Once upon a time ...
In 1979, Middletown returned to three leagues - the Moose, O'Rourke and Pat Kidney.
The playoff format was expanded to include eight teams, the three league champions and the five teams with the next best records. This allowed for a three round, single elimination City Series.
1979 City Championship First Round Results:
Winning Team Losing Team Game Notes Moose - 10 Lions - 1 behind Macy Watson's pitching Concord Steel - 7 Rotary - 3 Concord has only one hit but still wins Didato's - 17 MacDonald's - 14 Mike Sessoms 4 hits & Todd Darling 3 hits EIS Met Life --- In the semis Didato's defeated EIS 1-0 at Snow and Moose eliminated Concord Steel. Mike Sessoms pitched a three hitter for Didato's. The EIS hits came from Jimmy Waldner, Patrick Deegan and Hass.
Moose used the big bat of Willie Spellier to win the city championship 5-4 over Didato's. He had a single, double and homerun. Macy Watson was the winning pitcher. Todd Darling pitched for Didato's and gave up seven hits. Wayne Jackson homered for Didato's.
District Nine Tournament
The Pat Kidney All Stars had 12 hits as they defeated Durham 11-4 in a playdown game. Pat Kidney had two hits each from Ricky Murray and DeRita. Kyle Skene homered. Kevin Gollarney and Gary Krol each had doubles. Bobby Jenak was the winning pitcher with a five hitter.
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 R H Pat Kidney All Stars 0 2 3 0 3 3 11 12 Durham All Stars 1 1 0 0 2 0 4 5 The Bernie O'Rourke All Stars nipped the Haddam All Stars 4-3 in a playdown game. O'Rourke used a three run fifth for the win. Joe Barone had two hits including a triple. Danny Furst had a double and Danny Massey a single.
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 R H O'Rourke All Stars 1 0 0 0 3 0 4 4 Haddam All Stars 0 1 1 0 1 0 3 5 Moose won their first round game with a 9-1 victory over Killingworth. Matt Hill was the winning pitcher while Jeff Bagwell took the loss. Matt Hill was the winning pitcher striking out 16. He pitched a two hitter-both to Bagwell. Bagwell struck out five and walked four. For Moose, Dave Darling had a home run, and two hits, Watson had two hits including a triple. Avery Askew had two hits. Billy Kachinsky had a double.
Bagwell would later play for Xavier High School in Middletown, the University of Hartford, and the New Britain Red Sox. He is currently enjoying a brilliant career with the Houston Astros, who traded the Red Sox reliever Larry Anderson in 1990. Bagwell was the National League Rookie of The Year in 1991, Most Valuable Player in 1994 and an All Star in 1994, 1996, 1997 and 1999.
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 R H Killingworth 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 Moose All Stars 2 0 0 4 3 x 9 10 Guilford used the four hit pitching of Holcomb to shutout the Moose All Stars 6-0. Avery Askew pitched into the sixth inning when he was relieved by Darryl Michaud. Watson, Russo, Michaud, and Morello had the Moose hits.
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 R H Guilford All Stars 0 0 2 0 1 3 6 6 Moose All Stars 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 Pat Kidney and East Hampton were tied 5-5 after five innings of play. Then Pat Kidney scored 14 runs in the sixth to win 19-5. Pat Kidney had twenty hits. Bobby Dorflinger and Kyle Skene each had four hits. Kevin Gollarney, Bobby Jenak, Jim Reardon, Ricky Murray and Blackington each had two hits. Dorflinger had two doubles and a home run. Skene also homered. Reardon had a double.
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 R H Pat Kidney All Stars 0 1 1 0 3 14 19 20 East Hampton All Stars 4 0 0 0 1 0 5 4 Joey Barone and Dennis Wade had three hits each to lead the Bernie O'Rourke All Stars over Middlefield 19-4. Jimmy Waldner and Lipscomb each added two hits for the winners. Barone homered. Wade doubled. Wade was the winning pitcher.
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 R H O'Rourke All Stars 1 2 6 2 5 3 19 14 Middlefield All Stars 0 1 0 0 3 0 4 4 In a semifinal game the Pat Kidney All Stars downed the Bernie O'Rourke All Stars 9-2. Pat Kidney was led by Kyle Skene who had three hits,two home runs and four RBIs. Kevin Gollarney had a pair of doubles. Joey Barone had two of the three hits the O'Rourke club was able to get off Bobby Jenak. Jenak walked seven and struck out five. Del Prado started for O'Rourke but had to be relieved by Barone.
