Hall of Fame to honor new class

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NAUGATUCK — The Naugatuck Hall of Fame will induct its 45th class at its Awards Banquet Oct. 15. This year’s inductees are Chris Martin, Fred Scheithe, Alison Rossi, Henry Lee, Bill Hicock and Scott Robinson.

The new class will be honored at the Continental Room, 1006 New Haven Road, beginning at 6 p.m. Tickets are $40 each and can be purchased from any of the recipients or by contacting Ray Rossi Jr. at 203-525-7193.

Bill Hicock

Hicock’s claim to fame is he never lost a baseball game in all four years at Naugatuck High School. His freshman team went 10-0 and as a sophomore his JV team went 14-0, before Hicock became an integral part of the “Streak.” He finished his high school career as the starting catcher going 44-0 and winning two state championships. He also helped Naugatuck Post 17 American Legion to back-to-back state championships in 1969-70. Hicock graduated from Central Connecticut State University.

Henry Lee

A member of the NHS Class of 2000, Lee hit his first varsity home run as a freshman. As a junior, he led the NVL in hitting and set a NHS school record batting .565. He broke his own record as a senior with a .583 average. He earned All-NVL and All-State those years and went to earn Northeast-10 Freshman of the Year honors at Southern Connecticut State University. At SCSU, Lee was named All-Conference all four years and set the school record for games played (186), RBIs (174) and home runs (37).

Chris Martin

The 1983 Naugatuck High School graduate was a key member of four NVL champion swim teams for the Greyhounds, earning All NVL and All-State honors in his final three seasons. He was a two-time state champion in the 100 breaststroke and the 200 individual medley. In his senior year, Martin was won the John Reardon Award for the most outstanding senior swimmer in the league. Martin was also a member of three school record relay teams and part of the first Naugatuck Class L state championship team in 1992.

Scott Robinson

Known as “Mr. Little Pal,” Robinson has volunteered for over three decades for the youth of Naugatuck. In 1977, he began coaching in the Little Pal morning league before moving up to the afternoon league where he still coaches today for the Knights of Columbus. In 1995, Robinson was appointed president of the Little Pal League. In 1982, he began coaching in the Peter J. Foley minor league and has served as president of the PJF minor league. He started and still maintains the Little Pal Facebook page, updating game results so the children can see their names in print. He received the Frank Zonino Award, which is given to the Naugatuck YMCA Volunteer of the Year, in 2007.

Alison Rossi

A three-sport star in volleyball, basketball and softball from 1999-2003, Rossi received a varsity letter in all three sports in each of her four years. She earned All-NVL honors in all three sports. Rossi was member of the NVL champion basketball team that advanced to the state semifinals in her junior year. As a senior at Central Connecticut State University, Rossi started all 44 games for the softball team and led the team in home runs with eight and RBIs with 28. Rossi once hit two home runs in a game to help Central beat UConn. In 2007, she was named to the ESPN Academic All-American District 1 team.

Fred Scheithe   

Scheithe was appointed Hillside girls basketball coach in 1983 an held the positon until 2009 when he took over the same position at City Hill Middle School, where he presently coaches. He was also the first boys baseball coach at Hillside from 1990-91. He served as a volunteer coach for Naugatuck High School girls softball from 1992-97 and again from 2002-11. But volleyball became his passion. He spent 24 years with the Naugatuck High School program and was head coach for 14 years from 2000-13. In 1988, he received the NHS Alumni Association Award. In 1993, he was named Naugatuck High Coach of the Year. In 1995, he received the NHS Administrators Award for service to Naugatuck High School and in 2004 received the Naugatuck Exchange Educator of the Year Award.