Sports

New Canaan Old Timers Association Spotlight: Mario Lopez

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One of the most intense competitors in the history of New Canaan High School athletics, Mario Lopez was a two-sport star for the Rams. The 1984 grad was a captain in both baseball and football in his senior year. Lopez was an inside linebacker for the Rams in head coach Lou Marinelli’s earliest seasons. Mentored by assistant coaches Joe Ditolla and Bo Hickey, Lopez earned three Varsity letters from 1981 to 1983, emerging as New Canaan’s top tackler and earning a reputation as one of the FCIAC’s hardest hitters. “Mario really set the tone for our team,” Marinelli told New Canaanite.com. “He was so emotional and so intense, one of the most intense players I’ve ever had.

News

Lopez’s Complete Game Propels NC Baseball to 6-1 Victory over Central

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Coming into Wednesday’s contest against the Bridgeport Central Hilltoppers, New Canaan baseball had been struggling to find any offense. In their most recent four games, the team was only able to score two runs, combined. So a well-pitched game from starting pitcher Zach Lopez was needed to give the offense a chance to rediscover their punch—and Lopez delivered. The junior threw a complete-game, allowing just one run and striking out six in seven innings of work on the mound, while the offense provided him with more than enough support by plating six runs on nine hits to propel the Rams (6-10, 5-8 FCIAC) to victory over Bridgeport Central (1-14, 0-13 FCIAC), 6-1. “Zach’s been doing a great job all year,” head coach Mitch Hoffman told NewCanaanite.com.

Sports

Same Bases, New Faces: 2016 New Canaan Rams Baseball Preview

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In 2015, New Canaan Rams Baseball had a crop of senior talent that could be argued as the best in the program’s past decade, with the possible exception of 2007’s class headlined by now Tampa Bay Rays catcher, Curt Casali and the 2013 state championship-winning team led by Andrew Casali and Casey Ouellette. 11 seniors suited up for the Rams last year (15-5, 14-4 FCIAC; made FCIAC and CIAC Class L Playoffs), including regular starters Alex LaPolice (OF/P), David Giusti (P/OF), Brandon Abate (SS), Zack Smith (C), Kyle Levasseur (3B), and Kane Curtin (RF), as well as the oft-called-upon-pitcher, Clark Newlove. And having that amount of veteran leadership allowed the Rams to erase late-game deficits on several occasions, pulling out classic win after classic win — certainly making the 2015 squad one of the more thrilling baseball teams of recent memory. Even so, the byproduct of having such a large, vital senior class one year is that it means the next year will be filled with a lot of fresh faces. Enter the 2016 Rams of New Canaan Baseball.