Seeds for Post 32's Legion Run Sprouted in 2005

The words reverberate around town from the Unionville shores of Lake Garda to the whispering pines surrounding Batterson Pond.

Farmington is a soccer town.

The championship hardware at the high school supports that truism. Soccer in the summertime, soccer in the fall, if kids couldn’t play soccer they’d play no sport at all.

Baseball, like most of the other team sports, had a shining moment or two, like when the 1978 high school team defeated Ansonia for the Class M championship at Bristol’s Muzzy Field.

The National Pastime remained at different levels of dormant until a group of youngsters guided by Bill Spracklin and Mike Schweighoffer took the reigns of the 12-year-old all-star team in 2005 that won District 5, followed it up with a state title and came within a whisker of a trip to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa.

The core of that group is still writing baseball history in town. David Wiegard, Colan Callahan, Adam Spracklin, Matt deVaux and the Schweighoffer twins Jeff and Brian Schweighoffer form the core of Unionville American Legion Post 32, which enters the state tournament Round of 16 for the first time in what general manager Jeff Cohan says is 23 years.

Adam Spracklin threw five innings of two-hit ball Tuesday in Unionville’s 8-5 upset of East Haven. Brian Schweighoffer had three hits and made an acrobatic catch of a foul pop to lead the way.

Wiegard pitched three innings and Callahan was the catcher. Jeff Schweighoffer was relegated to spiritual leadership with his hand in a cast.

“I think [the Little League accomplishment] was very important and I think it’s important to keep doing what we’re doing here because we restored Little League and with this we’re going to restore the Legion,” said Adam Spracklin, who was Farmington’s catcher in his youth ball days.

“They’ve had a great run at Farmington High School (Class L runner-up this spring). I wasn’t there, I was at [Avon Old Farms], but they restored the baseball there. People are going to respect us for our high school team, our Little League team and our Legion team if we keep on going down this path.”

Mike Schweighoffer, who along with Bill Spracklin still serves the boys in a coaching capacity under the auspices of Legion head coach Walt Nakonechny, infused an aggressive style into his twin sons and their contemporaries at a young age. FHS head coach Mike McGuire applied his rich knowledge of the game and discipline to the mix.

“Schweighoffer and Spracklin have coached this group since age 8,” Cohan said. “They’ve taught them how to play the game the right way and have always been more concerned with healthy development than winning at all costs.

“These kids have won at every level and competed for championships every year since Little League.”

The group won a state title as 11-year-olds. They won the Jaycee-TD BankNorth Prep Division as 13s, and played for league championships in the ensuing two years.

The coaches’ message has been delivered consistently. The repetition of principles has produced the dependable, fundamentally sound core that has 15th-seeded Unionville lined up against No. 2 Oakville in the first round of the double-elimination Legion tournament, slated for 9:30 a.m. on Saturday at Muzzy Field.

“In offseasons, we’re always doing clinics, we always get tons of batting practice and the coaches are really committed,” Brian Schweighoffer said. “They’re not getting paid anything and that means a lot, also. They care more than us, I think, but it’s great to make them happy.”