WESTPORT, Conn. — When the Staples Wreckers were on their way to a second consecutive FCIAC baseball championship last spring, they made head coach Jack McFarland sweat a bit, as they didn’t clinch the top seed until the final day of the regular season.
This year, McFarland and the Wreckers can at least relax a little bit during the final stretch.
Senior pitcher Jimmy Sikorski nailed down first place in the FCIAC with two games to spare as he allowed just six hits over five-plus innings in the Wreckers’ 7-5 win over the St. Joseph Cadets on Saturday in Trumbull.
Ace David Speer finished off the victory by pitching the final two innings, striking out the side in the seventh to earn his third save. At the plate, Brian Terzian belted a two-run double and Jack Hennessey singled for his 100th career hit. At 15-1 in league play, the Wreckers cannot be passed in the standings and will be the No. 1 seed when the tournament begins May 24.
The rest of the picture is not so clear, with Greenwich, Norwalk and Wilton tied for second place at 12-3. Greenwich has a tough finish ahead this week with home games against No. 9 Trinity Catholic (9-7) and No. 5 St. Joseph (11-4), and a road game against No. 7 Ridgefield (10-5). Norwalk plays at No. 10 McMahon (8-7), home against No. 8 Westhill (10-5) and on the road against Warde (3-12).
Wilton finishes up at home against Ridgefield and Bridgeport Central (4-12) and on the road against St. Joseph. Most of the FCIAC teams are scheduled to complete their seasons May 19, but the final seedings will not be determined until May 21, as Wilton and St. Joseph will play at 4:30 p.m. that day.
2. Staples lacrosse eyes perfect season: The Staples Wreckers boys lacrosse team didn’t get much respect during the preseason. But with just one game remaining, the Wreckers have turned heads and are looking at a perfect regular season. Staples' latest victims were the Norwalk Bears, who fell 14-1 on Saturday while the Wreckers improved to 15-0 overall and 10-0 in league play.
Nate Greenberg netted four goals for the Wreckers, who wrap up the regular season with a road game at Fairfield-Ludlowe at 7 p.m. Wednesday. Defender Keith Gelman added a hat trick to Saturday’s rout, while attacker Charlie Ross had a goal and three assists. Kip Orban, Aaron Wallace, Kyle Mendelson, Ryan Hartmann, Peter Paul and Connor Austin also scored.
Staples has clinched a playoff berth — its first since 2005 and its first under veteran head coach Paul McNulty, who came to the Wreckers last spring after coaching the Wilton Warriors. The only knock against the Wreckers has been they did not face three of the FCIAC’s perennial powers, as Darien, New Canaan and Wilton were not on their schedule.
But Staples did knock off defending champion Ridgefield, 11-10 in overtime, and league power Greenwich, 7-5. The Wreckers were also 5-0 in non-conference play, including tough games against Horace Greeley, 9-6, and Glastonbury, 6-5.
3. Wreckers lead lacrosse power point standings: Staples’ final seeding, as well as the final ranking of all the FCIAC boys lacrosse teams, will be finalized after the regular season as the order of playoff teams is determined by a vote of the coaches involved in the conference tournament.
Since teams play an uneven schedule, a power point formula is used, similar to the CIAC’s football system. Teams are awarded 100 points per league win and 10 bonus points for each league win posted by opponents they’ve beaten. The total number of points is then divided by the number of games played, and the average is used in the power point standings.
Power points are used only to determine the eight tournament qualifiers. Coaches of the qualifying teams will vote on the final seedings, meaning that Staples will likely be seeded either second or third. As of late last week, the Wreckers led the power point standings ahead of the Darien Blue Wave, the state’s top-ranked team. Darien, however, had two tough teams with St. Joseph and Greenwich remaining and would pass Staples with two victories.
The rest of the power point standings had New Canaan third, followed by Ridgefield, Greenwich, Wilton, Trumbull, St. Joseph and Ludlowe.
4. Darien softball turns Mustangs Blue: The Darien softball team has bounced back from a rough three-game stretch with a four-game winning streak, which included a big 5-3 decision over the Fairfield-Warde Mustangs last Thursday at DHS.
The two teams were tied for second place in the FCIAC at the time, although Warde (11-4 FCIAC) lost its next game, 9-8 to town rival Ludlowe, and has since fallen to sixth place in a tight playoff race. The Wave (13-2) jumped on Warde early, scoring four runs in the bottom of the first inning. Courtney Bell and Kelly Fahey had RBI base hits and pitcher Jessica DeMaio helped her own cause with a two-run double.
DeMaio made that lead hold up, as the Darien ace threw a complete game six-hitter, allowing just one earned run and three walks while striking out six. Warde starting pitcher Gina Treglia took a line drive off her knee in the first inning, but came back after the difficult frame and allowed just one run the rest of the way.
DeMaio, however, was the game’s star, as she had two hits and three RBI to do damage at the plate as well as on the mound. Darien plays at No. 1 Westhill (15-0) on Monday and would still be in contention for the FCIAC’s top seed with a win. Westhill would clinch the No. 1 seed with a victory. The Blue Wave has a smooth ride on Tuesday with winless Bassick (0-14) on the schedule, but will face No. 4 Trumbull (12-3) at home on Friday.
5. New Canaan girls tennis ends Greenwich’s 83-match win streak: The players on the New Canaan Rams girls tennis team have experienced plenty of success during the past few seasons, but the one opponent that has always stood in their way has been the Greenwich Cardinals.
So there was no holding back on the smiles when the Rams finally topped their rivals, 4-3, Friday afternoon at GHS. New Canaan ended the Cardinals’ 83-match winning streak, which stretched back four seasons to 2006. Greenwich lost the FCIAC championship match to the Rams that season.
New Canaan (15-0) did it with strong singles play, winning three of four solo matches, while the No. 1 doubles match also went the Rams’ way. Greenwich (13-1), meanwhile, took two of the three doubles matches, including a three-setter in the No. 3 spot.
In singles, senior co-captain Tina Tehrani and junior Kate Mannelly were dominant in the top two positions. Tehrani won the No. 1 match, 6-0, 6-1 against Greenwich’s promising freshman Jenn Deluca, while Mannelly was a 6-3, 6-1 winner over Danielle Cepelewicz in the No. 2 spot.
At No. 1 doubles, senior co-captain Alyssa Baker and junior Kimmie Glerum stayed perfect for the season with a 6-2, 6-0 victory over Leah Tagliarano and Jordana Cepelewicz. Greenwich took a point at No. 2 doubles, as Anna Sweeney and Michelle Vogt defeated Kristin Laub and Sara Greene 6-0, 6-4. With those four matches complete, the Rams had a 3-1 lead and needed just one more point to nail down the victory.
In the remaining matches, Greenwich had taken the first set at No. 3 singles, New Canaan won the first set at No. 4 singles, and the No. 3 doubles teams split sets and were headed to a third. The Cardinals made it 3-2 when Sam Stone topped Caitlin Gallagher 6-4, 7-5 at No. 3 singles.
Moments later at No. 4 singles, New Canaan’s Courtney Gallagher took match point against Greenwich’s Andrea Carlsson and won 6-1, 6-2 to get the Rams the victory. The No. 3 doubles match went to a tiebreaker with the Cardinals’ Katey Hopper and Lauren Daccacho defeating the Rams’ Amanda Merjian and Schuyler Higgins 6-0, 4-6, 7-6 (3).
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.