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 R H O'Rourke All Stars 0 0 1 1 0 0 2 3 Pat Kidney All Stars 3 0 2 3 1 x 9 7 Lawrence School was the site of the 1979 District Nine title game. Madison won 12-5 over Pat Kidney. Madison built a safe 7-0 lead after four innings. But, in the top of the fifth, Pat Kidney scored five runs. The key hit was a three run homer by Kyle Skene. In the bottom of the fifth, Madison matched the Pat Kidney inning with five runs of their own. This made the score 12-5 in favor of Madison. Time to pull down the curtain on the Pat Kidney All Stars. Madison's Ed Davis held Pat Kidney to four hits. Kyle Skene had two of the Pat Kidney hits. Frank Carfora, Tim Huminsky, and Steve Haslam each had a pair of hits for Madison.
1979 Moose League All Stars
No List available, if you can help identify this team, please contact Little League !1979 Pat Kidney League All Stars - District Runner-Up
No List available, if you can help identify this team, please contact Little League !1979 O'Rourke League All Stars
No List available, if you can help identify this team, please contact Little League !In District Nine All Star Action, the Pat Kidney All Stars defeated Durham 11-4 in the opener. The O'Rourke All Stars nipped Haddam 3-2. The Moose All Stars won its opener 9-1 over Killingworth. Matt Hill pitched a two-hitter and struck out 16, while Jeff Bagwell took the loss. Bagwell went on to play fo Xavier High School, the University of Hartford, and in the Red Sox minor league chain before making it to the Majors in 1991 with the Houston Astros.
In the secound round, Pat Kidney and East Hampton were tied 5-5 at five innings befor Pat Kidney erupted for 14 runs in the sixth to win 19-5. The O'Rourke All Stars trounced Middlefield 19-4 while the Moose lost to Guilford 6-0.
In the semi-final game, Pat Kidney came away with a 9-2 triumph, only to lose the final 12-5 as Madison's Ed Davis held them to four hits.
Jeff Bagwell was the losing pitcher in the Moose All Stars victory over Killingworth in 1979.
Here he is in the 1988 Cape Cod League and 3 years later as 1991 NL Rookie of the Year.
Jeff Bagwell's Major League Career Bagwell, Jeffrey Robert
Born: May 27, 1968 - Boston, MA
6' 0" 195 lbs. - Bats: Right - Throws: Right
Year Team Games AB Runs Hits 2B 3B HR RBI BB Ks AVG 1991 Houston N 156 554 79 163 26 4 15 82 75 116 .294 1992 Houston N 162 586 87 160 34 6 18 96 84 97 .273 1993 Houston N 142 535 76 171 37 4 20 88 62 73 .320 1994 Houston N 110 400 104 147 32 2 39 116 65 65 .368 1995 Houston N 114 448 88 130 29 0 21 87 79 102 .290 1996 Houston N 162 568 111 179 48 2 31 120 135 114 .315 1997 Houston N 162 566 109 162 40 2 43 135 127 122 .286 1998 Houston N 147 540 124 164 33 1 34 111 109 90 .304 1999 Houston N 162 562 143 171 35 0 42 126 149 127 .304 2000 Houston N 159 590 152 183 37 1 47 132 107 116 .310 Totals 10 yr. 1476 5349 1073 1630 351 22 310 1093 992 1122 .304
Jeff Bagwell's Postseason Record
vs. Atlanta Braves (3 games-1997), San Diego Padres (4 game -1998) & Atlanta Braves (4 games-1999)
Year Team Games AB Runs Hits 2B 3B HR RBI BB K AVG 1997 Houston N 3 12 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 5 .083 1998 Houston N 4 14 0 2 0 0 0 4 1 6 .143 1999 Houston N 4 13 3 2 0 0 0 0 5 4 .154 Totals 3 yr. 11 39 3 5 0 0 0 4 7 15 .128
Bagwell was NL Rookie of the Year in 1991, NL MVP in 1994 and a NL All Star in 1994, 1996,1997 & 1999.
The American Legion Post 75ers had another great year.
American Legion Post 75 - 1979 State Champs
Front Row ( L to R ): B.Hunter, M. Hamilton, G. Manemite, J. Kelly, E. McMillan,
B. Zak, G. Pellici, H. Guy, M. Levin, B. Bruzik
Back Row ( L to R ): Asst Coach D. Lombardo, Mgr. T. Lombardo, Asst Coach P. LaBella,
M. Fiala, J. Marchese, B. Delaney, E. Yantosh, W. Patenaude, P. Kostacopoulos, K. Jackson, K. ZupanEd McMillan was MVP of the 1979 American Legion State Tournament.
Photo courtesy of D. Lombardo
