Philosophers have said those who exhibit loyalty receive respect, those who portray sportsmanship acquire recognition and those who demonstrate desire achieve success.\u00a0 With these aforementioned qualities, 1995 Branford Sports Hall of Fame inductee James N. Barba provided many proud moments to teammates, to fellow military officers and to citizens of Branford.<\/p>\n
While attending Branford High School, Barba was a very versatile athlete.\u00a0 He played basketball, football and baseball all four years of high school.\u00a0 He served as captain of the baseball team during his sophomore and senior years.\u00a0 In football, he played halfback and was a field goal kicker and punter.\u00a0 He was a teammate of 1993 Branford Sports Hall of Famers Joe \u201cButch\u201d Naimo and Steven Hyliniski.\u00a0 James was an instrumental part of the Hornets football squad, which gained second place in the Housatonic League Valley Conference, defeating Shelton (19-0), Milford (20-6), and Stratford (7-0).\u00a0 In 1939, he played with another Hall of Famer, 1990 inductee Walter Tamulevich.<\/p>\n
James played varsity basketball during his junior and senior years at Branford High School.\u00a0 He played the guard position hard under the boards against taller and heavier opponents often coming up with the ball because he would not be intimidated.\u00a0 He played to win and loved competition.\u00a0 When things went well, his trademark grin said it all.\u00a0 In 1937, the Hornets basketball squad finished with an 18-5 record and won the Housatonic League Class B Championship and Connecticut Class B Champions.\u00a0 Under the guidance of 1988 Hall of Fame inductee John Knecht Jr., Barba played alongside 1993 Hall of Fame inductee John Yusievicz, fellow inductee Victor Lukawsky and Joseph Naimo.\u00a0 That year, the Hornets won nine of its first 10 games and in the Class B Tournament, outscored its three opponents (Robert Fitch, Wallingford and Naugatuck) 112 to 52 to capture the title.\u00a0 The following year (1937-38), Barba and the Hornets turned in the most successful record of any team in Branford High School, bringing home the only undefeated record in Connecticut, and capturing the Housatonic League and Connecticut Class \u201cB\u201d State Championships.\u00a0 That team was the first squad to go through its season undefeated winning twenty-one straight and also the first year that a Housatonic League winner has been undefeated.<\/p>\n
In baseball, \u201cRocco\u201d as he was called, had a good arm as well as being a great catcher and hitter.<\/p>\n
In a class of outstanding athletes, tonight\u2019s inductee was voted \u201cMost Athletic\u201d by the class of 1940.\u00a0 After graduation, he joined the 101st Airborne Division of the Paratroopers at the beginning of World War II and was killed in action during the D-Day Invasion on June 6th, 1944.\u00a0 For his heroism, he was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the country\u2019s second highest honor and earlier, had received the Purple Heart.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is really an honor and a privilege receiving this honor on my brother\u2019s behalf.\u00a0 If he was here today, he would be so proud of achieving this award\u201d said Barba\u2019s brother, Frank.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":513,"template":"","acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/branfordsportshalloffame.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/inductee\/512"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/branfordsportshalloffame.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/inductee"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/branfordsportshalloffame.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/inductee"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/branfordsportshalloffame.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/513"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/branfordsportshalloffame.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}