LOOKING BACK | BY GEORGE ALBANO
10 YEARS AGO
The Brien McMahon baseball and Norwalk High girls softball teams each posted quarterfinal victories in their respective FCIAC tournaments. The fourthseeded Senators beat No. 5 Wilton 4-1 as Bryan Daniello pitched a two-hitter, struck out 10 and walked none, while Chris Holomokoff, Ricky Torres and Jamie Restivo each drove in a run. Both hits off Daniello came in the second inning when Wilton took an early 1-0 lead, but he retired the final 15 Wilton batters after that while his teammates came from behind ... The Senators had the tables reversed on them in the FCIAC semis as they managed only two hits in a 1-0 loss to topseed and undefeated Greenwich at The Ballpark at Harbor Yard. The Cardinals, now 22-0, scored the only run in the first inning on a double-steal. The Senators will take a 15-7 record into the state tournament.
Meanwhile, the NHS softball team was also seeded fourth and beat fifth-seeded Fairfield Ludlowe 4-2 in a game postponed three times because of weather. The Bears rallied from a 2-0 deficit with a run in the fifth and three in the last of the sixth. Winning pitcher Patti Sciglimpaglia, who tossed a six-hitter with six strikeouts, went 3-for-3 and scored the go-ahead run on a passed ball ... In the semifinals, Norwalk led No. 1 seed Westhill 3-2, but the Vikings scored five runs in the third to go ahead for good and win 7-4. The hot-hitting Sciglimpaglia had four more hits to account for half of the Bears’ eight-hit attack. Norwalk is 14-8 heading into next week’s state tourney.
The day before the conference playoffs began, Brien McMahon pitcher Jess Stamatis fired a six-inning perfect game as the Senators beat Harding 12-0 in its final regular-season game to qualify for the state tournament for the first time in six seasons. Sam Bardos, Ryan Lajoie and Stamatis all had two hits for McMahon, which qualified with an 8-12 record.
25 YEARS AGO
Keith Sellers, the sharpshooting senior forward who led the Norwalk High boys basketball team to a second straight FCIAC championship and back to the Class LL state title game, signed a national letter of intent to play at St. Peter’s College in New Jersey. The 6-4, 185-pound All-FCIAC swingman averaged a team-leading 24.5 points for the 22-5 Bears this past season, netting 30 points seven times, including a careerhigh 43 against Trinity Catholic. A two-year starter, Sellers was a key player for Norwalk’s 28-0 state championship team his junior year. St. Peter’s is a member of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, meaning Sellers will play one game every season at nearby Fairfield University.
The Brien McMahon girls softball team closed its season on a winning note as the Senators crushed Harding 19-0. Winning pitcher Kristen Dominici, who struck out seven, went 3-for-3 at the plate, while Meghan Kramer and Jen Kuran each had two hits.
50 YEARS AGO
The Central Catholic baseball team is headed to the Class S state tournament thanks to the arm of
Tim Eagen, who pitched a nohitter as the Cavaliers blanked visiting Joel Barlow 3-0 on the final day of the regular season. Eagen, who retired the first 10 batters he faced, struck out seven, walked two, and allowed only two other base runners who reached on errors. The Falcons’ only threat came in the sixth when an error and two walks loaded the bases with two outs, but Eagen got the next batter to ground out. Central Catholic managed only three hits, but scored single runs in the first, second and fifth innings. The Cavaliers, who finished 9-9, had to win their final two games to qualify and won them both by shutout. Meanwhile, the loss spoiled Barlow’s chance to finish first in the Western Connecticut Conference.
The Norwalk High girls track team, after an 0-3 start, earned its first win of the season as the Bears outpointed Trumbull 59-48. Freshman Dolly Gardella was a triple winner, placing first in the 880, discus and javelin. Mary Ann Lord in the shot put and Carol Dunn in the high jump also won events for NHS ... Brien
McMahon’s Lynn Spagnesi also won three events — the long jump, javelin and 80-yard hurdles — as the Senators lost to Ludlowe and by only a half-point to New Canaan.
Former Norwalk High tennis standout Paul Gerken, who turned pro earlier this year, made his British debut with an impressive 6-2, 6-2 first-round victory in the Rothmans International Tennis Tournament played at historic Royal Albert Hall in London. Gerken, who learned to play tennis at the Shore & Country Club in East Norwalk, is a 1968 NHS graduate who won the state singles championship as a junior and senior. He went on to become a three-time collegiate All-American while playing at Stanford and then Trinity University in Texas.
Art Gerhardt of Norwalk experienced every bowler’s dream when he rolled a perfect 300 game at the local Broad River Lanes. Gerhardt, who was born in New York City, moved to Norwalk 10 years ago and had only been bowling for five years. He currently carries a 193 average.