Stories related to Thomaston sports
By Rick Wilson (Editor’s Note: The area lost one of its biggest sports fans and high school basketball enthusiasts with the passing of Thomaston’s Gene Sleeper’ McMahon recently. McMahon would travel anywhere with his pal Harry Innes to watch a game. Rick Wilson grew up across the street from McMahon and chronicled the duo on …
WOODBURY – Maybe you already thought that the road to the Berkshire League girls’ basketball title was going to have to go through Thomaston. Fair enough because, well, there is the defending champion status and that is what Thomaston does – win titles. But just in case you were wondering and had some doubts. Stop …
Bears Take Control of Berkshire League Girls Hoops Race Read More »
BRANFORD – On the green football carpet in the crisp atmosphere of Branford High School, the Thomaston High field hockey team saw its dream of a state title die Tuesday night. But while painful, it was a noble ending. The No. 3 Bears battled No. 2 Stonington toe-to-toe, Bear-to-Bear, before bowing on an early fourth …
Tremendous season comes to an end for Thomaston Field Hockey in Class S semi’s Read More »
It felt like an ending. State tournament losses do that to you. They kick you in the stomach and eat away at you. There is that empty feeling complete with no tomorrows. And so, it was for the Thomaston High girls’ soccer team after Friday afternoon’s 5-1 loss to Holy Cross in the Class S …
Just the end of the beginning for Thomaston girls soccer Read More »
WATERTOWN – It was an ecstatic cheer from a jubilant huddle – “WHY NOT US.” And why not the Thomaston High field hockey team? After a 1-0 take down of No. 6 Old Saybrook in the Class S quarterfinals Watertown High’s chilled John Mills complex Thursday night the Bears are believing’. You can’t blame them. …
Golden Bears field hockey downs Old Saybrook, 1-0. On to the semifinals. Read More »
LITCHFIELD – The Thomaston High girls soccer team is young, it is fearless and it is good. Swish those ingredients around and what do you have? How about a first ever appearance in the Class S quarterfinals. Just two years removed from qualifying for the state tournament for a first time, the No. 10 Golden …
THOMASTON – In a sense it wasn’t supposed to be like this. Not once the girls soccer program was rebooted in 2014. After all, how was field hockey was supposed to survive despite its long presence on the Thomaston High athletic menu? With a consistently successful cross-country program and soccer offering options would the numbers …
Claire Saunders was at it again Wednesday afternoon. One from the foot, one from the head. One in each half. Two goals in a 2-0 win over Northwestern Regional at Thomaston’s Nystrom’s Park. An impressive performance. Even more impressive is the bigger picture. This was no one-hit wonder. This is the norm for Thomaston High’s …
From night to day. From Gampej Pavilion and Rentschler Field to an iconic old clock factory. From writing deadlines to brewing deadlines. From basketball and football to barley and hops. From happy readers to glowing customers (or customers with a glow). Meet Ed Daigneault, a youthful 52-year-old in happy transition. For 22-years a top-notch sportswriter …
Ed Daigneault. Brewing success in his new venture Read More »
THOMASTON: When the ball left the bat, it looked like trouble. It was the first batter in the opening inning of the Thomaston Golden Bears Second Round Class S game against East Granby and Crusaders junior Taylor Andrews had gotten a hold of the offering dealt by Bears junior Kaya Johnson. As the ball came …
Thomaston softball gets by East Granby behind Johnson, key hits and defense Read More »
Fate in the form of Covid-19 robbed Emma Kahn of where she could play. But it could never touch how she played. And Kahn, robbed of the chance to do her thing at the promised land of Connecticut high school basketball, Mohegan Sun, where they play state championship games and produce memories for a lifetime, …
Gene McMahon and Fred Foster are hoop guys. Gentlemanly gym rats to the utmost. They fell in love with the game a long time ago lured in by the high school hardwood and pulsating energy generated by forever young dreamers on frosty winter nights in steamy basketball arenas. Yeah, basketball grabbed these guys a long …
No gym, no game, no fun – A season lost for a couple of lifelong fans Read More »
THOMASTON – The Bears are back. Not that they were gone that long but they are back in prime time now. Coach Bob McMahon’s relentless band grabbed its first Berkshire League girls basketball title since 2017 and seventh in the last 10 seasons with a 54-29 dismantling of Northwestern Regional Saturday afternoon. Thomaston is 8-0 …
THOMASTON – One student sat at a drum set his feet dangling about a football’s length from the foot pedals. In the vicinity were two other students, one with his back to the front of the room facing the wall, another working on something, anything, instrument nearby. It was the fall of 2007 and (Aaron) …
THOMASTON – Title winning, history making. Now, that’s a season. The Thomaston High field hockey season. In a season that almost never happened narrowly becoming another victim to Covid-19, the Bears made it their season and one that will long be remembered for brilliance on the field and not conditions off the field. Maybe nobody …
WATERTOWN – Senior Maegan Desmarais knew what she was running for Monday in the Berkshire League Cross Country Championships at Black Rock State Park – a little Thomaston running immortality. Mission accomplished. On a bright, crisp afternoon, Desmarais ran her way to the top of the Golden Bears’ running book by becoming the first runner …
Who knew that good old Route 8 would lead right into thousands of ear drums, living rooms and bedrooms. Brian “Soup” Campbell sure didn’t. For more than a decade, Campbell traversed large chunks of the 68-mile highway that starts in Bridgeport and ends in Massachusetts bisecting the western side of Connecticut. He got to know …
From Route 8 to the Vegas Strip and MMA, Brian “Soup” Campbell is on his way Read More »
“It wasn’t a team that was loaded with a lot of standout players. It was a team of what you might call….average to above average players that put their collective talents together during a magical history-making season.” Ray Wells THOMASTON – Billy Rado is about as far away from Thomaston High School as you can …
That Season In The Sun. The 1970 Thomaston Baseball Bears Read More »
BRISTOL – Wally Olson is one of those people that has you thinking maybe time kind of gave him a pass. At the very least for the octogenarian, age is truly but a number. On a rather bone-chilling early Monday recently you could find the 81-year- old Olson at the Bristol Sports Amory helping former …
Olson and Sanson – Their story from the LCS Magazine Read More »
It was 12 years ago Saturday (June 7). On a blistering day on a baking Palmer Field in Middletown they made their moment. Not exactly ancient now in their late 20s or (gasp) even 30, it doesn’t matter. They will always be Thomaston High Golden Bears able to retrieve that 17-18 year-old time. The moment …
