Darien Legion Wastes Strong Outing by Hickey

Opportunity knocked on several occasions for the Darien Senior American Legion baseball team Friday afternoon, but those chances were squandered in a 4-2 road loss to Norwalk in a Zone Four contest at McMahon High School.

Darien (7-8) received another strong performance from starter David Hickey, who allowed just four hits over five innings. Reliever Chris Bruno then produced an efficient 1-2-3 final frame, but Darien's bats were far too quiet when it counted most.

"We need to have more productive at-bats," said Mike Alfieri, who led Darien with two hits. "We had a few great opportunities, but we just couldn't cash them in."

The battle for first place in Zone Four is a two team race, with Greenwich and Norwalk running away from the competition. Norwalk, now  15-1, entered Friday's contest half a game behind undefeated Greenwich.

Darien's loss left no other clubs in the 10-team group even at . 500.  To qualify for the state tounament in the zone, a record of 15-12 or better is required.

The scoring chances that fell by the wayside for Darien on Friday included back-to-back innings with the bases loaded. The visitors had a total of eight runners over a three-inning span but scored only two runs.

Singles by Alfieri and Bruno, followed by a pair of walks, gave Darien its first run in the third inning.

In the fifth, Alfieri blasted a shot to right-center for an RBI double that produced Darien's second run, but Alfieri was left stranded after stealing third.

While Darien repeatedly threatened against Patrick Donahue,  it was lights out after first baseman Leon Flemming relieved the Norwalk ace in the sixth.  

Flemming allowed a lone runner over the final two innings, notching a strikeout with some serious high heat to put the final touch on Norwalk's win.

With a doubleheader against Westport on Saturday morning, Darien's offense needs to get back on track in the team's quest to secure a postseason invite.

"We definitely need more timely hitting if we are going to win these ballgames coming up," Bruno said.