STRATFORD—Red and Blue do not mix.
Not when the first pitch is thrown. Not when the ball is tipped. Not when the opening whistle sounds.
It’s like oil and water. It’s like Taylor Swift and Kanye West. It’s like New Haven pizza vs. pies from anywhere else.
For the Stratford and Bunnell softball programs, though, once the final out has been recorded, red and blue can very well mix and, everybody hopes, can lead to a brighter future of the sport in this town of 52,000 people.
In the aftermath of Stratford’s 10-6 win over cross-town rival Bunnell on Wednesday, the town’s two head coaches joined forces to help coach a Little League team through one of its practices.
It is a message not lost on those who play for Stratford’s Gary Sherrick and Bunnell’s Scotty Nails; nor those who have played the game in town before.
In fact, inside the Stratford dugout is Michaela Roman, an assistant coach who once upon a time played for Bunnell, graduating in 2014.
Over in the Bunnell dugout, was pitching coach Angela Grindrod, who in 2019 on this very BHS field, as a junior, fired a no-hitter for Stratford in a win over the Bulldogs.
A former Stratford player coaching Bunnell? A former Bunnell player coaching at Stratford?
Are cats and dogs now getting along?
What matters the most to the coaching staffs at both schools is that once seven innings is played, the future of the sport is what truly counts.
“I think it’s good. I think it’s needed, especially in a town that’s trying to rebuild the sport not just in one school or the other, but the whole town itself,” Sherrick said. “Having Michaela and Angela, no matter what bench they’re in, they’re home. It’s just staying home and trying to get these girls to look up to somebody and have a good role model.”
This is Grindrod’s second year at Bunnell. She knows when Stratford is in the other dugout, the level of intensity grows. Just like it did in her playing days.
“It’s always weird when we play each other, but I’ve tried to forget about that because ultimately I’m here for the sport,” Grindrod said. “I still feel the same emotions I felt when I was on the mound. I feel that intensity and I don’t know if it’s because it’s a rivalry game, but I still have that fire.”
Coincidentally, it was a former Bunnell player—who later coached at Stratford—who helped get Roman onto the Stratford coaching staff.
In fact, former All-State Bulldog Jackie Sherrick was an assistant coach at Bunnell when Roman graduated. Once landing her own job at Stratford, Jackie Sherrick recruited Roman to join her staff—where her husband and present-day SHS head coach Gary Sherrick was also on board as an assistant.
“I did my student-teaching at Stratford and Jackie asked me if I wanted to coach the JV team,” said Roman, who is a teacher at the Roger Ludlowe Middle School in Fairfield. “I’ve always loved the way the two of them coach and I’ve learned so much from them.”
These days, Roman and Grindrod, while coaching with their arch-rivals from their own playing days, just want to promote the sport that has changed and impacted their lives.
“As soon as I stopped playing, I knew I had to coach,” said Grindrod, who is finishing up her college education at Southern Connecticut State University. “I knew when my playing days were over, I wanted to keep softball in my life. At the end of the day, it’s my safe space where I can let all my stress and worries go away. This sport will be in my life forever.”
As pitching coach, Grindrod is making a huge difference with a very young pitching staff, Nails said.
“The toughest position in softball is pitching,” Nails said. “We have a freshman pitcher and sometimes she’s wide-eyed out there, but Ang has done a great job with all our pitchers. She’s been such a pivotal part of our program.”
Roman has been Stratford’s JV coach in addition to being a varsity assistant and Sherrick admits one of the reasons his roster numbers are still so high is because of Roman helping to keep players in the program.
“She has energy and wisdom, and she keeps the game fun for the kids,” Sherrick said. “She’s having such a good time with it.”
Red and Blue might not mix when Stratford and Bunnell go head-to-head.
Once the game is over, though, it is coaches like Sherrick and Nails who get it. And coaches like Grindrod and Roman who are willing to give to a sport where colors don’t matter, but the game does.
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