Overtime

Advocate photographer Chris Preovolos got a great shot from what was, as he explains, the first softball game he has ever covered at Westhill High School.

Here is the link: http://southernconnecticutcommunity.com/photo/2009/05/21/humm-baby-a-senior-moment/

Wilton just defeated Westhill with a run in the bottom of the 7th, 1-0, to play itself into the playoffs and knock out Stamford.

Here are the first-round pairings: No. 8 Wilton at No. 1 Staples, No. 7 St. Joseph at No. 2 Darien, No. 6 Ludlowe at No. 3 Westhill, No. 5 Trumbull at No. 4 Ridgefield.

Defending champion Staples secured the top seed in the FCIAC Tournament with a 9-0 win over Brien McMahon. Norwalk is on the verge elimination after losing to Danbury, 5-4.

The softball pairings are set pending the result of the Ludlowe-Trumbull game. The winner of that game will be the No. 4 seed and host the loser, which will be the fifth seed, in Tuesday’s first round. The other quarterfinal games: No. 8 Trinity Catholic at No. 1 St. Joseph, No. 7 Stamford at No. 2 Darien and No. 6 Staples at No. 3 Westhill.

In baseball, Ridgefield beat St. Joseph 9-3 and Stamford beat Bassick 11-0.

The pairings have not been finalized, but St. Joseph defeated Ridgefield, 14-2, to eliminate the Tigers. The teams in the playoffs are St. Joseph, Darien, Westhill, Trumbull, Fairfield Ludlowe, Stamford, Trinity Catholic and Staples.

In terms of figuring out seedings for next week’s baseball and softball tournaments, the baseball pairings are completely up in the air. It is possible depending on outcomes that as many as four teams could be tied for the best record. Staples will be the No. 1 seed with a win over McMahon.

In softball, the top three seeds are set: St. Joseph is No. 1, Darien is 2 and Westhill is 3. It is also possible four teams — Stamford, Trinity Catholic, Ridgefield and Staples — could be tied for the final three spots. Ridgefield would be the odd team out in a tiebreaker. It is very possible there could be an intracity battle between Stamford and Trinity in the first round of the playoffs on Tuesday.

The FCIAC baseball and softball playoffs will be finalized today, the last of the regular season. We will keep you updated with pertinent scores as they come in and seedings as they are determined.

I have several pet peeves — I hate getting awakened in the morning and thus turn off my phones before I go to sleep — and one of them is fans who argue strike calls at games.

I don’t know if it is happening more often or my tolerance has been worn down, but there seems to be an inordinate amount of complaints emanating from the stands this spring every time a perceived strike is called a ball.

My question: unless you are standing directly behind home plate, how can you tell? There is no way of knowing from a side angle, even if you have a close view, which most fans don’t.

I had one person tell me last week that you can tell by how a catcher sets up. Well what if the catcher is setting up out of the strike zone?

My parents were pretty good on the carrots when I was a kid, but I can’t call balls or strikes when I cover games and I am almost certain fans cannot either.

But that is not going to stop them from continuing to whine.