LOOKING BACK

10 YEARS AGO

Norwalk’s Eric van der Els finished second in the country in the 3,000-meter run in the 15-16 age division at the USA Track and Field Junior Olympics National Championships at Greensboro, NC. The soon-to-be Brien McMahon sophomore played freshmen and JV baseball for the Senators this past spring and had no real long-distance running experience prior to high school.

A successful summer by the Norwalk Babe Ruth 15 year-old all-stars came to a heartbreaking end with a 6-5, eight-inning loss to Braintree, Mass., in the losers’ bracket of the New England Regional tournament at Newtown. The Connecticut state champs won their opening-round game 5-3 over Bennington, Vt., as Kyle Pisacrita allowed only five hits in six innings while striking out eight. After an 11-1 loss to Cranston, RI, Norwalk stayed alive with a 4-3 extra-inning win over Keene, N.H., as Christian Lengyel delivered a gamewinning RBI double in the bottom of the ninth. It was the second double of the game for Lengyel, who finished with three hits and two RBIs. Dan Romanello also had three hits and an RBI.

Against Braintree, Mass., the Norwalk 15s jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first, including a two-run single by . Braintree quickly tied it with three runs in its half of the first and added single runs in the second and third to take a 5-3 lead. That’s the way it stood until the top of the seventh when Romanello led off with a single, Lengyel doubled, Hayes drove in his third run with a sac fly to make it 5-4, and Alex Barone laced a clutch two-out, gametying single. After Norwalk went out in the top of the eighth, Braintree pushed the winning run across in the bottom of the inning to advance to the losers’ bracket final. Norwalk finished fourth.

25 YEARS AGO

Norwalk’s “Boys of Summer” wrote another exciting chapter to their amazing story, this time as Babe Ruth 14 yearold all-stars who added the 1998 New England Regional championship to their impressive resume. Most of the players on the team have been together for five years, starting as 10 year-olds in the Bambino League, and since then have won five straight district and state championships along with three New England crowns. Their latest title run in Westfield, Mass., began with a 2-1win over Worcester (Mass.) Eastside as Kyle O’Brien pitched a three-hitter with nine strikeouts. He also doubled in the tying run in the sixth and scored the winning run on an ensuing single by Frank Machinello ... The next day, Norwalk beat Manchester, N.H., 6-1 with Tom Zisek and O’Brien collecting two hits apiece while Dewey Raymond struck out seven and walked none in a complete-game effort.

After a day off, the Norwalkers blanked Warwick, R.I., 6-0 in the winners’ bracket final as O’Brien fired a one-hit shutout with six strikeouts and had two doubles, a single, and three RBIs. Machinello also had three hits, including a two-run single ... Warwick came out of the losers’ bracket to earn a rematch and beat Norwalk 5-4 with a run in the top of the seventh. The “if” game for the regional championship followed immediately after and Norwalk entered the top of the seventh trailing 5-4. But with one out, Jason Zakhar delivered a clutch two-run single to give the local all-stars a 6-5 lead. O’Brien made the lead stand as he retired the side in order in the bottom of the seventh for his third complete-game victory in five days. He also hit .474 and was named tournament MVP.

Norwalk’s 24th annual David Kinlock Memorial Tournament was in full swing with an doubleheader at the Calf Pasture diamond. The Norwalk International Little League outslugged the Ben Whone all-stars 20-13 as Austin Gardella went 4-for-4, Sean Reed had three hits and four RBIs, Mike Trimboli also collected three hits, and Mark Wyner homered and drove in two runs.

Rob Parker had big day for Whone, going 4-for-4 with three doubles. Brian Nolan added three hits, including a HR, and two RBIs, and Ceasar Ortega doubled twice ... The other half of the local twinbill saw West Norwalk defeat Cranbury 15-4 as Bobby Ginter drove in five runs and scored three more while Mark Gargon had a four-RBI day.

50 YEARS AGO

Twelve year-old Bob Jaeckel of Norwalk won the National AAU judo championship in the lightweight division at Hofstra University in New York. Jaeckel, who will be entering eighth grade at Ponus Ridge Middle School, has won the Connecticut state championship the last five years and currently holds the East Coast AAU title.

Six members of the Norwalk YMCA swim team qualified for the regional AAU Jr. Olympics after their strong performance at the Connecticut Junior AAU Championships in New London. Leading the way was 15 year-old Cissy Devine, who qualified in all five events she swam: the 100 butterfly, 200 butterfly, 400 IM, 200 IM and 100 breaststroke. Becky Farmer and Missy Farmer each qualified in four events, while Wendy Shaffer qualified in three and Doug Rowan and Mark Rubino in two events each.