Page 45 - North Haven Magazine Issue 39 Summer 2025

not a team full of phenoms. We had And that brings me to the current having the courage to show up – “on
immense talent, for sure: six of us players and coaches present today. time and ready to play”; for enduring
earned first team all-housatonic You’re not just part of a team. You’re the three+ hour practices; for fighting
honors, a few played in college, two part of a tradition. You inherit a leg- through the nagging injuries; and for
played professionally, and Paul house- acy that stretches back half a centu- showing what’s possible when team
holder had a 10- year major league ca- ry. You’re walking the same path we members know and do their jobs.
reer – so I guess we did have at least did, wearing the same jersey. Standing Whether we knew it or not, we were
one phenom! But we also had Bob on the shoulders of champions who learning that these are all life skills…
DeMayo as our coach, and the oth- came before you. As Steve Kesses said
er guys didn’t. Coach DeMayo had a earlier, “to whom much is given, much And finally, to the current team —
way of turning good players into great is required.” And with that comes re- your chapter is still being written.
teams – teams that found ways to win sponsibility — not just to win games, One day, 50 years from now, one of
games. He inspired our belief in each but to uphold a legacy of character, you might be standing here with gray
other and held us all to a higher stan- commitment, and class. Remember, hair and creaky knees. So, make sure
dard than we had ever experienced legacy isn’t just about banners on the you’re building something today that
until that time. And, when he walked wall or numbers in a record book. As you’ll be proud of tomorrow.
across those white lines, Coach De- you can see from the former players
Mayo gave us his undivided atten- here on the field tonight, it’s about I hope you will honor this legacy, not
tion… and he demanded the same the friendships you’ll make, the sto- just with your presence here tonight,
from us. For a 15-year-old on a varsity ries you’ll tell, and the lives you’ll but with your actions, both on and off
team, that was a lot. To me, that was touch. Legacy isn’t about the past. It’s the field. I hope you will keep this leg-
the “secret sauce.” about what you do with the past. acy alive as Coach DeMayo built it –
pitch by pitch, inning by inning, game
The ’82, ’85, and ’03 teams followed So, tonight, we don’t just celebrate by game, season by season.
the same blueprint and proved NHHS past victories —we celebrate the bond
Baseball’s success wasn’t luck — it between generations. We celebrate a Thank you – and Coach Romanelli, go
had become a tradition. And in 2015, coach who shaped hundreds of lives. get that next championship! We’re
those young men proved that the We celebrate what it means to be part all rooting for you 100%! Good luck
heart of this program still beat just of something bigger than ourselves. to you all, and may the ball always
as strong 40 years later. Each of these bounce your way!
teams, in its own way, carried the To the 1975, 1985, and 2015 teams
torch forward. honored tonight — thank you for Frank LaMonaca, ‘75

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