Groton — Joey Gingerella would have loved to be at Washington Park on the first evening of June, baseball glove in hand, friends and family in the bleachers.

Jo Jo Nice, as he was known, was there Thursday in the hearts and minds of members of the recreational softball team formerly known as The Foul Balls, which made its debut as "So Nice Twice," or SN2 for short, a name they chose in his memory. The men and women pulled on new hats and shirts in baby blue — one of his favorite colors — and celebrated his life on the first night they played together since the 24-year-old former high school all-star pitcher was fatally shot on Dec. 11, 2016.

"Tonight is rough," said SN2 pitcher Chuck McDonald. "It's the first game we had to play without Joe. It's going to be something missing from the field, the dugout."

An all-star pitcher at Robert E. Fitch Sr. High School, Gingerella was not humble about his prowess on the field. After he made a play, he would insist on getting proper accolades from coach Greg Aldinger.

"Jo Jo Nice. So nice, you have to say it twice," Aldinger had learned to say on demand.

Gingerella was there in spirit also for SN2's opponents, called "The New Team," who beat SN2, 7-4, on Thursday. Some of the New Team players were his teammates from Fitch, including Greg Porter. Like Gingerella, Porter was a pitcher in high school.  

"We called ourselves Fitch's 1 and 2," Porter said. He smiled and said, "I'm not going there," when asked who was 1 and who was 2.

"This means everything," said New Team member Elisha Nevith, who attended middle school and high school with Gingerella and considered him a little brother.

"This is definitely where his heart was," he said of Washington Park.

Coach Aldinger presented team shirts with Gingerella's number, 26, to Gingerella's parents, Joe and Tammy de la Cruz, his sister, Kayla Gingerella, and to Heather Emerich, who dated Gingerella for four years after high school. The number 26 will never be used by the team again, Aldinger said, and he asked the four to wear the shirts and throw the ceremonial first pitch.

The team placed Gingerella's cleats and glove on a Gatorade bottle at shortstop, his position on the softball team. They left the position open for the first inning with the caveat that if a ball hit Gingerella's gear, it would be an automatic out. Both teams kneeled for a moment of silence in his memory, breaking with "Jo Jo Nice!"

"I like this, because this is what he loved," said Gingerella's close friend Kevin Wallace, a Fitch teammate. "We're celebrating his life with something we loved together."  

Witnesses say Gingerella was shot as he attempted to assist a woman involved in a domestic dispute in the parking lot at Ryan's Pub. His alleged killer is charged with murder and incarcerated while awaiting trial.

Gingerella's death was shocking to his friends, and devastating to his parents, who had fought to keep him healthy in recent years.

Gingerella had struggled with addiction to opiate pain pills, but prior to his death had started to thrive in recovery. He inspired his parents to team up with other parents to start the nonprofit group Community Speaks Out and last October had relished the opportunity to help the group by organizing a memorial softball tournament at Washington Park.

Before and after he spoke out in public about his struggle with addiction to pain pills, Gingerella remained a fixture on local baseball diamonds. He was coaching a Babe Ruth team when Aldinger saw how good he was and recruited him for "The Foul Balls."

"He became the center of our team, without question the heart and soul, and the community clown," Aldinger said. "He brought in a couple of other guys. We did much, much better than we ever did. He was a really good ballplayer."

When Gingerella and Aldinger became better acquainted, they discovered they had recovery in common as well as their love of ball playing. Aldinger, who had been clean and sober since 1988, was Gingerella's sponsor.

"He was doing really, really well," Aldinger said. "A lot of people were completely in awe of how he had turned everything around. My only regret is that I couldn't spend more time with him. You live and learn."

Gingerella's family is trying to do positive things in his memory. They wrote in his obituary that they would accept donations to a baseball fund or a scholarship in Gingerella's name. On June 13, his mother said she would be presenting a $3,500 scholarship to a student at Fitch. The scholarship program will continue next year, when Tammy de la Cruz said she would ask applicants to write a short essay.

The family also is trying to raise $40,000 to install lights at Calvin Burrows Field, where Gingerella's name is on the concession stand because his little league team won the district championship for the first time in 34 years.

"There were many times when it was starting to get dark and they called the game," Tammy de la Cruz said. "What better way to honor Joey's memory?

A "Light it Up Joey" golf tournament will be held June 30 at Shennecossett Golf Course. A "Light up Joey Comedy Fundraiser" will take place on July 15 at the Groton Elks.

Tammy de la Cruz said her son had gotten his "spark" back when he met Aldinger and had all of his friends back in his life.

"If you asked Joey who his best friend was, he'd have a hard time answering," she said. "But if you asked the friends, they'd all say it was Joey."

On Thursday, Kayla Gingerella presented Aldinger with one of Gingerella's baseballs to thank him for all he had done.

"He loved you, and we knew it," she told him.

Joe de la Cruz, who had been newly elected as a state representative when Gingerella was killed and is nearing the end of his first legislative session in Hartford, was back in baseball dad mode on Thursday. He played some of Gingerella's favorite tunes on the audio system before the first pitch and then emceed the game.

"I can't thank you enough," he told the crowd that gathered in a large semi-circle before the game. "I can't tell you what it means to have you guys come and support us."

k.florin@theday.com