Dargati's Dedication to Basketball Lands Him In New England Basketball HOF, Looks to Replicate Loomis Success With SW

  The 2014-15 boys basketball team sat in their locker room, the air tight with anticipation. This was their night. Senior night. In their way stood the Windsor Warriors. It was the season's true tipping point: the tournament clinching game against Fermi was history, but crunch time still loomed.

  Coach Jim Dargati began his pre game message to his team, and was highly animated. He stared past the losing streak South Windsor had endured against Windsor, a streak in which was over two decades old.

  "We kept Windsor as our matchup on senior night, instead of an easier opponent, because this is a team that is never going to back down from a major battle," said Dargati. "You are focused, you are determined and you are going to beat them tonight."

  That night the Bobcats took the hardwood and played it their way. When the final horn sounded South Windsor had earned a 58-50 victory. Students flooded the court in jubilation and embraced the players, fathead cutouts raised triumphantly overhead.

  They out-worked Windsor that night, out-hustled them, and locked them down on defense. They played it the Dargati way.

  Dargati was inducted into the New England Basketball Hall of Fame (NEBHOF) on August 8. With his new membership he joins elite company in New England basketball immortality.  Additional members of the NEBHOF include Bob Cousy, Julius Erving, Ernie DiGregorio, Patrick Ewing, Tommy Heinsohn, Ray Allen, Calvin Murphy, and Rick Carlisle. He also joins his father, George Dargati, an inductee in 2009.

  "I love the history of New England basketball," he said. "To be a small part of it is very humbling. It's a great honor to be inducted and the fact I'm joining my father, makes it extra special."

  Several members of the NEBHOF are affiliated with basketball's ultimate stage in the National Basketball Association and have engraved permanent marks on the sport. However, Dargati will continue his quest to create eternal markings of his own.

  Throughout his time as a coach, Dargati has strived to replicate the mold of a players' coach, yet balance that style with discipline. His overall mission has been consistent. "[My goal is] to build a model program based on integrity, character and the drive to 'out work' the opponent," Dargati said. "[Our coaching staff] emphasizes skill development, fundamentals, team first attitude, hard work, toughness, defensive and offensive execution and a commitment to win."

 Dargati's basketball journey commenced with early success, his playing career consisting of All New England recognition at Loomis Chaffee, All-State Selection at East Catholic High School, and went on to play college basketball, including one year under Jim Calhoun at UCONN.

   Dargati's introduction to coaching began as a ball boy, under the roof of one of basketball's most historic franchises in the Boston Celtics. He watched Celtics coach Tommy Heinsohn march down the sidelines and address his team outspokenly in the locker room.

 Dargati returned to Loomis Chaffee and held the position of head coach for 14 years. During that span the Pelicans evolved into one of the most feared programs in New England. They salvaged the New England Tournament championship in 2009, and Dargati was recognized as the 2009 Coach of the Year.

  "I have taken bits and pieces from each coach and applied it to my own strategies and philosophies," said Dargati. It is the relationship with his players however, that brings Dargati the most happiness. "The greatest lesson I learned from them is that there is no other profession that provides you with so many tools to positively effect the lives of young men," he said.

  Dargati says the best coaching advice given to him was to be flexible. "I believe the most important step in building a basketball program is developing a style of play," he said. "But you need to be flexible so you can change your system to best utilize the abilities of your players. Although the system that fits a particular team may not be your favorite, it may be the one that gives your team a chance to become the best it can be."

 Dargati's coaching success at Loomis Chaffee and South Windsor along with his playing career has landed him in the Ronald S. Perry category within the NEBHOF. But his story is far from being complete. The legend has plenty of room to grow.

  Dargati will enter his second year with the Bobcats after guiding them into the playoffs, and claiming three tournament wins. They were not stopped until the quarterfinals, ending with a 15-10 overall record, two years removed from a winless season.

 The school, starved for a state title, is going on 16 years without a team state championship and has not tasted gold in basketball since the Tom Roy era of the early 1970s.

  Dargati will attack this new chapter with the knowledge he has gained from being around the sport he loves.   He understands what lies ahead. "I had a great 24 year run at Loomis but I'm proud to be the SWHS basketball coach," he said. "South Windsor was once considered one of the best basketball programs in Connecticut. Our goal was to restore that tradition. This past season was magical and the dramatic turnaround that we experienced surprised everyone. The key is to find a way to sustain that success."

  With Dargati now at the helm, the school looks to write a new run of success into their history books. The prologue to his career as the Bobcats head coach intrigued the town of South Windsor. After such a turnaround, mirroring his Loomis Pelicans accomplishments may not be out of the question.

"Crunch Time" Gallery (Spring)

A historic year for South Windsor athletics deserves an intriguing finale...

