From Ledyard Legion To NECBL Legend

Tom Gavitt may rank as the best area baseball player that nobody has ever heard of.

Well, nobody might be stretching it. But despite batting .500 with 30 hits as a Wheeler High senior in 2010, Gavitt didn't make any area newspaper All-Area teams. Famed UConn Avery-Point baseball coach Roger Bidwell didn't actively recruit him, then regretted the oversight when he watched Gavitt hit line drive after line drive against him for Community College of Rhode Island.

Playing for tiny Wheeler and honing his skills in AAU instead of making headlines for large town Babe Ruth All-Star teams, Gavitt has shone in obscurity most of his baseball career. It helps explain why a good-hitting, 6-foot-4 catcher plays at CCRI instead of Division I college programs more befitting of his talent.

"Being overlooked is something I've dealt with for a while," Gavitt said. "Playing at a small school like Wheeler and a community college, it's not as prestigious as it could be in other situations."

Gavitt, though, is opening some eyes this summer. After playing a full season for Ledyard-Pawcatuck American Legion, making the Zone All-Star Team after batting around .400 as an outfielder, the 19-year-old Gavitt got the break to potentially turn around his career.

Days after Ledyard-Pawcatuck's last game, Gavitt received a call from the Mystic Schooners of the New England Collegiate Baseball League. Mystic's top two catchers were down with injury, and the Schooners needed a replacement quickly.

"I had been approached about possibly playing for the Schooners earlier," Gavitt said, "but I have a lot of respect for [Ledyard-Pawcatuck] Legion coach Luke Gabordi and I wanted finish my 19-year-old season. I didn't want to leave them hanging."

Making the jump from Legion to NECBL compares to being called up from jayvee to varsity. Legion features 16- to 19-year-old players with only a handful of college pitchers and hitters. All NECBL players hail from colleges, most from Division I.

Mystic's roster is dotted with the likes of Stanford, Notre Dame, Virginia Tech, Northwestern and Harvard. CCRI? If players were asked to sing their college fight song before a team meal, Gavitt would be at a loss for words.

But Gavitt has proven to be more than a late-season fill-in. In a wood-bat league where pitching dominates, Gavitt tops the Schooners batting average marks with five hits in 11 at bats. Yes, it's a small sample, but when you consider a shortstop from Northwestern is batting .051 (2 for 39), a first baseman from Lafayette is batting .119 (10-84) and an injured catcher from James Madison batted .115 (3 for 26), Gavitt's .455 average has furnished him with a Division I resume of on-the-job training.

"I'm seeing the ball really well," Gavitt said. "Playing all summer with a wooden bat with Legion, it's helped me adjust to using a wood bat here. Of course, the quality of pitching is totally different. It's quite a jump, but I saw some good pitching at CCRI."

Gavitt made the most of his call from the Schooners. Now he's getting more calls from colleges, including Division I Rhode Island and Bryant.

"I'm going back to CCRI next year, but this experience with the Schooners can only help me make the jump to a four-year school," Gavitt said. "Good-hitting catchers can go a long way in baseball."

Gavitt has made a career out of turning around struggling teams. Wheeler lost a game to Waterford, 39-1, in his freshman year but tied for the ECC Small title when he was a senior. Gavitt also helped turn Ledyard-Pawcatuck from a four-win team a few years back to a winning squad the last two seasons.

Now that he's busted out with the Schooners, Gavitt is turning around his career, at least in terms of making everyone know he's one of the best players in southeastern Connecticut.