Fairfield Ludlowe Wins First FCIAC Baseball Title

For catcher Rob Ferrara and right fielder Tom Nagy, this erased the memory of losing in the state championship game two years.

Ferrara squeezed Casey Gaynor's  foul popup behind the plate to close out Fairfield Ludlowe's 7-4 victory over Greenwich in the FCIAC championship game Thursday night at the Ballpark at Harbor Yard.

When the ball settled into Ferrara's glove, the Falcons (18-5)  made history by becoming the first Fairfield school to win a county baseball title. It was  Ludlowe's eighth straight victory overall.

A few minutes later, following the celebration at the plate, Ludlowe coach Keith O'Rourke received the obligatory Gatorade shower.

"I was just happy the last out came to me," said Ferrara, who will playing baseball next season at Marist College. " Everyone wants to make the last out."

Nagy delivered perhaps the game's decisive hit, a three-run home run over the fence in left-center field that give the Falcons a 4-0 lead in the top of the third. And fellow senior Taylor Brown, the Falcons' relief specialist,  tossed the final 4 2/3 innings to earn the win.

Ferrara and Nagy were the only two Ludlowe players who started in the Falcons' 7-1 loss to Law in the 2008 CIAC Class L state championship game.

"This group of seniors is just so tight," Ferrara said. "We're one big family. We just all did it for each other."

Nagy actually was coming off a disappointing 2009 season, which makes his power surge this year one of the Falcons' best stories among many.

"After last year I wasn't really content with myself," Nagy said. "I had a pretty bad year. I worked hard this offseason, got my eyes checked, and it's made all the difference this season."

He's not kidding. The home run Thursday was Nagy's seventh of the season, the most of any player in Connecticut. 
 
"He's been doing it all year," Ferrara said. "He's one of the strongest kids I know. He's a man-child."

"It's a great feeling after two years ago coming up short in the state championship game," Nagy added. "It's great to be back on top, to get that feeling that we missed out on."

The Falcons certainly were ready to seize the moment, playing another nearly flawless game in the field. Ferrara's throwing error on a stolen base in the first inning was the only miscue Ludlowe made in the two games at Harbor Yard.

"I can't speak enough to how proud I am of our group," O'Rourke said. "Two weeks ago, we were at a very low point (having lost four in a row). The ship could have sunk, but the holes were clogged and the ship is sailing full steam right now." 

Mike Kochiss, a freshman starting in the FCIAC championship game, ripped an RBI single to left-center in the second to give the Falcons a 1-0 lead.

In the second, Ludlowe pounded Greenwich starter Marty Clarke for five runs. After Nagy's homer, Zach Garoffolo reached on an error and scored on Alex Wright's RBI double. Following a wild pitch, the Falcons squeezed in a run to make it 6-0

Luke Clifford managed to get his bat on the ball, pushing it toward the mound on a pitch underneath his chin, as it seemed the Falcons could do no wrong.

It wasn't quite that easy. Michael Dunster's solo homer got the Cardinals on the board in the third, and O'Rourke did not hesitate to pull starter Kevin Lambert after he walked Kevin Collins to put runners on first and second.

"Kevin was out there battling," O'Rourke said. "He didn't want to come out, that's for certain, because Kevin always wants the ball. But it was just one of those moments in a championship game where I needed somebody to get ahead, and Kevin was having a tough time getting strike zone."

Enter Brown, who worked out of the jam in third inning, then held the Cardinals to single runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, scattering six hits. Ferrara's RBI single in the top of the fourth gave the Falcons a 7-1 lead.

"It is absolutely amazing, especially for Ludlowe, which has never won an FCIAC championship," Brown said.

Greenwich closed within 7-4 on Yuta Okazaki's RBI single, but Ferrara snuffed out a potential rally by nailing Okazaki's trying to steal for the final out of the inning. Brown set the Cardinals down in order in the seventh.

All that was left was for the winning coach to get doused. 

"It's the best bath I've taken," O'Rourke said. "I don't take baths too often, but that felt awesome. It feels ever better to know how good our kids feel. Our kids definitely earned this. They played three very tough, top teams in the
state.

"This is a huge win for Fairfield Ludlowe High School and for the baseball program and for the town of Fairfield."

NOTES -- Prior to the game, a moment of silence was observed for the late Walter Fitzgerald, the Warde basketball coach who was laid to rest Wednesday after losing a four-year battle with cancer. Fitzgerald died on Sunday.