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Sports

Darien Scores and Standings: 'Fantastic Friday' Edition

Patch's daily digest of Darien sports

Bob Birge, Neighbor
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UPDATES

Call it "Fantastic Friday" for Darien athletics.

In a remarkable convergence, four Blue Wave teams will play in FCIAC championships on the same day — boys lacrosse, girls lacrosse, softball, and boys volleyball.

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Two games are set for 4 p.m. (girls lacrosse against Wilton at McMahon and softball against Fairfield Ludlowe at Fairfield University), followed by two more at 7 p.m. (boys lacrosse against Ridgefield at McMahon and boys volleyball against Staples at Fairfield Ludlowe).

Featuring a number of underclassmen, the girls lacrosse team (11-7) endured some growing pains early in the season, partly due to a difficult schedule that included a number of out-of-state powers.

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But the Blue Wave are peaking at the right time, having won seven straight including a 19-5 rout of Staples in the semifinals. Wilton, the defending FCIAC champion, advanced with a 14-11 semifinal win over New Canaan. Overall,
Darien is seeking its 11th league championship.

Darien and Wilton staged a classic in the regular season with the Warriors posting a 15-14 overtime victory in April. The won also won a triple overtime thriller in last year's FCIAC final.

Next week, the Darien boys lacrosse (16-2) begins its quest for a seventh consecutive state championship, However, the Blue Wave hasn't won an FCIAC crown since 2008. Friday's contest is a rematch of the 2009 final, won by Ridgefield.

Darien reached the final with a 9-6 win over Wilton, which was the Blue Wave's lowest output against a state opponent this year. Ridgefield dispatched Greenwich 10-5 to advance to its second final in three years.

Like the girls, Darien has won 10 FCIAC boys lacrosse titles, all since 1994.

Darien closed out the regular season with a 17-10 win over Ridgefield, a game that wasn't as close as the score indicated as the Blue Wave built a 13-2 halftime lead.

While the lacrosse teams are expected to win league titles, the Darien softball squad is making its first appearance in a county championship game.

The door is certainly open for the Blue Wave to bring home their first FCIAC crown after top seed Westhill, which went 20-0 in the regular season, was upset by Fairfield Ludlowe 1-0 in the quarterfinals.

In the semifinals, Darien took advantage of another upset in the quaterfinals to post a 6-0 win No. 6 Stamford, which surprised No. 3 St. Joseph in the earlier round. Ludlowe, the No. 8 seed  took out No. 5 Danbury, 6-5. 

Darien has long been known for its dominance in girls volleyball, but the boys team, also coached by Laurie LaRusso, has emerged as a threat and is looking to dethrone perennial FCIAC Staples, which has claimed eight consecutive
league championships.

The Blue Wave enters the match with an 18-1 record, having reeled off 15 straight wins since their only loss at Staples (3-1) in April.

On May 6, Darien achieved a milestone victory, beating the Wreckers for the first time in program history with a 3-1  victory at home.

In the semifinals, Darien dropped the first game against Bridgeport Central before rallying to win the next three. Staples also needed four games to get past Ridgefield.

Darien Youth Baseball & Softball: Robert Duffy clubbed a three-run homer and drove in four runs to lead Rotary Club to a 6-5 victory over St. John's Church on Wednesday. Rotary Club jumped out to a 4-0 lead before St. John's rallied to go up 5-4 on Alex Cohen's RBI single in the fifth.  Rotary Club answered with two runs in the bottom half on Duffy's RBI single and Griffin Ott's run-scoring triple.

THURSDAY'S RESULTS

  • Softball: Darien 6, Stamford 0 (FCIAC semifinals) — The Blue Wave advances to their first FCIAC final. Jen DeMaio, Olivia Gozdz, and Nicole Buch each had three hits to pace a 12-hit attack while Courtney Bell and Emma Hamilton contributed two hits apiece

FRIDAY'S SCHEULE

  • Softball: Darien vs. Fairfield Ludlowe at Fairfield University, 4 p.m. (FCIAC finals)
  • Girls lacrosse: Darien vs. Wilton at McMahon, 4 p.m. (FCIAC finals)
  • Boys lacrosse: Darien vs. Ridgefield at McMahon,  7 p.m. (FCIAC finals)
  • Volleyball: Darien vs. Staples at Fairfield Ludlowe, 7 p.m. (FCIAC finals)

STANDINGS

* = clinched playoff spot

  • Baseball
West Division FCIAC Record Overall Record Danbury* 14-4 15-4 Staples* 13-5 15-5 Greenwich* 11-7 12-8 Trumbull 8-10 9-11 Bridgeport Central 5-13 7-13 Westhill 3-14 3-16 Central Division FCIAC Record Overall Record McMahon* 13-4 15-4 Norwalk* 12-6 13-7 Ridgefield
8-10 8-12 Fairfield Ludlowe 8-10 8-12 Stamford 6-12 8-12 Harding 1-16 2-18 East Division FCIAC Record Overall Record St. Joseph* 16-2 18-2 New Canaan*
12-5 13-6 Fairfield Warde*
11-7 12-8 Wilton 11-7 13-7 Trinity Catholic 9-9 9-11 Darien 9-9 10-10 Bassick 0-17 0-19
  • Softball
West Division FCIAC Record Overall Record Westhill* 18-0 20-0 Danbury* 13-5 15-5 Staples 10-8 11-8 Greenwich 8-10 9-11 Trumbull 7-11 8-11 Bridgeport Central 3-15 3-16 Central Division FCIAC Record Overall Record Stamford* 11-7 13-7 Fairfield Ludlowe* 10-8 12-8 Norwalk 9-8 9-10 Ridgefield 8-9 8-11 McMahon 3-13 4-15 Harding 0-17 0-17 East Division FCIAC Record Overall Record Darien* 15-3 16-3 St.Joseph* 15-3 15-5 New Canaan* 13-5 15-5 Fairfield Warde 11-7 13-7 Wilton
10-8 10-10 Trinity Catholic 4-14 4-16 Bassick 1-17 1-17
  • Boys Lacrosse
West Division FCIAC Record Overall Record Ridgefield* 9-1 13-4 Greenwich* 8-2 11-6 Staples* 7-3 13-4 Danbury 3-7 8-7 Trumbull 2-7 3-13 Westhill 2-8 7-9 Stamford 1-9 6-10 East Division FCIAC Record Overall Record Darien* 10-0 15-2 New Canaan* 8-2 10-7 McMahon*
8-3 12-5 Wilton* 7-3 12-5 Fairfield Ludlowe* 5-6 9-7 St. Joseph 4-6 8-8 Norwalk 1-8 7-8 Fairfield Warde 0-10 1-14
  • Girls Lacrosse
West Division FCIAC Record Overall Record Staples* 10-0 16-1 Danbury* 7-3 10-7 Greenwich* 6-4 11-5 Ridgefield* 6-4 11-6 Norwalk 3-8 6-10 Stamford 2-8 5-10 Trumbull 1-9 2-11 East Division FCIAC Record Overall Record New Canaan* 9-1 12-5 Wilton* 9-1 15-1 Darien* 8-2 10-7 Fairfield Ludlowe* 7-3 10-6 Fairfield Warde 5-6 7-8 McMahon 4-7 6-9 St. Joseph 1-9 2-11

The Daily Sports Digest is designed for you to add your best photos and/or videos to share (instructions here). If you see anything in our scores, standings, or schedules that requires updating, please e-mail sports editor Bob Birge at bob.birge@hotmail.com

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