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Fairfield Warde's baseball team has gotten off to a perfect 4-0 start. The first inning of Monday's 9-6 Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference win over Wilton reflected the Mustangs' quick getaway.
Warde struck for eight runs, seven of them after a two-out error extended the inning. John Gallucci slammed a two-run home run to highlight the outburst. Connor Sullivan got the win with relief help from Mike Defillippis and Shane Goven.
"I hadn't been hitting that well and I was looking for something I could rip,'' Gallucci said. "I got a curveball and it was right in my hitting zone."
Michael Garcia doubled to lead off the inning, took third on James Neomanitis' sacrifice and scored on a groundout by Sullivan. A-B-C baseball, an easy 1-0 lead. Turns out the fun was just beginning.
Dan Warren reached on an error, and Gallucci followed with his home run. After a single by Will Halliday and two wild pitches, Joe Bartolomeo reached on an error. Dario Pugliano followed with a single, and Devon Lofton's RBI single and Garcia's two-run triple completed the uprising.
"I told the guys we have to come to the park ready to play every game,'' Warde coach Mark Caron said. "So far we haven't been disappointed."
Defillippis came on after Wilton got two on with none out in the fifth. The second batter to reach was Evan Roux, who hit a smash to third that hit Pugliano in the face and drew blood. Wilton managed to get two runs Roux was nabbed at the plate on a delayed steal and Defillippis pitched a scoreless seventh. Goven pitched a perfect ninth.
Warde collected eight hits, only two after the first inning. The Mustangs also made four errors, and did not have a base runner after the third inning. "It wasn't our cleanest game, but Wilton is a good team,'' Caron said. "We're pretty excited where we are. This was a good test for us to see what we have in our resolve. In the past this is a game we would've lost."
It's not too early to get excited about the Mustangs. They already own wins over Stamford, Norwalk and Wilton, three teams that are usually in the league playoff mix.
"We thought we were capable of a start like this,'' Gallucci said. "We worked all winter and we know we have a good team. We just have to keep it going."
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