Baseball, Soccer Standout Named To Rockville High Hall Of Fame

VERNON, CT — A two-time All-Area center-forward and senior All-Stater in soccer and an All-Area senior infielder in baseball, Tom Crane (Class of 1974) is the seventh announced 2019 inductee into the Rockville High School Athletic Hall of Fame.

The hall will conduct its seventh-annual induction ceremony Sunday, Sept. 15 at the high school. A 1 p.m. reception precedes the 2 p.m. induction ceremony. Tickets are priced at $20, with children 12 years of age and younger admitted free of charge. Tickets can be reserved by contacting committee chairman Scott Smith at 860-604-6618 or at smithsc33@sbcglobal.net

The Vernon native joins Lauren Person ’04, Jeff Johnson ’84, Sean Trask ’92, Amy Schrag ’87, Julie Blowers Bertsch ’03 and Pat Brand ’75 as announced inductees among the eight-person class.

In a career between the fall of 1970 and spring of 1974, Crane played four seasons of soccer under RHS Hall of Fame coach Chuck Saimond — helping the Rams to their winningest four-year period in program history — and four years of baseball under Lenny Rock, where RHS reached the Class A semifinals in 1973. Crane also competed in basketball in his first two years.

Among his numerous individual accolades, Crane capped his standout career by being named RHS’s Outstanding Athlete as a senior in the spring of 1974.

Crane led the CVC with 13 goals as a senior and with 10 assists as a junior and the middle infielder was the baseball team’s leading hitter as a senior with a .429 average. A captain and team MVP in both sports as a senior, Crane was the only player from eastern Connecticut to be named to the 11-player Class A Scholastic All-State Team in soccer in 1973. That season, he was also a repeat selection to the All-Area and All-CVC first teams.

As a baseball senior, Crane had 33 hits, 22 RBI and 15 runs in an 18-game season to go along with his .429 batting average and was the only RHS player voted to the All-Area first team. Coming off back-to-back CVC championships and labeled as "probably the area’s finest team" in 1973, the Rams rebounded from a 2-5 start to win 13 of their next 14 games and advance to the Class A state semifinals after winning three tournament games (two in extra innings). For Crane, a personal highlight was a 5-for-5 performance at bat in a quarterfinal win over Torrington in that tournament.

Described as an "excellent second baseman (who also played shortstop) and pleasant surprise at bat,' Crane hit .273 and was selected as the team’s Most Improved Player during that junior season.

With Crane, RHS enjoyed its most accomplished four-year period in the soccer program’s 50-plus year history. The Rams were 44-11-5 overall (77.5), won at least one state tournament match each year, and extended their winning streak to 21 straight CVC victories when Crane scored twice in a 3-1 win over Bloomfield in October of 1971.

Crane was a freshman in 1970 on the only soccer team in program history to post an undefeated (12-0-2).

regular season, and the top-seeded Rams proceeded to win two matches in the Class LL tournament – the only squad in Saimond’s first eight years to accomplish that feat.

In each of Crane’s final two years in soccer, the Rams overcame early struggles to surge at the end. In 1972, they captured their final six regular-season matches, then thumped 12th-seeded Amity Regional, 4-2 at home in the opening round of the Class ‘A’ tournament behind a goal from Crane and two penalty kicks from linemate Steve Schumey to reach the quarterfinals. It was stated after that game that “Crane keyed the attacking corps with deft ballhandling and excellent passing.”

In his senior soccer season, RHS again turned it on late by winning its final five regular-season contests to shake free from a .500 record to finish 8-3-2 and qualify for the Class ‘A’ state tournament. Crane scored his tenth goal of the season to spark a win over Windsor in the regular-season finale, scored twice in a 3-0 home win over Wilbur Cross in a qualifying round, then netted the team’s only goal in a 2-1 career-ending loss to homestanding and undefeated defending state champion Staples, which needed two fourth-quarter goals (the game-winning one coming in the final four minutes) to deny the determined Rams.

Crane holds a B.S. Degree in Physical Education from Springfield College and enjoyed a 35-year professional career with State Farm Insurance Co. Tom and wife Kim have raised four children and reside in Hoover, AL.