Darien blanks Ludlowe in baseball
Andrew Callahan
April 15, 2014 Updated: April 17, 2014 4:22 p.m.
Talk about making a good first impression.
Darien junior Stephen Barston tossed six scoreless innings and collected a win in his first varsity start Monday to help the Blue Wave (3-0, 2-0 FCIAC) shut out Fairfield Ludlowe 5-0 at Darien High School.
Michael Maccarone delivered a two-run single with the bases loaded in the second inning to highlight a four-run rally for Darien. The Blue Wave have outscored their first three opponents by 26-1.
"We couldn't have asked for anything more out of (Barston) today," Darien coach Mike Scott said. "He's a pitcher that's going to be crafty. He's going to be around the plate, and he's going to force them into contact. He executed his pitches, had them fishing a little bit and our defense made plays behind him. That was huge."
Falcons' reliever Dan Stanco did not allow a run in 5 1/3 innings of work, but his teammates could hardly touch Barston all afternoon. It was the first loss for Fairfield Ludlowe (3-1, 1-1 FCIAC), which now moves on to play league power Trumbull on Wednesday.
"It all starts with the guys on the hill," Scott said. "To limit three teams to one run in three games is quite an accomplishment. We've backed them up with defense and the bats have been there."
George Reed opened the scoring in the first inning with an RBI double that scored senior shortstop Bobby Fitzpatrick. Two at-bats prior to Reed's plate appearance, Fitzpatrick had knocked a double to left field. Later, he would hit a sacrifice fly to center for the game's final run.
The Falcons best scoring chance came in the fourth when Mikey Arman and Chris Howell had back-to-back singles for Ludlowe's first hits. Following a misfired throw to first, Arman moved to third base, which put runners on the corners with no outs. However, Barston buckled down to induce a pop fly, a line-out and groundout to end the threat.
"I was just trying to get a strikeout to start; a strikeout or a pop fly to make sure they stayed where they were," Barston said. "And then get a groundball to get a double play and get out of the inning."
Conor Davey took the mound in the top of the seventh inning and skirted around an early walk to finish the game with a soft liner to second. After the final out was recorded, Scott kept the message to his budding team simple.
"Keep improving," he said. "We've got a good squad here, and we think we can make a nice run. We're three games in and we're right where we want to be three games in. There's lots of baseball left to be played. We still want to keep getting better, and I think these guys are hungry for more."
acallahan@bcnnew.com; @DNCSports
Darien 5, Fairfield Ludlowe 0
FAIRFIELD LUDLOWE000 000 0--0 3 1
DARIEN140 000 X--5 9 2
Records: Darien 3-0, 2-0 FCIAC; Fairfield Ludlowe 3-1, 1-1 FCIAC. Batteries: FL--Max Settineri (L, 0-1), Dan Stanco (2) and Connor Daley; D--Stephen Barston (W, 1-0), Conor Davey (7) and Anthony DiMeglio. Highlights: FL--Dan Stanco allowed four hits and no runs after entering as a reliever in the second inning.