New Housatonic baseball coach will stress basics, sportsmanship

FALLS VILLAGE — The Housatonic Valley Regional High School baseball team will have a new coach when players report for batting practice this spring.

Pat Richardson is a native of Torrington and a 1994 graduate of Central Connecticut State University.

He began his coaching career in 2005 and had been a varsity baseball coach and assistant coach at Torrington High School.

Richardson says he’s looking forward to  working with students in this close-knit community. As a coach, he said he will stress fundamentals.

“Instead of doing extraordinary things, I want our players to do ordinary things better than anyone else,� Richardson said. “My coaching style will be aggressive. Yes, we will take risks. But the one thing I will stress to the players is sportsmanship. I’m looking forward to instilling a lot of that in our team.�

He said that this year’s team will be very young, with only three seniors. The overwhelming majority of the players are sophomores.

“Our team is energized and optimistic, and I hope to build the baseball program based on that,� he said. “Our goal is to qualify for the state tournaments this year.�

Growing up, Richardson said, his baseball heroes were George Brett and Wade Boggs.

“I was a Red Sox fan, but the Red Sox never made it to the World Series when I was growing up, so I had to root for the Kansas City Royals to beat the Yankees all the time,� he said.

“George Brett brought up the play of everyone around him. He hit the ball where he needed to and his uniform was always dirty because he played with true passion, which is the way baseball should be played.

“As for Boggs, he had to work as a third baseman. Hitting to him came very naturally, but he had to work at the fundamentals of the game. He turned himself into a Gold Glove winner through his hard work and determination.�

The team’s first home game will be on Monday, April 12, against Wamogo.

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