Danbury Westerners Baseball Team Wins Championship for First Time in 26 Years

The Danbury Westerners topped the North Shore Navigators 8-4 Thursday night (8/12/21) and captured the NECBL Championship.

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The effort earned the team the coveted Fay Vincent trophy which was officially awarded to the Westerners players, coaches and staff at a rally held at Rogers Park on Friday afternoon (8/13/21).

I grabbed a few minutes at the celebration and spoke to Westerners manager Ian Ratchford who spoke about what the Championship means to him and his players. Ratchford said:

"This championship means a lot, growing up in Danbury, coming down here as a kid watching, playing here in 2012 and now managing. It means a lot for all the volunteers, all the board members, the community and the city of Danbury. This is a huge thing. It's the first time in 26 years to bring the cup back home so it means a lot to a lot of different people Pitser family, Schaffer family, the Whalen family, the Waltons, Consentinos , it means the world to them, so we are very happy to bring it back and happy for these guys to stick it through and get what they deserve."

We also spoke to Danbury Westerners broadcaster Christian Gardecki who had this to say:

"I've been around this team for 9 years as different things and this means so much to me, it means so much to the city. I've grown up here and to see the turnout today at Rogers Park is simply fantastic. I'm so happy to be a part of it, I'm so happy that we finally did it and these guys worked so hard and they're coming from top schools too."

Team leader Christian Allegretti addressed the rally crowd in Rogers Park on Saturday.

I was not leaving that field until I got to take a picture with Danbury Westerners team mascot Westy. I got my photo and it was the highlight of my week.