On the eve of their biggest game of the season, Coginchaug's 12-year-old All-Star team welcomed a special guest into their dugout before taking batting practice Monday night.
Philip Devlin, a Windsor Locks native known to many Patch readers for his This Week in Connecticut History column offered some words of encouragement and shared a few stories from the summer of 1965, the year his Windsor Locks All-Star team won the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
"You're talented, I've seen you guys play," Devlin told the players. "You gotta look at it one game at a time but I'm here to tell you that my town was no bigger than the combination of the populations of Durham and Middlefield, so it can happen.
"But you've really got to want it, and be disciplined about it," he said.
Devlin's 1965 Windsor Locks team went undefeated in what was then single-elimination play. Metal bats weren't allowed for several more years. The championship game between Windsor Locks and Stoney Creek, Ontario, Canada, was the only game shown on television, but was on tape-delay.
Windsor Locks won the game 3-1 and is one of only four Connecticut teams ever to win the Little League World Series.
Devlin told the players how he got to meet baseball legends Jackie Robinson, Willy Mays and Mickey Mantle, and even Durham's own Lefty Gomez.
"The best part is, for the rest of your life you'll never forget it because you're a local hero," Devlin said before offering one last 'good luck.'
It must've worked. On Tuesday night, Coginchaug defeated South Windsor 12-3 to force a winner-take-all Section 2 championship game.
The two teams will meet again Wednesday night at 5:30 p.m. at the Harwinton Sports Complex.
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