Local sports roundup
Shrewsbury Thunder's recipe for success: homegrown talent 
By Ken Powers Community Reporter

Region - While it's not too surprising that a Shrewsbury youth baseball team is off to a red-hot start - the town has always enjoyed a rich, successful youth baseball tradition - the success of the Shrewsbury Thunder 13-year-old AAU team is somewhat eye-opening given its circumstances.

"We're a rarity in the sense that the team is completely made up of kids from Shrewsbury," Thunder coach Mike Razzano said. "These AAU teams, for the most part, are made up of all the best players from three or four towns that are all close together. We decided not to do it that way.

"These kids have played together on town teams for the last three years," Razzano continued. "They wanted to compete at the AAU level, but only if they could all stay together and play on the same team. So that's what we did."

So far, so good. The Thunder is off to a 10-2 start in a spring/ summer season that will see them play about 80 games. After a short break, the team will then play a fall schedule of about 25 games.

Of the 77 teams in their age group in New England, the Thunder is currently the No. 3 ranked team.

The 13-player Thunder roster: Peter Ambrose, Mike Coggeshall, Matt Demers, Chris Marden, Varun Navani, Anthony Razzano (Mike's son), Spencer Resnick, John Roy, Zack Thebeau, Anthony Toaiolo, Zach Twitchell, James Vatsiorsky and Jay Reynolds.

The pitching rotation consists of Vatsiorsky, Tomaiolo, Roy, Coggeshall and Navani. Demers and Reynolds primarily serve as relievers, with Reynolds being the team's closer.

The regular batting order has Navani, who also plays center field, leading off . Twitchell, the shortstop, bats second; Coggeshall, the first baseman, hits third; and Anthony Razzano, the second baseman, bats in the cleanup spot. The No. 5 hitter is Vatsiorsky, the catcher. Roy the third baseman, bats sixth; Tomaiolo, as designated hitter, bats seventh; Marden, who plays left field, bats eighth; and Resnick, who plays right field, bats ninth. Hudson Catholic

Alumni Hockey Game is May 2

Hudson Catholic High School will hold its Seventh Annual Alumni Hockey Game to raise money for the expenses incurred by the current collection of Green Wave skaters.

The game, which will pit a team of former players against the current crop of skaters, will be held Friday May 2 at Navin Rink in Marlborough. It is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.

Family and friends of current and former players are invited to attend the game, as well as current and former Hudson Catholic students.

Helping to sponsor the game again this year are St. Mary's Credit Union and Avidia Bank. There will also be prizes raffled off after the game to raise money for the Green Wave hockey program, and there will be a 50/50 Puck Toss just before the start of the third period.

"Because of the community's support for our alumni game, our program has greater opportunities to play hockey with the appropriate equipment," Hudson Catholic head coach Tom Temple said. "Such outpouring of generosity gives these kids the boost they need to play competitively, focus on the game, and most importantly, have fun."

For more information about the game or to contribute to the Hudson Catholic hockey program, contact Temple at 508-481-3285 or via e-mail at t.temple@comcast.net.

Contact Ken Powers at kpthesportsguy@yahoo.com with your sports team's news.