Hamden Student Wins Whitey Piurek ‘No ‘I’ In Team’ Award

HAMDEN, CT — Hamden’s Tristan Manganiello will be one of 31 honorees to receive the John “Whitey” Piurek “There’s No ‘I’ in Team” Award at the Southern Connecticut Diamond Club’s upcoming banquet.

The Southern Connecticut Diamond Club, Inc., will hold its 19th Annual “No ‘I’ in Team” High School Awards Banquet on Sunday, June 9, at 11 a.m. at The Woodwinds in Branford.

Tickets to the 2024 SCDC “No ‘I’ in Team” luncheon are $45 per person and will only be sold in advance. Tickets can be purchased online here or by contacting Rose V. Mentone, Executive Director, at RMentone@comcast.net.

The SCDC, a non-profit, volunteer-run organization whose stated mission is to foster and promote the game of baseball in greater New Haven, will bestow upon a player from each of 31 area high schools the John “Whitey” Piurek “There’s No ‘I’ in Team” Award.

The honor is named for Piurek, the longtime West Haven High School coach, Seattle Mariners scout, and Greater New Haven Baseball Umpires Association commissioner, and is tagged with one of his favorite phrases.

Honorees were selected jointly by their coaches and directors of athletics. While it was recommended schools choose a senior, they were free to recognize any player they felt gave most unselfishly to their team.

Winners represent the Southern Connecticut Conference (18), Shoreline Conference (4), Naugatuck Valley League (3), New England Private Schools Athletics Council (3), Central Connecticut Conference (2), and Connecticut Technical Conference (1)

The SCDC will also honor its George Klivak Team of the Year and Samuel A. Burrell Jr. Coach of the Year. Both awards, as chosen by area coaches and the SCDC Executive Board, will have co-winners in 2024. The Team of the Year award will be shared by SCC champion Daniel Hand High School and Shoreline winner North Branford High School.

Southington High’s Stan Switala and East Haven High’s Raymond “Butch” Johnson are the Co-Coaches of the Year. Southington, the inaugural CCC Tournament champion, entered the CIAC Class LL Tournament with a 22-0 record and ranked No. 1 in the GameTimeCT state poll. East Haven (12-8-1 entering Class L Tournament) enjoyed its first winning season since 2019.

The 2024 winners of the Southern Connecticut Diamond Club John “Whitey” Piurek “There’s No ‘I’ in Team” Award are:

Amity Regional – Johnny Aldi

Ansonia – Brendan Lynch

Branford – Giuseppe Piscitelli

Canterbury – Seth Schullery

Cheshire – Christopher Kobylanski

Derby – Kobe Marroquin

East Haven – Dominick Perillo

Fairfield Prep – Griffin Fisher

Foran - Kasen Lanese

Guilford - Joe Tafro

Hamden - Tristan Manganiello

Hamden Hall - Ryan Lynch

Hand - Johnny Reh

Hopkins - Jaan Desai

Hillhouse/Career - Henry Rugemer

Law - Alex Bludevich

Morgan - Ryan Donadio

North Branford - Victor Castillo

Notre Dame (West Haven) - Matthew Cinque

North Haven - Jordan Higgins

Old Saybrook - Nick Denovellis

Platt HS - Aiden McCarty

Sheehan - Paul Gorry

Shelton - Jake Duda

Southington – Carson Lentini

Westbrook – Kyle Litevich

West Haven – Haygen Axelrod

Wilbur Cross – Andrez Garcia

Wilcox Tech – Noah Zamorano

Woodland Regional – Ethan Stepputtis

Xavier – Luciano Frezza