Despite slump, Post 32 earns elusive tourney bid

By GERRY deSIMAS, JR.
Special to the Post
FARMINGTON, July 15, 2004 – It’s been over 30 years since the Unionville American Legion baseball team had a sniff of postseason play.

Post 32 has made a habit of coming close in the last five years but has been frustrated down the stretch. In 2000, Unionville lost four of its final six Zone 1 contests and finished a game behind Simsbury (16-8 zone) for the second and final spot in the state tournament.

In 2003, the American Legion changed its state tournament rules, allowing teams with a .500 record to qualify. Unionville needed four wins in its final 12 games to get in. They got only two and finished 12-16, two games below the minimum .500 needed.

The last time Unionville was close to postseason action was in 1972 when Post 32 finished tied with West Hartford for the Zone 1 championship with a 15-6 record. But West Hartford swept a best-of-3 series by a 2-0 margin to earn the state tournament berth. At that time, only the zone champion qualified for the state tournament.

So when Unionville kicked off the 2004 campaign under first-year coach Tim Haviland by winning 13 of its first 16 games, a state tournament berth didn’t seem to be much of a problem. Post 32 had its eyes on the Zone 1 championship.

A tough mid-July stretch has brought Unionville’s eyes back to the road. Post 32 lost five in a row to the crème of the zone. They dropped a tough 1-0 decision in 11 innings to Torrington as P-38 hurler Evan Scribner went the distance, allowing just three hits and fanning 13.

Unionville dropped a 9-3 decision to Bristol and absorbed a 10-0 loss to Southington. In a feisty doubleheader with arch-rival Simsbury on a comfortable Sunday evening, Unionville ace Shawn Haviland pitched a masterful contest, scattering five hits and striking out nine.

But Post 32 couldn’t solve Simsbury hurler Joey Serafin, who allowed only four hits and fanned seven. Simsbury eventually prevailed in eight innings, 1-0, on Dan Hood’s two-out RBI single. In the nightcap, Simsbury handed Unionville its fifth straight loss with a 10-0 rout.

Still, even with the mid-season slump, Unionville (18-9, 14-8) qualified for the state tournament with a 10-5 win over Wolcott. Tim Messina, Joe Wichowski, Brennan Shutt, and Jon Durdan each had three hits.

The decision by Shawn Haviland, catcher Brian Kelaher and outfielder Mike McGuire to play for Unionville helped solidify the Post 32 lineup. A year ago, the three players were playing AAU baseball.

“We wanted to stay in town and make one last run,” said Shawn Haviland, an All-State pitcher with Farmington this spring who will attend Harvard in the fall. “It’s similar to our old Little League All-Star team. We’re all going off to college next year so this is the last time we’ll get a chance to play with one another.”

Kelaher hopes to play at Brown while McGuire will prep for a year at Loomis-Chaffee. Avon’s Jon Durdan hopes to play at Eastern Connecticut State after redshirting this season. North Granby’s Brennan Schutt hopes to walk-on at Clemson.

“We have a real good time,” Shawn Haviland said.

Unionville had some impressive wins early. Post 32 beat Torrington, 3-1 and 6-1 in June and shutout Southington, 2-0 on June 20.

Kelaher had two home runs including a three-run homer in a big win over Burlington in June. He went 4-for-5 with 5 RBI and two doubles. McGuire was 4-for-5 with two doubles and two RBI while Brian Pendergast had a single, double, triple and RBI. Ryan Sheflott fanned 10 and walked just four.

Unionville set a new single-season record with 18 wins. The old mark was 17 in 1999 (17-15). Post 32’s single-season record for zone wins is 15 set in 2000.

This first appeared in the Farmington Valley Post on July 23, 2004