Two Days, Two Titles, One Town

 

Two days, Two Titles. One Town. 

That is the case for the Fairfield Public High Schools*. Ludlowe softball won the FCIAC championship on Thursday, while Warde baseball won an FCIAC title of their own on Friday. 

*Yes, I realize Prep baseball won the SCC Championship, but I work at Ludlowe and Warde, so that is where my focus is. 

For Ludlowe softball, it was the first title in school history. The Falcons, the No. 2 seed, defeated the St. Joseph Cadets 6-3 at Sacred Heart University. In the regular season, the Cadets won 5-2, handing Ludlowe their only loss of the season.

Here is the game story from GameTime CT's Maggie Vanoni as Reyes, Ludlowe rally to top St. Joseph for first FCIAC softball crown

History is made. Fairfield Ludlowe wins the school’s first-ever FCIAC championship title after beating St. Joseph, 6-3. Ludlowe awaits its placement in the state tournament bracket. #ctsb pic.twitter.com/41xB8S3o2Z

— Maggie Vanoni (@maggie_vanoni) May 27, 2021

In Warde baseball's case, the defeated the Greenwich Cardinals 9-0 at Cubeta Stadium. Zack Brodrick threw a complete-game for the Mustangs. It's their first title since 2014 and the second since the schools split. Fairfield High School (when Warde and Ludlowe were combined) won in 2004. 

Here's the game story from GameTime CT's Scott Ericson as Broderick pitches Warde to FCIAC Championship over Greenwich. 

.@WardeBaseball celebrates their 2021 FCIAC Championship win. (Using my very limited iMovie skills to edit the broadcast and my iPhone footage together) #ctbase #InTheBooth pic.twitter.com/WYezhqbKXH

— Rob Adams (@double5) May 29, 2021

If you want to watch the entire Warde/Greenwich game with Rob Adams on the call, go here

Congrats to both teams and good luck to everyone in the state tournament!  

Warde Baseball Wins Tight Battle Over Ludlowe

Warde baseball edged Ludlowe by a 6-5 score on Wednesday afternoon at Kiwanis Field in Fairfield in the annual rivalry game between the two schools. 

The Mustangs jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first. They loaded the bases on no hits, as Roman DiGiacomo walked, Declan O'Hara was hit by a pitch and John Heitzman also walked. Zack Broderick, the Mustangs starting pitcher, then helped himself with a two-run single to center field to plate DiGiacomo and O'Hara. 

Warde tacked on in the second inning. With Garrett Larsen at second and two outs, O'Hara singled to left to bring in another run. The next batter, Heitzman, doubled down the right field line to bring home O'Hara and extend the Mustangs lead to 4-0. 

Ludlowe would cut into the deficit in the third. The Falcons would pick up two runs, including an RBI single from Reese Palumbo. 

Warde added another run in the 5th. Jack Andrews singed to left with two outs to bring home Broderick from third who had reached on an error to lead off the inning. 

The Falcons would come back to tie the game in the bottom half of the frame. Justin Dennett reached on an error to lead off the inning. Two batters later, Noah Schaper singled to right to bring home Dennett and cut the deficit to 5-3. Three batters later with runners at second and third, pinch-hitter Ben Gaffney doubled down the left field line to bring in two runs and tie the game at five. 

Warde would take the lead for good in the top of the seventh. Jake Balogh led off the inning with a single to center. Three batters later, with Balogh at third, Larsen singled to short center field to bring home the go-ahead run. 

Ludlowe would get the tying run on first with two outs, but couldn't push the tying run across the plate. 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the softball game between Ludlowe and Warde, the Falcons came away with a 13-3 victory to take home the Walker Cup. 

Ludlowe Baseball Picks Up Big Win Over Norwalk

Coming off four straight losses, the Ludlowe Falcons baseball team needed a win in a big way. 

They got that win in a 12-7 fashion over Norwalk on Monday afternoon at Kiwanis Field in Fairfield. 

