LOOKING BACK | BY GEORGE ALBANO

10 YEARS AGO

It was a week of firsts for the Brien McMahon girls softball team, which posted its first win of the season to give new head coach Dani Brown her first victory as the Senators nipped previously unbeaten Weston 2-1. Sophomore Samantha Bardos delivered the game-winning single in the last of the sixth to break a 1-1 tie.

Meanwhile, the unbeaten McMahon baseball team also staged a late rally, pulling out an exciting 2-1, eightinning win over Greenwich as the Senators improved to 4-0. Trailing 1-0 heading into the seventh and two outs away from being no-hit, Danny Diaz drilled a one-out line-drive single and

Brandon Davis belted a clutch twoout RBI double to tie it. Then with one out in the last of the eighth, Zack O’Connor doubled and Jamie Restivo doubled him home with the winning run. Bryan Daniello pitched all eight innings for his second win.

The Norwalk High girls softball team bounced back from a seasonopening loss to beat Fairfield Warde 7-5 for its first win. Eleni Petridis snapped a 5-5 tie with an RBI single in the top of the seventh and Rebecca Pisano added a sac fly. Katie Schmidt led the Bears with three hits and three RBIs ... Spencer Jacoby collected five hits as the NHS baseball team crushed Bassick 24-0. Mike Parlanti and John Lauttenbach each drove in four runs as the Bears upped their record to 2-1.

In boys lacrosse, McMahon’s Scott McCormack went over the 100 career point mark as he recorded six goals and an assist in the Senators’ 18-5 win over Stamford. Jack Conroy added four goals as McMahon recorded 18 goals in each of its first two games.

Drew D’Antonio, who had four assists, scored four goals in the next game as the Senators beat St. Joe’s 9-7 to improve to 3-0.

Norwalk High notched its first win as the Bears blanked Trumbull 12-0. Derek Edwards scored four goals and Steven Grimm had three as NHS improved to 1-3 ... Deven Machette scored six goals for the McMahon girls lacrosse team, but the Senators lost to Fairfield Warde 15-11.

25 YEARS AGO

The high school lacrosse season finally got underway across the state as referees ended their work stoppage by reaching an agreement with the CIAC regarding wages. After Norwalk High’s first two games had to be postponed, the Bears waited nine days before opening their 1996 season with a 17-14 win over Cheshire. T.J. Trimboli scored five goals and assisted on another two while Gary Koenig and Kevin Stevenson each added four goals.

The work stoppage also delayed the debut of new Brien McMahon head coach Mike Epstein, a former AllAmerican lacrosse player at NHS and the city’s all-time leading scorer. The Senators lost their opener to West Haven 6-4 as Kevin Cronin, Jeremy Salley and Andrew Strauss each had a goal and two assists.

The high school baseball season entered its second week as Norwalk defeated New Canaan 6-2 to up its record to 2-1. Mike Abate and Rich Trimboli pitched a combined fourhitter with Abate hurling the first five innings for the win and Trimboli retiring all six batters he faced to earn the save. Jon Crowe, Brian Baker, Tim Brown and Abate all had two hits for the Bears.

A three-run double by Jolie Sherman highlighted a four-run first inning as the NHS girls softball team beat Ridgefield 10-4. Susan Combis had two hits and two RBIs while Kim Combis also had two hits and Kellee

George added a two-run single for the 2-1 Lady Bears.

Norwalk’s Jimmy Ellis, who passed away last year after a distinguished career as a high school and college softball umpire for over 30 years, was posthumously inducted into the Connecticut Scholastic and Collegiate Softball Hall of Fame. The local sportsman was the co-founder and first president of the Norwalk Umpires Association.

50 YEARS AGO

City rivals Norwalk High and Brien McMahon opened the 1971 track season against one another with the Bears winning 13 of the 17 events en route to a 95-50 victory at NHS. Bill Klein was a triple winner, capturing the high jump, long jump and triple jump, while Rich Tanger (100 and 220) and Doug Peoples (high and low hurdles) were double winners. Burt Boardman accounted for half of the Senators’ wins with first-place finishes in the mile and two mile.

In baseball, McMahon posted its second win in as many outings as the Senators beat visiting Roger Ludlowe 4-2. They received another fine pitching effort as junior Ken Fodeman

fired a two-hitter with six strikeouts while allowing no earned runs. Ron Dominici led the offense with two RBI singles while Kevin Wilder

added a two-run single.

Norwalk High pitcher Dennis Ferdon tossed a one-hitter, but the 0-2 Bears dropped their second consecutive one-run decision, losing a 1-0 heartbreaker to Trumbull. Both teams managed only one hit with sophomore Tony Trimboli singling in the third inning when the Bears loaded the bases with two outs but couldn’t score ... John Paladino singled in Central Catholic’s lone run as the 1-1 Cavaliers fell to St. Mary’s 4-1.