The Southern Connecticut Diamond Club, Inc., will hold its 15th Annual Hall of Fame Banquet and Induction Ceremony on Thursday, Oct. 12, at The Woodwinds in Branford. Among the honorees is former West Haven High School baseball coach and current co-athletics director Mike Anquillare.
The SCDC, a non-profit, volunteer-run organization whose stated mission is to foster and promote the game of baseball in greater New Haven, will recognize eight individuals in the Class of 2023. SCDC Hall of Fame members are selected by the group’s Executive Board.
Tickets to the 2023 SCDC Hall of Fame dinner are $60 per person and will only be sold in advance. Tickets can be purchased online at http://www.southernctdiamondclub.org/hall-of-fame.html or by contacting Rose V. Mentone, Executive Director, at RMentone@comcast.net.
Anquillare won CIAC state championships as both a player and a coach at West Haven High. As a sophomore in 1984 he was a member of the Blue Devils’ ice hockey and baseball teams which both won Class LL titles. He was an all-state selection in baseball in 1986 and graduated ninth in the WHHS Class of 1986. Anquillare played baseball collegiately at Division-I Fordham University, helping the Rams to three Metro-Atlantic Athletic Conference championships and three NCAA Tournament appearances. He was the Most Valuable Player of the West Haven Twilight League in 1990 and was a recipient of the Twilight League’s Gold Bat Award in 2005.
Anquillare was a head coach for 18 seasons, three at Platt Tech of Milford and 15 at West Haven. He guided the Panthers to the 1994 CVTC championship, and his tenure with the Blue Devils was highlighted by the 2009 Class LL crown. With a 21-5 record, the Westies were voted No. 1 in the State, and Anquillare was chosen the Area and State New Haven Register Coach of the Year and the SCDC Sam Burrell Coach of the Year. WHHS also won the 2003 Southern Connecticut Conference title and three SCC Quinnipiac Division Championships while guided by Anquillare.
Anquillare completed a B.S. degree in management at Fordham in 1990. He possesses an MAT in physical education and business education from Sacred Heart University and a 6th year certification in intermediate education and supervision from Southern Connecticut State University. His father, John, was inducted into the SCDC Hall of Fame in 2013.
Also being honored this year are SCC Commissioner Al Carbone (East Haven HS ’91), former New York Mets draftee Steve Kesses (North Haven HS ’73), former MLB catcher/first baseman Matt Merullo (Fairfield Prep ’83), former University of New Haven All-American Jim Pascarella (East Haven HS ’68), and former Quinnipiac College pitcher Joe Roche (Hamden HS ’72). Kathleen Morrison of North Haven will receive the Andrew Gassira Memorial Umpire Award, and Denis Haley of Milford is the winner of the Tony Mentone Memorial Distinguished Service Award.