for Kurt Dasbach’s Wakeman Speed Camp.  The twice-weekly summer sessions — which have trained dozens of Staples soccer players in speed, strength and flexibility, and paid an enormous role in the Wreckers’ success — is in its 6th year.

Speedcamp runs Mondays and Thursdays, 5 to 6:20 p.m., from June 28 through August 12.  As always, campers can sign up for and enroll for the entire summer, or only those sessions when they’ll be in Westport.

Kurt’s training methods improve speed in just a few short weeks. Over the past 5 years, the average camper improved his 40-yard dash time by 16%. The median improvement is 19%.

This past year Kurt received a level 3 certificate from the International Institute of Advanced Speed Training in Lausanne, Switzerland.  For many years he has helped improve the speed of professional, Olympic, college, and high school athletes. Having played professional soccer in Europe and South America, Kurt is especially adept at developing speed for soccer purposes.

In a recent national survey of high school and college coaches, speed — not technical skill or tactical knowledge – was cited as the most desirable quality among prospective players.

For more information, including registration procedures, click on www.wakemanspeed.com.

Top soccer players like Jack Hennessy are so fast, even ace photographer Carl McNair has a hard time capturing them on camera.