Lancer Teammates Share Bond As First Cousins

When the Hamler and Delossantos families congregated at grandmother Helen McCarthy's house in Waterford in the '90s, the first cousins could not wait to play games in the backyard.

Helen's daugthers Cynthia, Samantha and Delene gave birth to some athletic kids. Perhaps they all took after Helen, who is still one of the area's best female billiards players at age 70. Cynthia's sons Eric and Jordan Hamler joined Samantha's son Mike Delossantos and Delene's son Damon LaFrance for games of whiffleball, tennis, tag and eventually baseball.

"I remember hitting groundballs to Mike at grandma's yard," Jordan said. "We lived in New London and Mike lived in Waterford. It was great having first cousins who lived close by who had a connection of sports with us."

The grandkids went on to play at baseball camps together. When the Hamlers moved to Waterford, they made sure they were on the same youth league teams.

"It was much easier moving to a new town because Mike introduced us to kids in Waterford," Eric said. "We've been really close since we were little. We'd always hang out together."

Today, the cousins form an integral part of the Waterford High baseball team. Mike, an All-Eastern Connecticut Conference Large all-star shortstop, and Eric, a pitcher-infielder, are seniors. Jordan, a sophomore pitcher, made All-ECC Large honorable mention. Damon plays on the WHS freshman baseball team.

Their bond gave this Lancer squad, which finished at 13-10 after an opening state tournament loss to Masuk Tuesday, some special DNA. Cousins have played on varsity teams at the same time before, but what are the chance that three sisters could produce three varsity starters in the same town in the same era?

"We're all great friends," Delossantos said. "We hang out together off the field. On the field, we pull for each other tremendously and want each other to succeed."

Soon after the Hamlers moved to New London, the cousins played on the same team in the Christopher Potvin youth tournament, reaching their divisional finals at Dodd Stadium. They've been fixtures at Waterford High, Waterford American Legion and even Senior Babe Ruth teams ever since.

Eric drove in the winning run with a suicide squeeze bunt in Waterford Legion's state tournament win last summer. Mike missed all of last summer Legion season after undergoing knee surgery due to an ACL tear in basketball. Jordan emerged as one of the area's top young pitchers last summer and solidified that status with a 5-1 regular season pitching record as a WHS sophomore this spring.

But nobody on the Lancers, with the possible exception of heavy-hitting catcher James Annello,  enhanced their status as much as Delossantos. He came back from ACL surgery quicker and more productive than ever, batting .385 with a number of clutch hits and runs to win games.

"I had my doubts about whether I'd ever be as quick again, which was a scary thought because my game is based on speed," Delossantos said. "Thankfully, I was about to cut and change direction and run as well as ever."

Delossantos transformed from a singles-hitting, second baseman role player as a soph and junior to a run-producing, hard-hitting shortstop as a senior.

"He bounced back great and was better than ever," Eric said. "Last year, it was shaky because he'd grab his knee all the time and was in pain."

The Hamlers felt secure on the mound knowing Delosantos was running the defense at shortstop. Delossantos had the same faith in his cousins.

"We had a trust in each other than you might not have with another teammate because we're first cousins," Jordan said. "I always knew that Mike had my back and he knew I had his back."