The CT Softball Blog

STRATFORD—For the past few years, Gary Sherrick watched as the softball numbers at his school, and in his town, dwindled downward.

He assumed somewhere down the line his Stratford High program would have to co-op with another school. Granted, if Sherrick had to have guessed, he expected it to be cross-town rival Bunnell perhaps in 2027 or 2028.

Instead, a surprising exodus of players from his junior class left Stratford’s numbers especially low. With the softball season fast approaching, the Red Devils boss started looking for a program to join forces with.

He found one in Notre Dame-West Haven.

Together, the two schools have developed a co-op program that was recently approved by the CIAC and SWC, thereby saving softball at Stratford while also allowing the Green Knights to start building their own program after allowing females to enter the school for the first time this year.

“I’m not going co-op to win a state championship,” said Sherrick. “I’m doing it to save softball at my school and give my kids a chance to be out there on the field.”

Sherrick said he expected a roster of 18 players this spring with returners and the school’s incoming freshmen class.

Seven members of the junior class, however, told Sherrick they would not be returning, giving the Red Devils a roster of just 11 players. And, of course, there were no guarantee of his freshmen numbers until the season actually started.

“Some moved, others changed sports or wanted to work instead, and the numbers just went down,” Sherrick said. “I’ve been calculating and doing estimations for past six years, in Stratford; and I’ve seen a steady decline of kids playing softball in Stratford. So, we had to find somebody.”

Sherrick knew all the neighboring Milford-based programs—Foran, Jonathan Law, Lauralton Hall and Platt Tech—had healthy numbers with their respective rosters.

One town further north, however, was a school that was looking to build its athletic program on the girls’ side of the ledger.

“I have to give Gary credit for that one,” Stratford athletic director Tony DeAngelo said. “He looked at the fact that Notre Dame-West Haven was opening for the first time as a co-ed school, and we reached out to see what their numbers might look like.”

Notre Dame-West Haven is expected to send a minimum of four players for the Stratford/Notre Dame-West Haven Co-op squad.

“Coincidentally, I actually knew a family that was going there, so I reached out to them,” Sherrick said.

The coach found out that 40 girls were entering Notre Dame-West Haven as freshmen and a handful of them had put softball as their spring sport.

A phone call to ND-West Haven athletic director Jason Shea got the ball rolling.

Shea, however, did not return multiple calls or emails from the CT Softball Blog for comment.

The co-op wasn’t just approved by the CIAC, but also the SWC and SCC.

Since Stratford is the host school, the Stratford-NDWH co-op team will compete in the SWC.

Sherrick is just happy he will have a team to coach this spring, and thankful that Notre Dame-West Haven agreed to the co-op to keep the sport alive.

“I love the challenge,” Sherrick said. “I love the concept of just growing the game, so I’m all in. At first, yes, it was nerve-wracking but knowing that I have the support from my AD, the support from the families—not just at Stratford High, but the families at Notre Dame—and I have the support from the Notre Dame athletic director, it makes things a lot easier. But also knowing that I have the support from SWC teams, SCC teams, and the CIAC, it was a little more reassuring.”

Last season, Stratford went 10-11, losing in the first round of the state tournament.

Stratford/Notre Dame-West Haven will open the season on Saturday, April 4, at Harding of Bridgeport.

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