FAIRFIELD COUNTY, Conn. — The constantly changing puzzle of the FCIAC playoff race has had a few twists and turns over the past 10 days.
Greenwich, which won its first 12 games of the season, finally lost to Stamford last week and was picked off again by Wilton on Monday. The Cards are now 12-2 in league play and have slipped into second place.
The Cardinals’ losses opened the door for Staples (Westport), which took over the No. 1 spot with recent wins over contenders Norwalk, Stamford, Wilton and Fairfield-Ludlowe. The Wreckers are 15-1 overall and 13-1 in the FCIAC. Staples and Greenwich will square off in a huge game at 4 p.m. Wednesday in Westport.
The Norwalk Bears and Wilton Warriors are tied in third place with 10-3 records, but the Bears own the tiebreaker based on their head-to-head win against the Warriors earlier this year. Norwalk is hot, having won five of six, including a wild 18-17 slugfest over Ridgefield on Monday.
Wilton lost two of three last week, including a 10-4 decision to Staples in which the Warriors committed six errors. The Warriors rebounded for a 4-3 victory over Greenwich on Monday to right the ship. St. Joseph, which weighs in at 9-3, is in fifth place, a half-game ahead of Ridgefield, which dropped from third to sixth after losing to Norwalk.
Ludlowe (Fairfield), an offensive powerhouse that won its first nine games, has taken a hard hit lately, dropping four of its last five games. The Falcons are now 10-4 overall and 8-4 in the FCIAC and have tumbled from first place all the way to a seventh-place tie with the Westhill Vikings.
Outside of the eight-team playoff bubble are the 8-5 Trinity Catholic Crusaders, who beat city rival Stamford on Monday. Stamford is tied with Brien McMahon at 7-6, while Danbury is one game back at 6-7.
2. Stamford hands Greenwich its first loss: The Stamford Black Knights rode a complete-game seven-hitter by pitcher Steve Hagedus, as well as some stellar fielding, to hand Greenwich its first loss of the spring, 4-1, last Tuesday at GHS. The win broke a personal two-game losing streak for Hagedus, who walked one and fanned seven.
Stamford is fighting for an FCIAC playoff spot, while Greenwich is in a battle for the top seed. The Cards scored first when Andrew Van Eyck led off the bottom of the second with a double and eventually scored on a two-out hit by Alex Smith.
Stamford responded with a three-spot in the top of the third. Steve Orgera hit one-out double to deep left, and Mike Melendez followed a two-bagger to right to tie the game. Mike Summa walked and Justin Gale drove two runs home with a single later in the inning.
Stamford then added a single run in the fourth and Hagedus and the defense did the rest, shutting out Greenwich over the final four innings for the victory. The Cardinals’ ace starting pitcher, Yuta Okazaki, threw more than 110 pitches while working six innings. He allowed 10 hits and four runs. Casey Gaynor allowed two hits in one inning of relief work.
3. Cards deal with Falcons: One day after suffering its first loss, Greenwich got back in the winner’s circle with a 4-2, eight-inning victory over the Fairfield-Ludlowe Falcons at Fairfield’s Kiwanis Park. The game was the Cardinals’ third extra-inning win in the past two weeks.
The winning rally started with two outs in the top of the eighth when Brian Hoff singled and stole second base. Andrew Van Eyck followed with an RBI double to right field to make it 3-2. Van Eyck was then plated by Ryan Brennan, who laced a single for a two-run lead.
Ludlowe threatened by putting the tying runs on base in the bottom of the eighth, but reliever Marty Clarke stranded them to get the win. Clarke worked two innings after relieving starter Ryan Carr, who overcame some early-inning woes, and kept the Cards in the game.
After Greenwich took a 1-0 lead, Ludlowe scored twice in the bottom of the first on an RBI single by Billy Malone, and a run-scoring double by Tom Nagy. Greenwich came back to tie the score in the fourth when Huff singled, stole second and came home on an error.
4. Staples puts Wilton to bed and moves into first place: The Staples Wreckers took over the lead position in the FCIAC tournament hunt with a 10-4 decision over the Wilton Warriors under the lights at WHS last Thursday.
Jimmy Sikorski, who has been battling an arm injury this season, delivered a big performance over six-plus innings to get the victory.
The Wreckers took control with a three-run first inning that featured a two-run home run off the bat of Brendan Bernstein. Staples was aided by the Warriors’ defensive lapses, as Wilton committed six errors, leading to six unearned runs.
5. Speer gets 20th win as Wreckers pound Ludlowe: Staples ace David Speer earned his 20th career victory, although the Wreckers’ offense stole the show in a 16-6 win over the Ludlowe Falcons on Monday in Westport. Speer, who will pitch at Columbia next spring, was the beneficiary of a Staples offense that banged out 19 hits, including home runs from Ryan Burke and Jack Hennessy.
Ludlowe actually led 3-1 in the middle of the second before the Wreckers batted around and scored six runs in the bottom of the inning. Staples scored six runs in the frame, three on a round-tripper by Burke. After the Falcons put up one run in the third, the Wreckers came back with three more, including a home run by Hennessy.
Burke hit for the cycle and scored twice, while Hennessy was 4 for 4 with four runs. For Ludlowe, Tom Nagy was 4 for 4 and Nick Rossomando hit a home run.
6. Marut, Wilton win battle of aces with Greenwich: Wilton’s Kurt Marut out-dueled Greenwich’s Yuta Okazaki as the Warriors posted a 4-3 victory Monday at GHS.
Both Marut and Okazaki will be pitching at the collegiate level in Connecticut next year, as Marut heads to UConn and Okazaki heads to UConn-Avery Point. Marut got the better of this latest battle, as he allowed three runs on five hits while striking out five in seven innings. Okazaki allowed just three hits and fanned eight.
The winning rally came in the top of the sixth when Wilton’s Scott Young hit a two-run double, part of a three-spot for the Warriors, who erased a 3-1 deficit and took the lead for good.
Dave Stewart, the Sports Editor of the New Canaan (Conn.) Advertiser, is a MaxPreps.com writer and photographer. He may be reached at 203-966-9541 or at sports@ncadvertiser.com.