In their previous games, they got up early, and couldn't hold a lead. Today, it was the reverse. 

Norwalk took a 4-0 lead with three runs in the first and a run in the second before Ludlowe would get on the board in the bottom half of the second. With runners on the corners and out, Patrick Connor singled to left field to plate Christian Smith. The next batter, Sean McAdams, doubled to deep center field to bring in two runs and cut the Norwalk lead to 4-3. 

Norwalk extended their lead to 6-3 with two runs in the third, including an RBI single by Javier Gonzalez. 

Ludlowe would come back in the bottom of the fifth to not only tie the game, but take the lead. Drew Buckley walked. He then stole second and the ball went into center field, When Buckley tried to advance to third, the throw from the Norwalk shortstop, who retrieved the ball in short center field, sailed over the third baseman's head and out of play, allowing Buckley to score. Andrew Fortunato would then double, followed up by a double by Matt Longo that would plate Fortunato. The doubles continued with the next batter, Smith, as his double brought in Rhys Davies, who pinch-ran for Longo, to tie the game at six.

Two batters later, Justin Dennett singled to center field to bring Smith home and give the Falcons a 7-6 lead. 

Norwalk would not go away as they tied the game in the top of the sixth. Eddy Garabito-Soto tripled to deep right field and the throw to third went past the Ludlowe third baseman and Garabito-Soto was able to come in and score to tie the game. 

The Falcons would come right back in the bottom of the sixth. With runners on the corners and one out, Fortunato drove a ball to deep right field for a two-run triple to give Ludlowe the lead back at 9-7. They would not be done. An error would allow Fortunato to come in and score before a two-run double by Dennett would cap the scoring. 

Ludlowe improves to 2-4 overall and 2-4 in the FCIAC. The Falcons travel to Trumbull for a matchup with St. Joe's on Wednesday. 

High School Baseball Is Back

The Falcons warm up prior to the game against New Canaan

After the 2020 season was cancelled, high school baseball, and all spring sports, were back this week in Connecticut. 

It's interesting times for everyone, dealing with COVID protocols and quarantines, and the unknown due to the fact that there wasn't a season last year. 

For the Ludlowe baseball team, they got our season going on Tuesday against New Canaan after getting postponed against Greenwich on Saturday and New Canaan on Monday. 

It was 682 days between the 2019 season ending loss against Southington until Ludlowe played another game that counted. 

In terms of the game, the Falcons picked up a 9-8 win on a walk-off by catcher Christian Smith in the bottom of the seventh. 

Ludlowe took an early 3-0 lead in the first inning on an RBI single by Smith and a two-run triple by Andrew Fortunato. 

New Canaan cut into the lead with a two-run triple to center field in the fourth by Cameron Wheeler. 

Ludlowe extended their lead in the bottom half of the inning as they scored five times. Matt Vivona led off with a hustle double to right field and Noah Schaper walked. 

Three batters later with the bases now loaded, Fortunato singled to right to bring home two runs. Charlie Mulhall followed that up with an RBI single to put the Falcons up 7-2. The scoring for the inning when Mike Innaimo delivered a sacrifice fly to plate Mulhall. 

New Canaan scored four more times in the fifth as they batted around despite only getting three hits in the inning. 

The Rams would tie the game in the top half of the seventh. A single and an error put two one with one out before Jack O'Donnell came up with an RBI double to cut the deficit to 8-7 and put two runners in scoring position. Andrew Rashad's sacrifice fly would tie the game at eight. 

In the bottom half of the seventh, Rhys Davies led off with a single to center field. Matt Vivona laid down a bunt and the ball was thrown into center field to put two on and none out. Two batters later, Longo would walk to load the bases and put the winning run 90 feet away. Smith then came out and drove a 1-1 pitch deep enough to right field to allow Davies to come in and score. 

Ludlowe improves to 1-0 on the early season and will travel to Greenwich to take on the Cardinals on Wednesday at 4pm. 

We'll see if I continue to write these recaps. The lack of media coverage, especially newspaper coverage, around the league for all sports is disappointing and I want to give the student-athletes some coverage. 