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Silverman Overcomes Challenges in Quest for Greatness

    Junior Peyton Silverman stared down her illustrious opponent: a professional softball player. 

The count stood at 3-2. Silverman wound and fired. The ball buzzed toward the plate, a neon-yellow blur that cut sharply away from the batter. The hitter flails at the pitch, but it meets the glove with a satisfying “pop” for a third strike. Silverman’s strikeout victim scurries back to the dugout. The pitcher from Connecticut was cruising through an all-star lineup, and only allowed one hit that day during an invitational game in Georgia.

   When spectators watch Silverman play softball, they may believe that the game comes effortlessly to her, but she has had to work hard. “It’s not all easy for me,” said Silverman. “People think, because I have a scholarship, that it all comes easy but it doesn’t. I have to work [hard]. It’s not just given to me.”

   Despite her highly-praised talent, there have been rough patches in Silverman’s early career. She said these took toughness and motivation to power through and she is no stranger to being challenged.

   “I’ll never forget my teammate Gianna,” she said. “I grew up playing with her sister, and Gianna would always laugh at me and make fun of me because I wasn’t very good at anything besides pitching. She motivated me to become, not just a pitcher, but to work on the all-around aspect of the game. Without her, I don’t think I would have ever spent seven hours a week at practices trying to be as good of a fielder and hitter as they all are.” 

   In addition to playing for the South Windsor Bobcats, Silverman is a member of the Rhode Island Thunder Gold, a showcase team that travels the country hoping to be recruited by colleges. 

   Much like her teammate Gianna, Silverman says that her Rhode Island teammates also questioned her placement among them, and she needed to gain their respect to gain their support. However, despite going up against doubt, Silverman refers back to how her father, who taught her softball, prepared her for such situations. He told her that questioning and expectations would increase as her skill improved. “Something he always told me was, there’s always going to be adversity and people will try to bring me down,” said Silverman. “He told me I just need to keep my head up [and to] keep working.”

   Her first few outings with Rhode Island were not ones she could dwell on as she gave up close to seven home runs in one weekend to New Jersey. However, it was not a weekend that would hold her back.

   The following week, Thunder was in Colorado and once again, Silverman found herself in a critical situation. With the game tied and the bases loaded, she struck out all three batters to escape the jam.    “I learned that I couldn’t worry about impressing the coaches and I couldn’t think about a negative outcome,” she said. “I learned to just trust myself and do what I know I can do.”

   Silverman is not one to back down when it comes to capitalizing on her skills. “The only thing I’ve really done to be where I am is work hard. There’s really no other way to do it,” she said. “I pitch 900 pitches each week, run at least three times a week, work four-hour practices once or twice a week in Rhode Island, and one pitching lesson every week or every other week.”

   Silverman’s battle with high expectations has strengthened her, and her South Windsor teammates and coaches have taken notice. 

   “She’s a strong player, [who is] very dedicated to softball,” says teammate Alex Goslin. “She makes it really hard on the other team to score.”

   Senior teammate Lina Nguyen described what the opposition has to face when up against Silverman. “She throws really hard, which a lot of people struggle with in general,” she said. “One of her favorite pitches is her curve ball. It has great motion, and a lot of girls get jammed up on it.”

   “[She’s] impressive,” adds senior Rebecca Rewinski. “Es­pecially last year [when] she was only a sophomore. People didn’t expect that from her.”

   At the conclusion of her soph­omore year, Silverman walked away with a 15-5 record along with an ERA (Earned Run Average) of 1.09. She struck out 43% of the batters she faced, ending with 251 strikeouts. Numbers like this earned Silverman All-State and All-CCC honors. This season she tallied four consecutive shutouts. 

   Coach Mandy Roczniak praised Silverman’s uniqueness and noted her expectations go­ing into junior year. “She has a good demeanor and a steady presence. You can’t really see if she’s flustered or not,” she said. “[Silverman’s talent] is no longer a secret. She’s gotten better each year. She just needs to focus on not putting excessive pressure on herself,” Roczniak said.

   Her relentless attitude towards improvement is backed by her intense  thinking about each opponent. “My mindset going into games is that each batter I face is a top hitter in the country,” said Silverman. “Take the game pitch-by-pitch and always have a short memory, no matter what happens. You can never take a pitch off. No matter who we are playing it is always important to ‘respect all, fear none.’” 

   Silverman’s dream has always been to play for Team USA, however, she realized that, as her talent evolved, her play has additional potential. “Everyone who supported me always said I could go as far as I wanted in the game,” she said. “Even at 10 years old, my first pitching coach would tell me he knew, if I worked hard, I could go Division I.” 

   Such an opportunity came early. Before her sophomore year, she was already deciding between a handful of respectable Division I colleges: Kentucky, Louisville, and North Carolina State. 

