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Darien rode a 12-run second inning outburst to a 12-0 win over Staples in four and a half innings. The win was Darien’s fifth straight which improved its record to 8-2 while Staples dropped to 4-6 with the loss.

The Darien lineup has a knack for the big inning: If you want proof of the old the softball/baseball cliché that “hitting is contagious,” look no farther than the Darien softball team. It’s amazing how many times the Blue Wave lineup is able to run away with a game by posting an exceptionally high-scoring inning early in the game. And this isn’t the type of team that is likely to allow an eight, nine or even 12-run lead to slip away, especially with Jess DeMaio on the mound and a stout defense in the field.

Darien’s team chemistry paves the way to its success: While I’ve yet to see every FCIAC softball team in action, it would be hard to imagine that any of them can top Darien’s camaraderie. The Darien players are always quick to mention chemistry in post-game interviews, and it’s a big reason why Darien won the FCIAC crown last year and has a chance to repeat the feat this year.

“We’re all just so supportive of each other,” Courtney Bell said. “If someone gets out – or even if someone gets on – we just want to pick each other up.”

Staples plays good defense and battles to the end: Typically when a high school softball team surrenders 12 runs in an inning, fielding blunders play a big part. However, that was not the case on Wednesday at Darien High School, as Staples committed just one error in the loss.

The Wreckers’ lineup continued to grind out at bats, even when faced with a seemingly insurmountable deficit. Staples pinch hitter Olivia Wiener exemplified this when she took a long at bat in the top of the fifth before finally drawing a two-out walk to extend the game for the time being.

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Howdy, Cardillo checking in here after St. Joseph’s 13-0 five-inning win over previously unbeaten Danbury Wednesday afternoon.

Pretty sure the Cadets’ 12-run third inning is finally over.

In my years on the high school softball beat I’ve seen some big innings, but nothing quite like that. The Cadets sent up 10 batters before Danbury recorded an out. Nine straight Cadets got hits, all scoring, including a grand slam by freshman Katie Gardella — the team’s No. 9 batter, no less.

What made this inning so crazy was that it wasn’t aided by errors or walks, which is how you see softball innings get out of hand. It was just hit-after-hit-after-hit. There were a couple dunks over the first and third bases — a dink by Kial Watts that rolled out of play beyond third did score two –  but mostly clean singles.

Not sure St. Joseph can do that every game, but with seniors Breana Shepard and Taryn Figmic — who later made a diving catch in foul territory at third — the Cadets should be a tough out going forward.

Other thoughts:

* St. Joseph has former Stratford ace Carrie Potter as its pitching coach. Potter is back in Connecticut at Saint Vincent’s College, following a two-year stint at Florida Atlantic. Potter hurt her shoulder lifting weights, thus ending her pitching career. “We’re really happy to have her in the program,” St. Joseph coach Jeff Babineau said. Babineau had coached Potter in travel ball many years earlier.

* Danbury was 8-0 coming into the game, Harry Trohalis admitted their record was, in part, a product of an easy early-season schedule.

* There was a track meet going on behind the outfield wall. The starter’s gun kept going off, which jarred me. Didn’t seem to bother either Danbury or St. Joseph.

* Oddly enough found a tick crawling on my khaki pants during the second inning. Word of warning for everybody as the weather gets warmer at these outdoor games.