The SCDC has announced the inaugural winner of the Dan Gooley Legends Award: Former Foran High School coach Ken Walker.
A standout player at Milford High School and Central Connecticut State University, Walker won 279 games as the head baseball coach at Foran from 1986-2003 and 2011-12. He was the New Haven Register Area Coach of the Year in 2011. Walker also coached the Lions’ football team for six seasons and led them to the CIAC Class M state championship in 1994. Walker passed away suddenly in 2012 at age 60. Foran’s varsity baseball field is named in his honor.
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Gooley was a co-founder of the Greater New Haven Diamond Club, the group which inspired the current club, in 1980 and was instrumental in helping start the SCDC in 2005.
Gooley was a top pitcher at Quinnipiac and still holds the school record of 316 strikeouts. He coached the Bobcats from 1977-87 and 2002-14 and owns a program-best 439 victories. He also won 101 games in five years at Hartford from 1988-92. He is a member of the Quinnipiac (1983) and SCDC (2008) Halls of Fame. He is currently on the board of directors for the West Haven Twilight League.your paragraph here.
Past Winners:
2025: Ken Walker
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About the Gooley Legends Award:
The SCDC instituted the Dan Gooley Legends Award in 2025 to honor early-era contributors to Greater New Haven baseball. The winner is chosen by a subcommittee of the SCDC Executive Board headed by Gooley, the longtime former Quinnipiac University and University of Hartford coach. The honor will be awarded annually at the Southern Connecticut Diamond Club Hall of Fame Banquet and Induction Ceremony, and each year’s winner will be a member of the SCDC Hall of Fame.