Where can you find the best darn bocce players on the planet?
Sons of Italy, Valley Regional Lodge #151 of Derby — as always.
Marco Cignarle, Luigi Gino and Ciro Ronzone (along with upstate New York resident Peter Russo) did the lower Valley proud last month capturing first place in the 37th Annual World Series of Bocce at the Toccolana Club in Rome, N.Y.
In addition to taking home $4,000, the Derby men continued the long tradition of local dominance of the ancient Italian game.
(Click here to read a 1974 article from Sports Illustrated on Derby’s first win in the tournament)
There were some 80 players in the three-day tournament, according to the Toccolana Club’s Web site.
Derby won nine games and lost one. The men defeated Rainbow Creek, a team from Toronto, in the final match.
Cignarale, a Rome, N.Y. native, made the last shot to win the match for Derby, according to an account printed in the Rome Sentinel, a local paper.
Final scores of the Derby dominated championship matches: 16 – 8 and 16 – 2.
“They didn’t have a chance,” Cignarale said. “We got all the breaks and it all went our way.”
Gino was stunned at the win.
“It was unbelievable,” Gino said. “I couldn’t talk. I lost my voice.”
Unfortunately, the Connecticut residents had to drive back home immediately after the last game, stopping only at Burger King for some grub.
It was a Sunday and they all had to work the next day.
They men practice twice a week at the Derby Sons of Italy Lodge at 73 High St. in Ansonia.
“When you beat another team, it’s exciting” Gino said. “When you play over here, we play for drinks. If you lose, you pay two dollars. One to the club and one to the bar.”
