Hamden’s O’Neill To Be Inducted Into Diamond Club Hall Of Fame

HAMDEN, CT — Hamden’s Harry O’Neill will be inducted into the Southern Connecticut Diamond Club’s Hall of Fame next month.

The Southern Connecticut Diamond Club will hold its annual Hall of Fame Induction dinner in October to honor those who have contributed to baseball in the area. It will be held on Thursday, Oct. 13, at Monticello’s Restaurant, 577 S. Broad Street, Meriden. Hors d’oeuvres will be at 5:30 p.m. Dinner follows promptly at 6:30 p.m.

O’Neill, a longtime coach and volunteer for the Hamden Fathers Baseball/Softball Association, will be inducted as the recipient of the Tony Mentone Memorial Distinguished Service Award.

O’Neill has been affiliated with HFBSA since 1972 as minor league coach, major league coach and was director of the major leagues for 19 years. He helped Tony Mentone start the scholarship program.

Others to be inducted include: Donna Caldeira of New Haven, longtime volunteer for the Dom Aitro LL program; Bob Cuozzo of West Haven, longtime coach and volunteer for West Haven Little League; “The Coach” George DeMaio of West Haven, local broadcaster of high school sports; Tony Golino (posthumously) of New Haven, former high school and local athlete; Steve Reilly of Derby, volunteer high school assistant coach and longtime volunteer broadcaster and assistant broadcaster of Connecticut High School and American Legion baseball games; and Dave Ryan (posthumously) of Milford, former American Legion baseball coach in Orange for almost two decades.

Dave Pittman of New Haven will be inducted as the recipient of the Andrew Gassira Memorial Umpire Award.

Anyone interested in tickets, can contact Rose Mentone at rmentone@comcast.net on or before Oct. 6.