Sports
Fairfield National, American Could Be On Collision Course To Meet In District Two final
Each team completed round robin play with 5-0 records to earn top seeds in the double-elimination semifinals
Fairfield National and Fairfield American are dominating the District II Little League tournament to such an extent that it will take a major surprise for them not to meet next week in an all-Fairfield district final.
They each went 5-0 in their respective groups and earned top seeds in the double elimination semifinals, which begin Monday at Bridgeport's Blackham School.
In their final round robin games on Saturday, Fairfield National blanked Trumbull American, 13-0, in a contest called after 3 1/2 innings because of the mercy rule, and Fairfield American posted a 7-1 victory over Westport National.
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John Crescione drove in four runs and hit two of Fairfield National's four home runs. Drew Speckman and Giocomo Brancato also went deep for Fairfield National, which has allowed one run in the tournament. Speckman's homer was his seventh in District play.
Nick Nardone and Tommy Ryan led the way for Fairfield American with two hits apiece. Nardone had a single, triple and RBI.
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Ryan Baek's solo homer accounted for Westport National's lone run.
In the semifinals Monday, Fairfield National, the No. 1 seed in the "Red" group, will take on Monroe (4-1), the runner-up in the blue group, at 5:30 at Blackham No. 2.
Fairfield American, the top seed in the "Blue" group, meets Westport American, the second-place finisher in the "Red", division, Monday at 5:30 at Blackham No. 1.
Westport American secured the final playoff spot with a 15-2 victory over Bridgeport's North End in Saturday's final game. The contest was halted after four innings because of the mercy rule.
Westport American completed group play 4-1, with its only loss a 10-0 defeat to Fairfield National.
The two semifinals winners - and losers - play on Tuesday. The championship game is July 17 with the "if necessary" game the following day.
Fairfield National and Fairfield American are no strangers to facing each other in district finals.
Two years ago, they squared off in the 10-year-old division, with Fairfield National emerging victorous, then advancing all the way to the state final.
In the 11-year-old division last year, Fairfield American avenged that defeat with a 1-0 win over Fairfield American in the district final and went on to win the state title.
While it's once again a different age group, it's basically the same players looking to face each other for the third straight year.
