Mike DiMauro: Despite Lyman's slingshot precision, inequities still rule in Class S

Jun. 1—LEBANON — Normally, the No. 5 seed earning a victory over No. 28 in the first round of the state high school baseball tournament prompts a group yawn from the winners, the stoic reactions that expected results produce.

But this was Tuesday at Lyman Memorial, the little country enclave where mascot Milo The Donkey is heard to hee-haw on occasion, when longtime coach Marty Gomez — an all-timer in Connecticut lore and legend — bear-hugged his assistants in a scene that suggested this was a state final, not Round One.

Gomez knew. He knew that little ol' Lyman taking down defending Class M state champion East Catholic — in the first round of the Class S state tournament — was the unexpected, despite what the seedings suggested.

"Just to beat East Catholic, a perennial power in the state, is just huge," Gomez said after Lyman's 5-2 win, during which the Bulldogs threw two runners out at the plate and escaped a bases-loaded, nobody-out jam.

"I have no idea how many titles they won. But I know that they've won quite a few (five). A strong program. So, to be in Class S for them certainly right raised some eyebrows. But the kids stepped up and won the game and I'm proud of them to beat a quality program like that."

Dim bulbs throughout the state might point to the outcome and suggest that Catholic school competitive advantage is overstated and overrated. Except that Lyman Memorial punching above its weight shouldn't detract from the overall absurdity that five of the 10 Catholic high schools playing baseball this spring are in Class S — where Catholic schools own the biggest advantages.

"You take a look at the divisions," Gomez said. "There are five Catholic schools in Class S. We're not perfect here, but we try to play by the rules.

"Schools that have an opportunity to recruit like the Catholic schools make it very, very difficult on small public schools with limited players. And it's been addressed by a number of people over the years from (Griswold softball coach) Rick Arremony to (former Putnam boys' basketball coach) Tony Falzarano who took on this battle on with CIAC. It just seems to stay this way. So, that's why I'm glad the kids made a statement."

Here is the absurdity of Tuesday: East Catholic is a school of choice whose website says it "serves Catholic and non-Catholic students from more than 35 communities in the Greater Hartford and Northeast regions of the state."

It is the defending state Class M champion. At the time the CIAC determined its state divisional alignments for 2022, East was the defending Class M champ with a returning shortstop headed to Maryland and pitcher to St. John's (he was since injured).

And yet there is no mechanism in place to question how East could possibly drop to Class S, despite its status as defending M champ, No. 1 team in the state and two Div. I players.

Straight up: Nobody on the CIAC baseball committee or the CIAC offices had the fortitude to question why the defending No. 1 team in Connecticut with two Div. I players got moved DOWN a division?

Meanwhile, Lyman has 360 kids in the entire school.

More absurdity: Lyman is bound by the same "school of choice" rules as East Catholic. Why? Lyman has an Ag-Science program that attracts students from other towns. East gets Frank Mozzicato from out of town who gets drafted by the Kansas City Royals last year. Lyman gets Farmer Brown, who produces a bountiful crop of zucchini.

"Our Ag-Science Program is great," Gomez said. "But very, very few ballplayers come into it, whether it be soccer, basketball, or baseball. Very few. It just doesn't attract athletes."

Just don't alert CIAC, whose once-size-fits-all rules continue to allow the East Catholics, Immaculates and St. Josephs to exploit Class S and its mostly small public schools inhabitants.

East participates in the East Division of the Central Connecticut Conference with East Hartford, E.O. Smith, Enfield, Manchester, RHAM, South Windsor and Tolland. Average enrollment of East's divisional opponents: 1,295 students. Lyman plays in Div. IV of the ECC with Tourtellotte, Wheeler, St. Bernard and Putnam. Average enrollment: 272.

And yet they're playing for the same trophy.

Tuesday's outcome — and good for Gomez and his kids — is largely irrelevant in the face of the failure to adhere to the principles of equity. But as I've said many times, I can scream here until hyperventilation. Until coaches, athletic directors and administrators start to care enough, all this amounts to what Macbeth said after he heard of Lady Macbeth's death: Noise without action is "sound and fury signifying nothing."

I'd also point out that the girls' lacrosse team at East Catholic eliminated Wheeler from the Class S Tournament last weekend. Wheeler, with 108 girls in the entire school.

But this is what we allow in Connecticut high school sports. Sometimes, there's a Marty Gomez and his Davids who believe in the precision of the slingshot. But mostly, it's inequity that's permitted through benign neglect.

This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro