Stratford To Honor Memories Of Community Pillars At Baseball Game

STRATFORD, CT — The Stratford High School baseball team will honor the memories of Jim Penders, Bob Baird and Joe Crudo in the annual Penders Memorial Scholarship Game against East Catholic on Saturday, April 8 at Penders Field in Stratford.

The game, which is slated to start at 11 a.m., is played in memory of James W. ‘Jim’ Penders, the longtime Stratford High baseball coach from 1946 through 1968 who won four CIAC State Championships during his tenure and is the namesake of the high school’s field in Stratford’s Longbrook Park.

“Admission is free to the contest, but fans coming Saturday are urged to consider placing donations in the available basket to help fund the yearly scholarship which goes to a senior member of the Stratford High Baseball Team,” according to a news release. “Two of Mr. Penders’ formers players, Stratford High’s Coach Bud Russell (SHS Class of 1954) and East Catholic’s Coach Jim Penders, Jr. (SHS Class of 1960), started the yearly game and scholarship event in 1982 that ran consecutively through 2019 for 37 years.”

After a two-year pandemic interruption, the game resumed play in 2022 and comes back again in 2023.

Not only will a short pre-game ceremony starting at 10:50 a.m. honor the memory of Penders, but Stratford High Baseball will also take the time to recognize and remember former Stratford High Athletic Director Bob Baird and Coach Joe Crudo, two pillars of Stratford High and the Stratford community at large, who passed away from illnesses in recent weeks. Fans are encouraged to come early as not to miss the pre-game ceremony.