She plans to take her talent to North Carolina State. “Being recruited just showed me how good I was for my age and gave me an idea of what I can do with softball,” Silverman said. “I see myself being pretty successful for the most part, but, of course, I know I will struggle against some teams. I’m not the best, but all I can do is work hard to get better so I can be successful.” 

Schmidt Close to Completing a Well Lived Tennis Life

   Tyler Schmidt staggered to the sidelines panting, his forehead glazed with sweat. The freshman was having a difficult time keeping up with his junior opponent from Farmington in his first singles match of varsity tennis. He had been swept 0-6, and was down one set. His opponent seemed invincible and his beginner’s nerves were getting the best of him.

   Former coach Al Dunbar strolled over to the slowly recovering rookie. “Tyler,” he said. “What are you doing wrong?”

   Still recapturing his com­posure, Schmidt said: “I don’t know.”

   Dunbar’s answer consisted of only four words. “Just hit it in,” he said. For Schmidt, that was all the motivation he needed.

   He checked back in to the match, and, for the first of many more matches to come, Schmidt became the king of the court in singles. The freshman stormed back, dominating the second set 6-0, and went on to claim a final set with a score of 6-3.

   As a seasoned veteran on the team, Schmidt has gone with a signature look in an attempt to swing things in his favor. Spectators will see a six-foot senior standing his ground under the May sun, eyes sharp with focus, with a wristband that stays unwashed until an opponent claims victory from him. 

Schmidt began playing competitive tennis at the age of 12 for the South Windsor Swim & Tennis Club in the Wes Clark Jr., Tennis League. Schmidt also plays for a USTA (United States Tennis Association) team in Ellington.

   His development in tennis was influenced by his sister Lauren who was a successful player for SWHS. He admired and respected her winning efficiency. “I never missed any of her matches,” he said. “I knew right away I wanted to have a career as a high school student athlete like her.”

   Schmidt says that playing tennis year round has been beneficial for him and his teammates. “Essentially, all of us who start on the tennis team play at Manchester Racquet Club in the winter. It is really great to see how everyone has improved.”

   Success has come for Schmidt and teammates Justin Kohut and Ryan Corcoran.

   Corcoran put Schmidt’s value to the team simply. “He’s the #3 singles player in the conference and an anchor to our team,” he said. “But he slides too much,” he added jokingly. “He’s going to blow out his knees by the time he’s 40.”

   Kohut played beside Schmidt in the 2014 Earl Yost Tournament, a regional doubles contest. They faced the 2011 Class ‘M’ Champions of Avon in the first round. Instead of advancing to the second round, the elites of Hartford County were turned the other way. Kohut recalled the upset. “We were shocked that we pulled it off,” Kohut said. “We didn’t get frustrated at each other when we made mistakes, which kept us in control of the match. Pulling off the win against two doubles state finalists gave us a lot of confidence heading into this season.” 

   “Justin and I complement each other well as doubles partners because we fit each other’s needs,” said Schmidt. “I have the serve power and height, while he has the finesse and ability to apply spin. Hopefully, we get to have some fun in our final year and play together in States to make a run for the championship,” he said.

   Whether it is playing the un­der­dog, the comeback kid, or the dominating opponent, one of Schmidt’s constant priorities is knowing who he is facing. “Like any other sport, you have to know your opponent well and what his strengths and weaknesses are,” he said. “It’s easy to find out who you’re most likely to play in the next match. Researching who it is and finding common opponents in order to prepare and know what to expect going into each match is big for me.” 

   Schmidt admits that exploiting weakness in the opponent, while at the same time keeping focus, is easier said than done but is crucial nonetheless. It is satisfying when both factors are executed correctly. “One of the best parts of tennis is mentally breaking your opponent down over the course of the match,” he said. “Your opponent can’t think clearly once he’s frustrated.”

   Schmidt believes in his team­mates and thinks that this is their year in the CCC North. He is impressed with the incoming rookie freshmen Brandon Sze, Parker Pacekonis, and Femi Orisamolu. 

“Tennis is an individual game in itself but, in high school, it’s more of a team game than almost any other sport,” he said. “There are intangibles that we have that other teams can’t touch, especially our chemistry and how well we support each other both on and off the court. It would be great to put the year 2015 on our banner in the gym this year.”

   As he completes his final year with the team, and possibly his final year playing competitively, Schmidt’s goals are set to the highest bar. He wishes to match, or better, his previous record, make a run in States, and seal a spot on the All-Conference team. Regardless of the outcome, Schmidt will be leaving a life of tennis that is replete with comebacks, upsets, and domination, and he did it all with a group of teammates he is able to call family.