Ludlowe/Warde Hoops, Pandemic Edition

The girls game courtesy of the NFHS Network

We are so used to big crowds for rivalry sporting events. The atmosphere is a large part of what makes the game an event. Well this year, obviously crowds are minimal or  non-existent. 

Ludlowe/Warde basketball took place on Saturday afternoon. It's a day and an event I look forward to every year. This year the girls game took place at 12pm at Warde and the boys game at 2:30pm at Ludlowe. So not your traditional doubleheader between the Falcons and Mustangs, but still a doubleheader in a sense. For all other games this winter, only home parents are allowed (no other fans). 

For these in-town rivalry games, parents from both schools were allowed. This at least made the gym less quiet, but the atmosphere was still different, with the student sections noticeably missing.

In terms of the games, Ludlowe swept the doubleheader. The girls took down the Mustangs by a 66-41 score. The Falcons were led by Juliet Bucher and Laura Herron, who each had 11 points and Anna Paulmann who had 10 points (thanks to the Ludlowe girls basketball Twitter for the stats.)

The Ludlowe boys defeated the Mustangs by a 48-37 score. James Mockler led the Falcons with 16 points. Erik Leonard added 12 points and Connor Lawlor also finished in double figures with 11 points. For Warde, Damian Vial had 15 points. 

It was great to have the gyms somewhat lively again. Can't wait until we are able to have the gyms packed and rocking with fans, including students, again. At least today felt like we are getting back to some normalcy. 

Ludlowe-Warde is a game I both love and hate. It's a ton of fun but as I've said many times, it's difficult not to show any emotion. Four great coaches and people in these games with John Dailey, Sara Kinsley, Ryan Swaller and Dave Danko. 

A few more weeks of the season. Hopefully everyone can make the most of a crazy season and then on to spring sports. 

Also, as a side note, the lack of media covering the games were disappointing. I know Aiden Blanc and the Falcon Sports Network (Ludlowe's student broadcasting club) were at the girls game and called the boys game remotely, but disappointing not to see any print media covering these games.  There's a longer post here, maybe for another time, but two thing here. As Rob Adams, Mike Hirn and I have discussed, all these broadcasts should have announcers on them. It's a much better presentation and the kids deserve it. Also, these games should all be covered. The media (writers, broadcasters, etc) are important and work hard to promote students and student-athletes.  

Interesting Day In CT High School Sports

Ludlowe celebrating their 2019 Holiday Tournament Championship

It was an interesting day in high school sports. 

Most winter sports were told they can begin starting on Tuesday. This is pending school/district approval. Games can begin as early as Feb. 8. However, some sports, such as wrestling, competitive cheerleading, dance and indoor track, can not begin in the normal fashion. Wrestling, competitive cheerleading and dance are all in the high risk category, as categorized by the National Federation of High Schools. Indoor track can't hold meets but can practice, due to the number of people in facilites for 

• Wrestling may conduct small group conditioning and non-contact skill building.
• Competitive cheering may conduct small group conditioning and non-contact skill building. Sideline cheerleading is allowed. 
• Competitive dance may conduct small group conditioning and non-contact skill building.
• Indoor Track can  have practices only. Indoor/outdoor meets will be considered for March.

There will be no state tournament for the winter sports, but rather a tournament experience (I.e. conference tournaments). All sports will have certain considerations for the schools to think about. 

Here is the full plan from the CIAC. 

In addition, where the biggest uproar came today is that the alternative season was cancelled. This was supposed to be the season where football, which was cancelled in the fall, along with any other sports that didn't have a season, would play. It's an interesting case, because you want to give the student-athletes opportunities, but you don't want to provide false hope, which is ultimately what happened. 

Another factor that came out as a result is that as of now, spring sports will begin on March 29, the day after the winter season ends. Previously, the spring season had been pushed back to April 12, in order to make room for the alternative season. 

