State Championship Baseball Team to reunite

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Joaquin Gonzalez, Staff Writer

15 years after winning the Class LL State Championship, the Hatters 2004 baseball team is set to be reunited. The 2004 DHS State Championship Team will be honored at the DHS Hall of Fame dinner on Friday, Oct. 25. 

Led by Head Coach Shaun Ratchford, the team went 24-2 on their way to winning the State Championship. Danbury powered through Newington (#31), Norwalk (#18), Branford (#10), Greenwich (#14) and Norwich Free Academy (#1) for the State Championship. 

The latter was led by two future MLB players, but Ratchford and the Hatters were unfazed.

“In comparison to the teams that you coach that get nervous when they are playing in a big game, this [DHS baseball] team was excited for the challenge.” Ratchford said.

Ratchford further commended the team’s motivation, saying, “The team had great leaders throughout. They didn’t really need a captain, they actually probably would’ve won the state championship without a coach because that’s how driven they were and that’s how focused they were on what they wanted to achieve.” However, Ratchford admitted that if he were to name captains, Brad Pippa, Bobby DeNardo, and Shaun Muran fit the bill.

For Athletic Director Chip Salvestrini, the championship win “was a great event that continues to be thought of today.” His words reflect the thoughts of “most of the Danbury community.”

With an amazing season coming to an end, 2004 State champions they were named. It all started by Danbury finishing 18-1 in the regular season. In the first round, #2 Danbury beat #31 ranked Newington 6-5. Then Danbury beat #18 ranked Norwalk 3-1 in the second round. After that, the Hatters beat #10 ranked Branford 4-3. They also defeated #14 ranked Greenwich 3-1 in the semi-finals. Danbury Hatters beat #1 ranked Norwich Free Academy 2-1 to win the State championship.

Ratchford remembers that season with fond memories, “You had kids out here, with snow on the ground, throwing baseballs to get better. The day after they lost in 2003 they played, that Sunday night, they played two players that went on to be pro baseball players and threw over 90 mph because they wanted to get better. They didn’t do that because of us, they did that because they wanted to compete against the best and get better.”