LOOKING BACK | BY GEORGE ALBANO
10 YEARS AGO
It was “Norwalk Little League Night” at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport as players and coaches from the local youth program paraded on the field before the Bridgeport Bluefish minor league game. Over 900 players, coaches, parents, family and friends of the NLL were in attendance.
The Brien McMahon golf team not only clinched a winning record; the Senators also earned a spot in the state tournament for the first time in over 30 years after knocking off Darien 168-174 in their final regular-season match. Senior John Sabia was medalist with a 39, while freshman Connor O’Brien shot a 40 as McMahon finished 10-8, its best record in over a decade.
Shelly Lindo of the McMahon girls track team made her final FCIAC championship meet a memorable one as she captured first place in three events to lead the Senators to a fifth-place finish. Lindo repeated as conference champion in the 100-meter dash while also winning the 200 meters and the 100-meter hurdles, edging out teammate Sarah Boyle at the tape ... Lindo wasn’t the city’s only FCIAC champ, as Adam Robertino of Norwalk High won the 110 high hurdles and finished runner-up in 300 hurdles in the boys meet.
25 YEARS AGO
Norwalk’s annual Inter-Club Flounder Tournament, one of the biggest days on the local fishing calendar, will have a new name after it was announced at this year’s event the popular competition will now be known as the “Len Harris Inter-Club Flounder Tournament.” The 85-year-old Harris, a fixture in the fishing and boating community as well as the man who founded the tournament, was all smiles when Mayor Tom O’Connor made the announcement.
The Norwalk CommunityTechnical College baseball team, fresh off winning a second straight New England Regional championship, went 1-2 at the 1997 National Junior College Division III World Series in Batavia, N.Y. In the opening round, the
Panthers, who finished third at last year’s World Series, led twotime defending national champion Madison, Wis., 5-0 in the fourth inning, but saw that lead slip away and lost 11-9. Former Norwalk High player Mike Abate had three hits for NCTC ... The Panthers bounced back with a 16-8 rout of Suffolk (NY) Community College as Nick Rhodes went 5-for-5 with a home run and three RBIs. But NCTC managed only three hits the next day in a 4-0 elimination loss to Columbia Green CC of New York. Abate and former NHS teammate Jon Crow accounted for two of the three hits. The Panthers, who entered the tournament ranked No. 2 nationally, finished 35-8.
50 YEARS AGO
The surging Norwalk High baseball team won its second straight state tournament game as the No. 16 Bears knocked off No. 8 Hamden 6-2 to advance to the Class LL quarterfinals. A two-run pinch-hit double by Rich Scully in the top of the eighth snapped a 2-2 tie and NHS added RBI singles by Paul Jacoby and Jim Whitley in the ninth. It was the Bears’ ninth win in their last 11 games after starting the season 3-6 ... Norwalk played its next game at Quigley Stadium in West Haven, home of the Yankees’ Double-A minor league team, but the Bears’ season ended with an 8-6 loss to No. 4 Xavier. After falling behind 2-0, NHS scored three runs in the top of the third, including a two-run double by Tony Trimboli. But Xavier tied it in its half of the third, went ahead 4-3 in the sixth, and added four more runs in the seventh for an 8-3 lead. Norwalk rallied for three runs in the eighth and had the bases loaded, but a fly out ended the inning. Trimboli belted another two-run double in the frame, his school-record 10th two-bagger of the season. The Bears ended their season 12-9, the only high school team in the city to post a winning record.
The Brien McMahon boys track team recorded four first-place finishes at the Class L state sectionals in Stamford. Marvin Tomlin had a hand in three of them as the junior sprinter won the 100 and 220 while also anchoring the winning 880 relay team with Lou D’Orio, Wayne Correnty and Harry Welfare. Senior captain Tim Wagner had the other first-place finish in the javelin. The top six finishers in each event advanced to next week’s state championship meet, which will also be at Boyle Stadium. Kevin Bartlett (pole vault), Alex Bergamini (440), Ted Faticoni (shot put) and Correnty (220) also qualified for the Senators.
Meanwhile, four girls from McMahon and one from Norwalk High qualified for the state finals after making the top six in the regional meet at Wilton High School. For the Senators, defending state champions Lynn Spagnesi in the long jump and Denise Campbell in the high jump both finished first, while teammates Margaret Weldon in the 100 and Sharon Anderson in the shot put placed second. Campbell, a junior, is also the state record holder in the high jump. NHS will be represented by freshman Dolly Gardella, who finished third in both the javelin and shot put.