For quite a few years there has been talk of having a shot clock in Connecticut high school boys’ and girls’ basketball games.

The trading deadline is one of the most exciting times for true baseball fans, and this year is only slightly different.

BETHLEHEM — The third-seeded Bethlehem Plowboys began play in the first round playoffs of the Tri-State Baseball league last Saturday, facing the sixth-seeded Brass City Vipers in a best two-out of-three series that was played last weekend.

WASHINGTON — A 2011 graduate of Shepaug Valley High School will be the new head coach of the Danbury girls’ volleyball team this fall.

Word came out this past week that two veteran Berkshire League girls’ basketball coaches, Bob McMahon and Adam Brutting, were resigning their positions. Hmm?

BETHLEHEM — The Bethlehem Plowboys split the final two regular season games, but dropped out of second place in the standings.

SOUTHBURY — John VanDerLaan, the professional golfer who was an All-State player at Pomperaug, needs to play well in the next few weeks on the Korn Ferry Developmental Tour.

When Cameron Smith made his 10-foot par putt on the 17th hole on Sunday, it became obvious that he was going to steal the British Open from Rory McIlroy, and once again the winner of a major tournament was going to be decided by putting.

OXFORD — There was a great deal of success this spring by the baseball and softball teams at Oxford High School. 

NEWTOWN — The Newtown Arts Festival and Edmond Town Hall will present Amy Helm in concert at 7 p.m. Friday, September 16, in the Alexandria Room at Edmond Town Hall, 45 Main St.

WASHINGTON — Dominic Perachi, who lives in Washington Depot, was recently named as the ABCA/Rawlings National Pitcher of the Year after having a fine season for Salve Regina University.

SOUTHBURY — At the approximate midway mark of the Korn Ferry Golf Tour’s 2022 season, former Pomperaug star John VanDerLaan is making progress in his career.

SOUTHBURY — The Southbury Public Library Youth Services department will welcome friends from Bring the Hoopla at 10 a.m. Saturday, July 23 for ages 2-5 and at 10:30 a.m. for ages 5-11 in the Kingsley Room at 100 Poverty Rd.

BETHLEHEM-WOODBURY — The Connecticut Class M All-State softball team was recentlyannounced by the CIAC.

This week they will play the 150th British Open at St. Andrews in Scotland, and we can only hope that politics will not mar the occasion.

MIDDLEBURY-SOUTHBURY — The spring athletic high school season has come to a close and Pomperaug High School had a slew of athletes earn honors in the South-West Conference for outstanding athletic performances during the season.

WASHINGTON — At the Berkshire League Awards ceremony in Southington many Shepaug and Nonnewaug athletes were honored.

WASHINGTON — At the recent Berkshire League All-Star banquet, athletes were given awards for their success in the fall, winter and spring sports. Area athletes took home many of the awards.

BETHLEHEM — The Bethlehem Plowboys of the Tri-State Baseball League came away with a loss and one win over the past week, and dropped into a tie for third place in the standings with a 5-3 record.

As mid-season and the All-Star break are now on the horizon, we see that the two most dominant teams in major league baseball are from New York.

WASHINGTON — The Nonnewaug baseball team won the Berkshire League this season and their success was reflected in the selection of All-Stars made by the league coaches.

Have you noticed the preponderance of beards on baseball players, basketball players and even professional golfers in the past few years?

BETHLEHEM — After beginning the season with several big time victories, the Bethlehem Plowboys of the Tri-State Baseball League fell from the unbeaten ranks last week.

BETHLEHEM-WOODBURY — Nonnewaug and Northwestern were the co-champions in softball in the Berkshire League this season, so it was not surprising that the two teams had the most players on the league All-Star team.

OXFORD — In the end, the Woodland softball team has just a little too much.

OXFORD — The Somers baseball team knocked Oxford out of the state Class S tournament last week, defeating the Wolverines, 9-3, in a semi-final game played in Middletown.

SOUTHBURY — Former Pomperaug golfer John VanDerLaan had his highest finish of the year last week on the Korn Ferry professional tour.

BETHLEHEM-WOODBURY — The Nonnewaug baseball team had a fairy-tale season come to an abrupt end in the Class M state tournament last week.

MIDDLEBURY-SOUTHBURY — The Pomperaug baseball team rammed past RHAM, 6-2, in an opening round win in the CIAC Class L tournament, but the Panthers were then handed their end-of-season ticket, 7-5, by Daniel Hand in a second-round game.

OXFORD — Oxford pitcher Shay Webb was brilliant in the first three softball state tournament games played by the Wolverines in Class M.

OXFORD — Oxford used a Ryan Brimecombe grand slam in the first inning to take control of the second-round, Class S game and went on to defeat Holy Cross by a 5-3 score.

Oxford varsity baseball Coach Dom Merole is in a nice position. Not only is his team having its best season ever, he has quite a few underclassmen who are contributing and should keep the Wolverines near the top in the future.

MIDDLEBURY-SOUTHBURY — The Pomperaug boys’ volleyball team picked up two wins last week and got a lift in the state standings.

BETHLEHEM-WOODBURY — The Nonnewaug softball team is riding a 14-game winning streak after picking up three victories last week.

WASHINGTON — Northwestern remained in the top spot in the Berkshire League softball race with a 4-0 victory over Shepaug last week.

BETHLEHEM-WOODBURY — The Nonnewaug baseball team has clinched the Berkshire League title. The Chiefs ran their record to 18-0 last week with an 11-1 romp over Litchfield and a 12-0 shut out of Housatonic.