Archive for April, 2012

Role Reversal: Vote for the Overtime FCIAC Team of the Week

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Last week we had six girls teams and one boys team as finalists to be the Overtime FCIAC Team of the Week. This week we reverse the ratio.

Your choices: the Greenwich boys golf, Ridgefield baseball, New Canaan boys volleyball, Staples boys tennis, Fairfield Ludlowe softball, Stamford boys lacrosse and Fairfield Warde baseball teams.

The winner will get T-shirts with our logo courtesy of BlueStreak Sports Training, Garden Catering, the Stamford Advocate, Karl Chevrolet, Innovative Health and Rehabilitation, Chelsea Piers and New Balance of New Canaan.

The Cardinals went 5-0 and set a school-record with an aggregate six-under-par 138 in a win over St. Joseph.

The Tigers ran their winning streak to six games, allowing just three runs in wins over New Canaan, Danbury and Trinity Catholic.

The Rams, whose players organized and started the program on their own, defeated Warren Harding for their first-ever win.

The Wreckers swept Wilton, Fairfield Warde and St. Joseph to remain undefeated.

The Falcons bounced back from two tough losses with an extra-inning win over Stamford and a victory over rival Fairfield Warde.

The Black Knights toppled Danbury and then Trinity Catholic to win the Stamford city championship.

The Mustangs erupted for 27 runs to outslug Westhill and defeat crosstown rival Fairfield Ludlowe.

The voting is open until noon on Wednesday. So vote below and check back to find out who is this week’s Overtime FCIAC Team of the Week.

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Souza named 27th winner of Allyson Rioux award

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Allie Souza

It was fitting that Allie Souza, the star three-sport athlete at Westhill High School, was selected Wednesday night as this year’s winner of the Allyson Rioux award.

After all, Souza was named after her.

Souza, who has been part of state championship softball and soccer teams at Westhill, where she also played basketball, was named as the 27th recipient of the Rioux award, which is given to the most outstanding senior female high school athlete in Stamford. Souza was selected over eight other finalists, according to Cheryl Tiscia, the president of the Allyson Rioux Memorial Foundation and Rioux’s sister.

“With Allie, what came across were the letter of recommendations,” Tiscia said. “I don’t know that I’ve ever read recommendations this powerful.”

Tiscia cited one from Dave Flower, the Vikings’ girls soccer coach, who referred to Souza as a “multi-generational personality” for her ability to work with freshmen on the field, then after a game talk to adults as equals.

Rioux, who was named to All-State teams in three sports at Westhill and went on to earn second team All-American honors playing for the University of Massachusetts softball team, died of a brain tumor in 1989 at the age of 27.

Souza, who is attending Yale next year, will receive a $5,000 scholarship.

Souza’s mother, Nancy, is a former teammate and close friend of Rioux’s, who thought enough to name her oldest child after her. Tiscia said that both Nancy Souza and the relative of another finalist did not take part in the decision process.

“To take the subjectivity out of it we have a point system and we try to put ratings to these things,” Tiscia said.

Souza’s team ethic has been evident by her volunteering to play out of position in two sports. She filled the void in centerfield her entire career for the Vikings, though she is a natural shortstop, and earned league and state honors. She also played goalkeeper this past season for the soccer team.

“She was named after my sister and I remember when she was born,” Tiscia said. “I read through her essay and what her coaches said, and it reminded me of my sister. We’re very, very excited. My mother doesn’t say much but she was over the top. Allie has a special place in her heart for so many reasons. We feel we made the right decision.”

Souza emerged from one of the most talented classes of senior athletes in recent memory.

“It was a long night this year,” Tiscia said. “We had some really good candidates. It was probably the first time that out of the nine applicants, five of them were neck and neck. It was amazing.”

We will have a complete report in Friday’s edition of the Stamford Advocate, with comments from Souza.

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Norwalk softball team Overtime FCIAC Team of the Week

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Norwalk's Mary Sciglimpaglia

The surging Norwalk softball team is this week’s winner of the Overtime FCIAC Team of the Week award.

The Bears will receive T-shirts courtesy of BlueStreak Sports Training, Garden Catering, Karl Chevrolet, Innovative Health & Rehabilitation, Chelsea Piers, New Balance of New Canaan and the Stamford Advocate.

The Bears finished with 1,102 votes to win a close battle with the New Canaan girls lacrosse and Darien softball teams. The Greenwich girls tennis, Wilton girls lacrosse and Danbury baseball teams followed.

We will pick a new set of finalists for this week’s award, with the vote starting Sunday.

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Poll: Who is the FCIAC’s best softball coach?

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Several people this spring inquired if I was going to run polls for the best baseball and softball coaches as I did in the winter with boys and girls basketball coaches.

I thought it was a fun idea. Last week we asked who was the FCIAC’s best baseball coach.

So for this week’s edition of Extra Base Hits, we are going to hold a poll for you to decide who is the best softball coach in the FCIAC.

