2018

Raymond Cella – Class of 1928

Raymond Cella participated in football and baseball at Stonington High School, earning six varsity letters. He was captain of the football team as a senior, when the Bears were Eastern Connecticut-Western Rhode Island Conference champions, and earned All-Conference First Team honors as a junior and senior. He accepted a scholarship to play both sports at Kentucky Wesleyan College, where he was the starting center for the football team and captain and starting catcher for the baseball team in both junior and senior year. He later played semi-professional baseball for Winchester in the Bluegrass League.

He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Math from Kentucky Wesleyan, and earned a master’s degree in Statistics from the University of Kentucky. He served in the United States Air Force during World War II, attaining the rank of captain. He joined the Air Force Reserves in 1945 and retired in 1968 as a lieutenant colonel. He was a professor of economics and statistics at the University of Oklahoma from 1946 until 1968. He was also the director of the Bureau of Business Research at the University of Oklahoma, and Economic Advisor to the governor of Oklahoma

Billi-Jo Schachner Pfalzgraf

Class of 1988

Billi-Jo Schachner Pfalzgraf participated in field hockey, basketball, and softball at SHS, earning 12 varsity letters and serving as co-captain of all three sports in her senior year. She earned All-Eastern Connecticut Conference honors in field hockey as a junior and senior and All-State as a senior, when she helped lead the Bears to their first state championship, scoring both SHS goals in a 2-1 win over North Branford. She also earned All-ECC honors in softball and was part of ECC champion teams in 1986 and 1987, with the Bears also state Class M runner-up in 1987. The valedictorian of the Class of 1988, she earned Scholar-Athlete recognition and was a member of the National Honor Society as well as the sports staff of the Brown & White newspaper.

She graduated from Worcester Polytechnic Institute with High Distinction, and played both varsity field hockey and softball. She coached field hockey at Ursuline Academy in Cincinnati, Ohio, and was the varsity head coach when they reached the state Final Four in 2001.

Thomas Gardner

Class of 1993

Thomas Gardner participated in football and baseball at Stonington High School. He was a three-year starter in football, and earned All-Eastern Connecticut Conference honors as a sophomore, junior, and senior. He was named the Defensive Player of the Game on Thanksgiving as a junior, when the Bears went on to capture the Class SS state championship. As a senior, he was named the Most Valuable Player and the Offensive Player of the Game on Thanksgiving. A four-year starter in baseball, he earned All-ECC honors as a sophomore, junior, and senior, and was named All-State as a junior.

He played baseball for one season at the University of Connecticut-Avery Point, and after serving in the United States Air Force, he earned an associate’s degree from Florida Metropolitan University and a bachelor’s degree from Warner University.

Nicholas Mazzarese

Class of 2007

Nicholas Mazzarese had a tremendous career with the boys’ tennis team. He served as captain and had a perfect 27-0 season in 2007, winning the Connecticut Class M Singles Championship as well as the Eastern Connecticut Conference Singles Championship. He was also the ECC singles champion as a junior, and was a part of four ECC championship teams. He earned All-State recognition in Class M as a senior and in Class S as a sophomore. His career record while at SHS was 88-10.

He is a graduate of Sacred Heart University, where he played tennis for four years and was a member of two Northeast Conference championships. He currently competes in tournaments through the American Platform Tennis Association.

John Connelly

Class of 2007

John Connelly participated in football, indoor track, and baseball at Stonington High School, earning 10 varsity letters. He served as a captain of all three sports in his senior year and was awarded the Tuite Cup as the top male athlete in his graduating class. He was named All-Eastern Connecticut Conference in football as a junior and senior and was named All-ECC and All-State in baseball as a senior. He was part of a 4 x 200m relay team that set an indoor SHS record.

He is a graduate of Brown University, where he was a member of the football team, and holds a master’s degree from Georgia Tech.

Jerry Desmond

Contributor

Jerry Desmond has been involved with Stonington High School athletics for more than 40 years. He joined the football coaching staff in 1976 and served under six head coaches, and contributed to SHS’s Connecticut Class SS championship win in 1991. His involvement in gymnastics started in 1980, and he spent ten years as head coach, winning three Eastern Connecticut Conference championships. He was named the Connecticut Assistant Coach of the Year in 2016.

A 1976 graduate of SHS, he participated in football, track, and indoor track. He graduated from Southern Connecticut State University with a degree in Physical Education. He is also a graduate of the FBI Academy, and in 2014 he retired as Captain of the Stonington Police Department. He has taught courses in Homeland Security at Mitchell College and is currently Boating Safety Coordinator for the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Boating Division.

1960 Baseball Team

The 1960 Baseball team was Eastern Connecticut Conference and Connecticut Class B State Champion. Under the leadership of Coach Morris Fabricant and captain Robert Senior, they were 7-1 in ECC play and had an overall regular season record of 10-2. In the Class B state tournament, they defeated East Haven and top-ranked Southington, who was previously undefeated, on the way to the state finals, where they defeated Waterford 4-3 in extra innings, ending the season with a 13-2 record. The championship game was played at New London’s Veterans Field in front of an estimated 2000 fans.

The members of the team were seniors Robert Senior, Richard Williams, George Crouse, Robert Thibdeau, Brian McKenna, and Earl Christenson; juniors Michael Crowley, Frank Prachniak, Andrew Fabricant, George Rathbun, Clint Holland; sophomores William Crowley, James Higginbotham, David Erskine, Joseph Woycik, David Birchell, Dudley Wheeler, and Robert Hayes; and freshman Donald Saffomilla. Team Managers were Douglas Joseph and David Ballard.