Eleven Seniors Look to Carry South Windsor Baseball to Promise Land

   

   Three years ago the South Windsor Bobcats fell to Shelton in the state championship. In spite of the outcome, South Windsor believed that they would return to Connecticut’s championship diamond. 

   Behind the 2012 varsity team, the freshman and junior varsity teams consisted of a nucleus of 11 freshmen. Those freshmen are now seniors. Throughout the years, Bobcat baseball has been led by groups of well-seasoned senior captains. This year however, there are not two or three leading the show. There are 11 of them. 

   “It’s good that we have 11 seniors,” said senior pitcher Nick Romaniello. “It brings a lot to the team, we’ve all known each other for a long time. It’s 11 solid seniors too. We don’t have any weak links.”

   First year South Windsor head coach Mike McDermott will be at the helm for the 2015 Bobcats after being head coach at East Hartford High School for over 30 years. He is excited to manage a team of players hungry for success. “[They are] great coachable kids [with] good attitudes,” he said. “They’ve got good leadership, and the kids are willing to learn and to work.”

   The Bobcats see their pitching and defense as the areas where they will display their strength. According to McDermott, the pitching staff is set to feature seniors Adam Bettigole, Cody Fisher, Romaniello, and Zach Sultar. 

   “On the mound we should be able to shut [the opposing] team down and win some low-scoring games,” said Sultar. 

   Defense however, will be just as important. “If we want to win in our conference we have to have great defense and we have to make the least amount of mistakes,” said senior catcher Derek Chouinard.  

   The players believes that their pitching and defense will see them through. However, Cody Fisher says that if they can also hit, they have a chance of being an elite team in their conference. “We have good pitching and fielding,” he said. “If we can hit, we’re going to win games.” 

    Four underclassmen will help in their quest for success: Ty Sarra, Jake Siracusa, Tommy Sand and Alex Rodriguez.

   There are notable matchups in the CCC North where the Bobcats will have to test their skills against East Catholic and Manchester. For the seniors, this year will be a showdown against East Catholic who has defeated them numerous times in the past. “We’ve had trouble with East Catholic for the past three years, but this year we can beat them,” said Romaniello. 

   In their first meeting with East Catholic High School, the Bobcats lost 13-1. They also dropped their first game against Manchester 11-5, and Windsor, who defeated Manchester soundly, 12-0.

   The Bobcats will continue to look for a way to beat the tough teams. They defeated Manchester in their second meeting 3-1, and fell short to East Catholic in the second round against them, 2-0, versus their first lost to the Eagles, 13-1. The teams final regular season record stands at 13-7. Their hitting has been good and they put 88 runs on the board in 15 games. The pitchers in that span surrendered 61 runs. 

   Chouinard does not believe they missed a beat from last year. “Everything that [the team] had last year, we have this year. Every spot is filled and we didn’t just fill the spots, we have more than what they had last year, especially pitching,” he said. “We have more depth or at least just as much depth.”

   Bettigole would like to end the seniors’ tenure on the field on a high note and satisfy their desire for success. “The last couple of years have been less than successful as far as advancing deep into the playoffs,” he said. “This year our goal is to advance further into the playoffs rather than losing in the first round,” he said. 

   The team will continue to face talented opponents, but they believe that this year can be special and they hope to return to playoff territory. 

   “We were the one class that witnessed the State Championship team [in] our freshmen year,” Chouinard said. “[We have] a new coach this year. [We have] 11 seniors. You rarely get that, and we have [future] college ball players. The stage is set.” 

Track (2014-15)

6/3 (Class L State Championship)  

-M. Otaluka: 

• 1st place finish in 400m
• Finishes in 58.13 seconds (2nd best time in school history)
• Otaluka claims her 5th championship of high school career (55m, 100m, 200m, 300m, 400m)

CCC North Championships

-B. Cullinane: 4th in 110 hurdles
-S. O'Brien: 4th in pole vault
-C. Erikson: 8th in 800
-K. Leonard: 9th in 100m hurdles
-I. Erikson: 9th in 1600m
-M. Otaluka: 1st in 400m

Golf (2014-15)

Results
4/10 - 164, P. Rommel shoots a 39 v Windsor
4/21 - 180 v Wethersfield
4/23 - 188 v Ellington
4/27 - 177 v Manchester
4/29 - 187 v Glastonbury
5/1 - 178 v East Catholic
5/6 - 173 v Rocky Hill
5/8 - 170 v Rocky Hill
5/11 - 162 v Windsor
5/12 - 171 v Enfield
5/13 - 168 v Wethersfield
5/18 - 172 v East Catholic
5/20 - 155 v Manchester
5/26 - 163 v Glastonbury
5/28 - 159 v Enfield
*6/4 - 162 in CCC Tournament

Spring Sports Photo Gallery (2014-15)