I’ve spoken to a few coaches, former players and athletic directors to break down the finalists to nine coaches. Three items were used in the selection process: postseason titles, at least several seasons at a school to base a body of work — thus several promising ones are absent — and getting the most out of their players. Recommendations by others were weighted.

So here are the nine finalists. You can vote until noon on Sunday. If you think I erred by omitting someone (most of those, I would presume, are good coaches who haven’t been at their schools very long), feel free to punch the “other” button and send along a comment — appropriate of course or it won’t be posted.

So, who is the FCIAC’s best softball coach? Cast your vote now

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Britton, DeMaio BlueStreak-Overtime FCIAC Players of the Week

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Tony Britton

Jessica DeMaio

Darien is the home to both of this week’s BlueStreak-Overtime FCIAC Players of the Week: Tony Britton of the boys lacrosse team and Jessica DeMaio of the softball team.

Britton and DeMaio will each receive T-shirts and plaques from BlueStreak Sports Training.

Britton, one of the state’s top defenders, led the team in takeaways and ground balls as the Blue Wave posted three big wins, highlighted by a victory over Manhasset in a battle of nationally ranked teams.

DeMaio pitched a no-hitter — she was one 7th-inning walk away from a perfect game — and had a single, double and triple in a win over arch-rival New Canaan. DeMaio came back and tossed a three-hitter in a win over Greenwich.

Nominations are open now until Tuesday at 10 a.m. for this week’s winners.

To nominate an athlete, click on this link and email in the name of the person you are nominating.

Please include all of the player’s statistics for the week as well as the team results.

The award will be judged on games/matches/meets played Monday through Saturday of each week. Please wait until an athlete is done competing for the week to submit your nomination.

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Staples volleyball’s Team of Week title vacated

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In response to the incident in which uniforms belonging to the Ridgefield volleyball team were stolen by at least one member of the Staples team, we have decided to vacate the Wreckers’ Team of the Week title from last week.

Staples athletic director Marty Lisevick agreed it would be inappropriate to honor the team at this time.

We regret that the incident took place and that we are forced into this move.

Video Spotlight: Catching up with Turner Baty

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Turner Baty

He moved to New Canaan just before the start of the 2009 school year, helped lead the Rams to their fourth straight state title, and a few months later was gone.

The story of Turner Baty stirred a mixture of feelings during his brief stay: admiration and respect for his talent, the belief by some that he was some kind of hired gun brought in solely for football purposes — his parents were going through a divorce and that was the reason he said he moved away.

Fortunately, and rightfully, none of the negative vibes were ever pointed at Baty, who is one of the nicest, politest high school athletes I have encountered.

Case in point: Baty returned to New Canaan for the first time last week for a long weekend to visit his girlfriend. We had been in touch during the NCAA men’s basketball tournament — he had recently transferred to Kansas and the Jayhawks of course reached the national championship game. We had discussed a blog post to catch people up — Baty left New Canaan, went to the City College of San Francisco, which he led to a state title, and then realized his dream of playing on the Division I level by ending up at Kansas.

When I found out on Thursday he was back, we had arranged to meet at New Canaan High School the following day, prior to my covering the school’s baseball game at Mead Park. I got stuck in traffic and would have been late for my game. I called him up and he agreed after working out to come to Mead Park so we could do the video below.

Baty didn’t have to agree to do this in the first place, and certainly didn’t have to make the effort to come meet me. That’s just Turner Baty.

Below is the video interview we shot, as Baty recalls his time at New Canaan and fills in the holes from his departure until today. It was good to see him. He is an impossible person not to root for.

Here’s the interview.

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Ladies & Hatters: Vote for the Overtime FCIAC Team of the Week

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This week, our six Overtime FCIAC Team of the Week finalists — five girls teams and one boys team from Danbury — all produced big wins that contributed to what have been excellent seasons thus far.

Your choices: The Greenwich girls tennis, the Norwalk softball, the Danbury baseball, the Darien softball, the Wilton girls lacrosse and the New Canaan girls lacrosse teams.

The winner will get T-shirts with our logo courtesy of BlueStreak Sports Training, Garden Catering, the Stamford Advocate, Karl Chevrolet, Innovative Health and Rehabilitation, Chelsea Piers and New Balance of New Canaan.

The Cardinals remained unbeaten by avenging last year’s FCIAC final loss with a 5-2 win over New Canaan.

The surging Bears ran their winning streak to six games, including a 5-4 win over Ludlowe in 13 innings.

The Hatters scored 55 runs in three games, including a hard-fought 9-8 victory over Trinity Catholic.

The Blue Wave went 3-0 for the week, including wins over arch-rival New Canaan and Greenwich.

The Warriors remained one of three unbeaten teams, including a key win over Ridgefield.

The Rams won three games to stay undefeated, including a big 9-8 win over rival Darien.

The voting is open until noon on Wednesday. So vote below and check back to find out who is this week’s Overtime FCIAC Team of the Week.

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