Growing pains for Griswold, and other thoughts | Zanor column

Just thought I’d empty out my reporter’s notebook while I dust off the photo of Larry Bird and Julius Erving choking each other during a game in 1984. The Celtics and 76ers renew their rivalry again in the NBA playoffs on Sunday.

Wolverines softball

As far as head coaching debuts go, things couldn’t have gone any better for Shae Crosby.

Advertisement

On April 4, the former East Lyme and Keene State softball standout coached Griswold to a 10-0 victory over Putnam/Tourtellotte. Crosby watched as freshman Aubrey Eliasson threw a no-hitter in her first varsity start and freshman Madelynn Walters hit a double and drove in two runs and freshman Alanna Ackley scored three runs and had three stolen bases. Juniors Bella Bruno and Alex Crowley also had key hits.

The Wolverines must have looked like the 2003 Wolverines, who won the school’s only state softball championship with a 1-0 victory over Waterford in the Class M final.

Crosby, however, is still searching for her second win. Griswold has dropped five straight games since their season-opening win over the Clippers. Yup, the Eastern Connecticut Conference softball wars can be so unforgiving for a first-year coach with a very young team.

“There are definitely some challenges,” Crosby said. “Rick was a great leader here. So it’s big shoes to fill.”

Advertisement

Longtime Griswold softball coach Rick Arremony retired after guiding the Wolverines to an 11-10 mark last spring. Arremony won over 300 games and five ECC championships. His 2018 team reached the Class M state finals, a 5-2 loss against St. Joseph-Trumbull.

Arremony was the assistant coach for the Wolverines 2003 state championship team. His daughter, Stephanie, was the winning pitcher that day against Waterford at Biondi Field. She also scored the game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh. The following year, Stephanie Arremony was selected the state’s Gatorade Player of the Year.

Rick Arremony is not in Griswold anymore. He’s in Kansas. His daughter Jessica (Arremony) Sherman, who set numerous Griswold softball records before continuing her career at UConn, is the head softball coach at St. James Academy in Lenexa, Kansas. Rick is her assistant.

Now, after spending the past two seasons as Griswold’s assistant coach, Crosby is overseeing a big rebuild with the Wolverines. Griswold started five freshmen in a recent loss against Norwich Tech. The Wolverines were also missing two key players who were on vacation.

Advertisement

“It’s a lot of obstacles to overcome,” Crosby said. “We don’t have a deep bench but we’re making the best of it.”

As a player, Crosby helped East Lyme win an ECC championship in 2013. She was an All-Little East Conference third baseman for Keene State.

“I love the game,” said Crosby.

Crosby is a language arts teacher at the Griswold Middle School.

“I like continuing to teach in a different kind of environment,” she said. “I like seeing kids be successful outside of the classroom and have other talents. It’s such a good group of girls. I enjoy spending time with them.”

With seven freshmen and just two seniors (Ella Cash and Elaina Conrad) on the roster, Crosby and the Wolverines are ready to experience a lot of growing pains this spring.

Advertisement

“We’re very young but we’re trying to create a calm and relaxed but high expectation culture,” Crosby said. “I want to see a place where they’re successful but also enjoying it. I have really good assistant coaches. We’re all very big on making our players good people. It’s a rebuilding year but we have a really good group of girls.”

Gold Key Dinner

The Connecticut Sports Media Alliance will host its 83rd Gold Key Dinner on Sunday, May 17, 2026, at the Aqua Turf Club in Southington at 2 p.m. The Gold Key is presented to athletes, coaches and administrators who have made noteworthy career contributions to Connecticut’s rich athletic heritage. Receiving a Gold Key is comparable to being inducted into a state hall of fame.

Advertisement

This year, the CSMA is honoring five distinguished Gold Key recipients: Rachele Fico, Masuk and Louisiana State softball; Nick Giaquinto, Stratford, UConn football, Washington Super Bowl champion; James Jones, head basketball coach at Yale; Dave Wallace, Sacred Heart-Waterbury graduate and pitching coach of 2004 World Series champion Boston Red Sox; and Kara Wolters, UConn All-American, WNBA champion and Olympic gold medalist.

More: CSMA’s Gold Key dinner takes place next month | Zanor column

Tickets for the 83rd Gold Key dinner are now on sale for $80. Send your check made payable to the Connecticut Sports Media Alliance and who you are there to see to the following address: CT Sports Media Alliance, P.O. Box 3234, Enfield, CT, 06083.

For more information or to pay through Venmo, contact John Holt at [email protected] or call him at 508-740-4738.

Advertisement

Comments and Observations …

• I just shake my head, acknowledge the lunacy, and move on when the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame announces their new inductees every year. Heck, Boston’s New Edition won this year’s fan vote,  dominating with over 1 million votes, and they still didn’t get in. Why the heck are we even voting? At least this year’s Hall of Fame class includes some real rock and rollers, like Billy Idol, Phil Collins, Iron Maiden and Oasis. But I’m still boycotting the place until Little Feat, The Replacements and Boston’s mighty J. Geils Band get the call.

• The Boston Bruins begin their quest for their seventh Stanley Cup, and first since 2011, when they meet the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday in Buffalo. The Bruins have won three of four games against their old Adams Division rivals this season but that means nothing. The temperature rises during the NHL playoffs. The famed Sabres’ 1970’s French Connection line of Gilbert Perreault, Rick Martin, and Rene Robert has been replaced by UConn great Tage Thompson, Mattias Samuelsson and Rasmus Dahlin. Look for B’s newcomers Fraser Minten and Boston College’s James Hagens to make an impact, as well as Bruins stars David Pastrnak, Charlie McAvoy, and Jeremy Swayman. It takes a grueling 16W’s to get your name etched on the Stanley Cup. I’ve already started growing my playoff beard.

More: Two new Eagles, and our all-state hoop stars | Zanor column

• Legendary sports writer Dan Jenkins famously said many years ago that, “the Masters doesn’t begin until the back nine on Sunday.” He was right again. Kudos to Rory McIlroy for joining Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods as the only golfers to win consecutive green jackets.

STUCK IN THE 70s

On April 15, 1973, Jo Jo White poured in a game-high 30 points and John Havlicek collected 26 points, 11 assists, and nine rebounds to lead the Boston Celtics to a 134-108 victory over the New York Knickerbockers in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals at the Boston Garden.

Also for the Celts, Dave Cowens, who was the league’s MVP, added 18 points and 15 rebounds, while Don Nelson came off the bench and scored 21 points.

Walt Frazier led the Knicks with 24 points and 10 assists.

The Knicks, whose starting lineup included Bill Bradley, Dave DeBusschere, Earl Monroe, and Willis Reed, went on to defeat the Celtics in seven games. New York then topped the Los Angeles Lakers in five games to win the NBA title.

Advertisement

The New York Knickerbockers haven’t won an NBA championship since.

Jimmy Zanor is a sportswriter for the Norwich Bulletin and can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter@jzanorNB.

This article originally appeared on The Bulletin: Growing pains for Griswold, and other thoughts | Zanor column