STONINGTON — Bob Cahoone has logged nearly 40 years of scholastic baseball coaching at Westerly and Stonington. He can’t remember enjoying a season any more than he did last spring for the Bears.

Stonington posted one of the most successful campaigns in program history, going 19-7 overall, winning the Eastern Connecticut Conference Division III regular season title while advancing to the state tournament semifinals for just the second time in half a century.

But as much as the quantity of success that pleased Cahoone, it was the quality of individuals who meshed as a team that made this experience special.

“It was a very enjoyable season,” Cahoone said. “I had a special group of seniors. I asked them in preseason if they would be willing to be coached hard and dedicate themselves. Ninety-five percent of the team bought in and made unselfish moves to help us collectively if not individually.”

One unselfish move was moving senior Jace Wolfradt to a full-time catcher. Wolfradt, an all-around utility player who can pitch, was recruited as an outfielder at Rhode Island College, but realized the Bears needed experience behind the plate.

And not only did Wolfradt handle the staff and neutralize opposing running games, he performed spectacularly at bat, hitting .474 with 35 base hits from the leadoff spot.

Ten of his hits went for doubles and he scored a team-high 30 runs and drove in a team-best 26 runs. Wolfradt was rewarded for his all-around play by earning Class M All-State first-team honors as well as making ECC DIII first team.

“Jace was a great leader and the best catcher in the area,” Cahoone said. “He led us in nearly offensive category.”

Stonington had the rare distinction of placing two players on the Class M All-State first team.
Junior pitcher Cam Ogden was also selected after compiling a 7-2 record in dominant fashion. The right-hander, who has committed to sign a Division I college offer to George Washington, averaged nearly two strikeouts an inning with six games of 10-plus strikeouts. His best game was a seven-inning no-hitter with 13 strikeouts against a strong-hitting Bacon Academy.

“Cam is dominant,” Cahoone said. “He’s a stud when he’s on which is most of the time. He pitched in most of our big games, beating Bacon, Killingly and Montville twice. He was a good power hitter for us two with a couple of homers, but he’s got a great future as a pitcher.”

Ogden also made ECC DIII first team, joining Wolfradt, junior shortstop Michael Keefe and senior outfielder Finn Eck as selectees.
Keefe batted nearly .300 but impressed opponents with his defense, garnering first-team honors as a sophomore utility player. Eck batted .370 and drove in 16 runs.

“Finn read the ball off the bat well while patrolling center field,” Cahoone said. “At bat, he went with the pitch well, drove in a lot of key runs and had a good lefty stroke to left-center. Michael has potential to be All-State next year.”

Infielder-reliever Grayson Dull, who batted .370, made ECC DIII honorable mention. Senior first baseman Nick Cannella, who Cahoone said was an excellent defensively, was picked as ECC Scholar Athlete. Owen Bennett made the ECC Sportsmanship list.

“It was a little disappointing to lose a tough extra-inning game in the semifinals to Suffield,” Cahoone said. “I thought we were the better team. But overall, I have no complaints. It was a great group of seniors.”