Editor's note: Cole Stefan is a student at UConn, class of 2024, studying Sports Management. He has been following the Danbury Westerners this summer and sharing his exceptional reporting here on HamletHub. This will serve as Cole's final contribution as he heads back to his studies. Thank you, Cole! You "hit it out of the park"!
Hitting 44 in 43 games, the Danbury Westerners led the New England Collegiate Baseball League in home runs for the first time since 2010. During that summer, when they finished runners-up to the North Shore Navigators, Tucker Nathans and Thor Meeks led the Westerners with six longballs apiece. Nathans had the only two-homer game between the two right-handed sluggers in his 11th appearance; Bobby Zmarzlak accomplished that feat in his Danbury debut.
Batting cleanup against the then-undefeated Newport Gulls on June 13, the graduate student went 3-5 with two homers and three RBIs.
“I am happy to be here,” Zmarzlak said following that performance at the Roadhouse at Rogers Park.
That first impression, up there with Javon Hernandez’s walk-off moonshot in the season opener against the Ocean State Waves six days earlier, set a foundation the Stamford native quickly built on. In their first game away from Rogers Park, the Westerners garnered two hits in a one-run loss versus the Mystic Schooners. Until Harrison Feinberg’s ninth-inning single, the Stamford native recorded Danbury’s only base knock, additionally driving in the team’s only runs on his two-RBI double.
By June 20, Zmarzlak had become the Westerners’ most feared hitter with three home runs and 10 RBIs in six games. Two days later, he snatched the league longball lead with the team’s only runs scored before Joey Rubin’s walk-off sacrifice fly in the ninth against the Martha’s Vineyard Sharks. Although he never took home NECBL Player of the Week honors, those first 10 days set the tone for a strong summer, as the graduate student finished the regular season with a team-leading 10 homers and 25 RBIs.
When he hit that 10th blast, an emphatic three-run jack against the Valley Blue Sox on July 29, Zmarzlak became the first Danbury slugger with double-digit dingers in one season since Sonny Ulliana in 2019. Only Tyler Hare had as many homers across the entire league, reaching double figures in 36 games. Despite going yard off Jagger Duquette among other significant moments, the graduate student highlighted winning the inaugural Mayor’s Cup over the Bristol Blues as his favorite memory.
“That was a good achievement,” Zmarzlak specified about that moment, which occurred at Muzzy Field.
Before becoming a Mayor’s Cup champion, the Westerners’ slugger became one of the NECBL All-Star Game West Division team’s three reserve outfielders. Although he went 0-1 with an RBI walk in the midsummer classic, the All-Star enjoyed his time playing with some of the league’s best on a day when All-Star closer Anthony Steele became Danbury’s first Home Run Derby winner since 2008.
“[I was] excited to show what I got with everyone,” Zmarzlak highlighted when describing his midsummer classic experience.
By July 16, Zmarzlak had already hit more home runs in five weeks than he did during the spring at the University of Maryland. Appearing in 46 games and starting all but five, the senior batted .271 with five dingers and 22 RBIs, a decline from his 15-homer, 43-RBI campaign in 2022. After four years at College Park, where he played in three NCAA Regionals and won a Big Ten Tournament title with former Westerners’ Luke Shliger and Nick Lorusso, Zmarzlak is transferring to the Georgia Institute of Technology for his final year of eligibility.
With the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, the incoming transfer wants to contribute for his new team the same way he did in Danbury.
“Getting my swing right, just competing in the outfield, doing everything that I can to help the team win,” Zmarzlak noted.
Things become somewhat uncertain for the graduate student after next spring, but the mechanics he harped on could help the incoming Georgia Tech outfielder potentially hear his name called in the MLB Draft. After not signing with the Baltimore Orioles after being drafted out of high school in 2019, Zmarzlak realizes that consistency will help him reach the next step in his professional career.
“Just showing up every day, doing the work, and then showing what I’ve got in the field,” the Stamford native said.
Zmarzlak will be rooming with Mike Becchetti, another former Westerner transferring to Georgia Tech after four strong years with the Fairfield Stags. Joining the two graduate students on the 2024 Yellow Jackets’ roster are 2022 Westerners Cody Carwile, Aiden Finateri, Nick Romano and Jett Lovett, as well as 2023 Hat City heroes Aiden Jolley and Carson Ballard.
“I am looking [forward] to getting to work and meeting all of the teammates,” the incoming transfer stated about his upcoming season at Georgia Tech. “I am excited to bring my experience down there.”
Out of the 13 other athletic programs offered, Zmarzlak looks most forward to watching the Yellow Jackets’ football team at Bobby Dodd Stadium. Beyond campus, the graduate student will try to catch an Atlanta Braves’ game in Cobb County, a 15-minute drive from Russ Chandler Stadium. As of August 10, the Braves are 73-41 with a 9.5-game lead in the NL East division and possession of the best record in Major League Baseball.
“I heard that Truist Park is a great place to see a ballgame,” the outfielder commented.
Because he is exercising his final year of eligibility, 2023 marked Zmarzlak’s last summer playing in a wood-bat collegiate baseball league. On August 5, the Georgia Tech outfielder concluded his Danbury career where it started in game two of the NECBL semifinals. Batting third, the designated hitter smoked a two-run shot and smacked the Westerners’ last hit of the summer against the eventual champion Gulls, the same team he faced 53 days earlier.
As Danbury’s 2023 campaign ended amidst emotional goodbyes and warm conversations, Zmarzlak reflected on his eight-week Hat City tenure.
“It was a great summer getting to know the guys,” the outgoing Westerner remarked. “I cannot thank Danbury enough for this experience, and I will be a Westerner for life.”