I have many thoughts on all that has transpired, and I didn't even give all the details. Head to the Hartford Courant's Shawn McFarland's Twitter for more. Side note - Shawn's a great follow on Twitter and a great read in the Courant, always giving facts and information for the readers. Doing what a reporter should. 

Overall, it was a very good day, I'm happy for the basketball, hockey players and others who will get to have a season. It will be a unique season, but any season is better than nothing. That said,  It's disappointing for football, wrestling, cheerleading and dance. We'll see what happens for indoor track. Hopefully, as the weather gets warmer in March, they will be able to have some kind of meets outside, that will lead right into the outdoor track season. I can't say I am surprised however, I never really expected the alternative season to happen, whether it be because of the COVID metrics, or scheduling issues. 

Then, there is the whole thought of if we should be playing at all. With the COVID metrics in Connecticut the way they are, there are a lot of people who either outright don't think we should be playing, or are skeptical of the fact that we are playing. Before the CIAC was able to approve winter sports today, the CT Dept. of Public Health had to give the go-ahead. That said, I know there are schools and towns who will opt out (happening as a type this). 

I feel bad for the football players and coaches, along with those winter sports who can't have their seasons. 

I'm optimistic for what's ahead for the winter and the spring athletes, coaches and teams, as long as everyone can stay safe. Looking forward to busy and exciting times in the Athletic Departments. 

Side note - I had some different thoughts earlier today. Thanks for Rob Adams and his Doubleheader show for making me look at the big picture. 

My thoughts on this blog are my own. I have these thoughts as a high school sports fan and a supporter of high school student-athletes and teams. 

Looking Back On 2020 and Forward To What's To Come

I wasn't going to write about 2020. Let's be honest, it wasn't that exciting. There was nothing that specifically stands out, at least from a fun, good, point of view. But then I'm like, if I want to keep writing, I should write something. There's kind of that "I see other friends who blog (Rob Adams and John Nash, specifically) writing end of year posts, maybe I can/should. 

Overall, this has been a boring year, but in the same fate, an Ok year personally. However, plenty of friends have lost family members this year and plenty of others are dealing with tough times. Obviously, COVID-19 has been a big chunk of the year and has impacted all of us in many ways. 

From a local sports perspective, we had the 2019-2020 winter season cut short, no 2020 spring season, and an abbreviated 2020 fall season. At this point, the 2020-2021 winter season is put on hold, so we will see what happens in the coming weeks. There were some sports played over the summer and it was nice to see baseball. I got to see a bunch of Fairfield American Legion games, as well as Fairfield American and Fairfield National little league baseball. In addition, Rob and I broadcasted the CT State Little League baseball State Tournament. 

If I think about some local games and moments from the year that stood out, there aren't that many. More, there are behind the scenes moments that stand out. Those are stories we can tell at later times, or are for others to tell. In terms of games, here are a few that come to mind. 

1) Fairfield Legion walk-off vs Greenwich in the playoffs

Fairfield walks-off on Greenwich 7-6 to advance in the FCBL Playoffs #ctbase pic.twitter.com/tQyTMPDkLu

— Shawn Sailer (@ShawnSailer) August 9, 2020

2) Hamden defeating Montville in the Little League State Tournament

 

3) Despite it being a Warde loss, the Mustangs boys basketball FCIAC semifinal game was a fun back-and-forth game that came down to the final seconds. https://events.locallive.tv/events/37157 

I'm probably forgetting some games that I should include, but honestly there were not that many. I also tried to find games where I had video or audio. 

Oh, and I really need to learn more music so I can know what people are talking about and be more involved in conversations. That will be one of my New Years resolutions. If I can somehow relate the songs to sports, that would be much easier and much more likely that I will pay attention. 

Here's hoping things get better for everyone and we can enjoy 2021 and beyond. It's not going to change just because it's a new year, but hopefully things change soon. Also, as I wrote a couple blogs ago, hoping for a lot of sports soon. Thankful for many friendships built and those strengthened and looking forward to more of that.  

To better days.....