Darien Boys' Volleyball Falls Short to Undefeated Staples in FCIAC Finals

-By: Ian Sullivan-

Coming off a shocking win against the #2 seeded Ridgefield; Darien came ever so close to knocking off the top seeded Staples on Friday (5/29) in the FCIAC finals at Fairfield Ludlowe High School. Staples had beaten Darien twice earlier this season and took their eighth straight FCIAC title crushing Darien's hopes for an FCIAC title. Staples took games one, two, and four with scores of 25-23, 25-18, and 25-23 respectively, while Darien took the second game 25-23. Although Darien came up short in their quest for an FCIAC title, there incredible run was a shocker not only to the league but also to the team. "I thought we really played our hearts out in the finals and thought it was a great accomplishment in itself to make it as far as we did," junior Graham Hotckiss said. Although their FCIAC run is over, Darien still is ready to show off their talent in the Class M state tournament. Seeded fifth and securing a first round bye, the Blue Wave will play at the number four-seeded Wolcott Technology High School's home court at 7pm in the quarter finals this Friday. Come support the Blue Wave in their quest for another state championship.

Picture (credited Kara Glover Billhardt): Junior Austin Cockerill #9

Boys Tennis Falls to New Canaan in FCIAC Semifinals

-By: Ian Sullivan-

The boys’ Blue Wave tennis team suffered a devastating loss of 4-0 against arch rivals New Canaan on Wednesday (5/26) at New Canaan High School. After finishing the regular season at a strong 10-6 record, the Blue Wave had landed the # 7 spot in FCIAC’s, making it to the semifinals. The Rams, which had a 14-2 record, had handed Darien a 5-2 loss earlier in the regular season and nobody was going to stop them in route for an FCIAC finals appearance. The Rams crushed the hopes of Darien making a return to the finals sweeping Darien in all four matches. "After a great win at Greenwich it was disappointing not to give New Canaan a better match. It was a tough loss that we can build from," junior Rupert Hansford said. New Canaan will face the undefeated Staples Wreckers in the finals at Wilton High School on Thursday. (5/27)

Scores:

#1 Singles -Senior Louie Rawden lost to Ben Lee – 6-0, 6-2

#2 Singles -Senior Britt Gordon lost to Chase Urban—6-0, 6-1

#3 Singles -Senior Reilly Harmer lost to Kevin Burdawich – 6-1, 6-3

#4 Singles -Sophomore Cal Kevorkian lost to Will Burger—6-1, 6-0

Pictured (credited to David Crandall) : Senior captain Britt Gordon

DHS Sailors Make History In Minnesota

-By: Katie Stueber-

After ending up at a three-way tie, the DHS sailing team battled in the tie breaker and won first place in the Atlantic Coast Championship. This past weekend (5/21-23) the DHS Sailing Team traveled to Minnesota landing this top-place finish -a first in the team’s history. Members who headed to Minnesota included seniors, Willem Sandberg, Ines Castro, Justin Marks, Tommy Hyde, Katharine Macomber, junior Olivia Crane and sophomore Sarah Graves. This was a team, racing regatta and the team sailed 420's. The boats were Sandberg (skipper) and Castro (crew), Crane (skipper) and Hyde (crew), and Marks (skipper) and Graves (crew).
At the regatta, teams migrated from all over the East coast to attend this event, ranging from Rhode Island and Massachusetts to Chicago and Minnesota. The sailors arrived at Lake Minnetonka in Minnesota on Friday (5/21) and after having a practice that afternoon, the team was ready to perform on Saturday. On the first day, the teams were lucky as there were winds blowing up to around 20 mph- a perfect combination. However, on Sunday there was barely any wind, so the boats had to come in earlier than anticipated, leaving the DHS team in a three-way tie for first place. In the end, the team won the tie breaker and earned first place, a truly overwhelming accomplishment. The sailors left the weekend with a record of 5-2 at the championship. It was a great ending to a very successful season overall as the team finished with an undefeated record. Photo: On the waters in Minnesota.

Boys Track Claims Fourth Place At FCIACS

-By: Matt Pik-

Darien Boys Track and Field captured 4th place at the FCIAC meet at Danbury on Tuesday. (5/24) Scoring 68.3 total points, Darien trailed only Trumbull, Staples, and perennial powerhouse Danbury, who won the meet. Three athletes received All-FCIAC honors for their efforts, including juniors Kevin Keller and John Conley and senior captain Jake McCauley. (all pictured) Keller came in second in the long jump with a leap of 21 ft 9.25 inches. Conley finished second in the 3200 in 9:46, and McCauley took silver in the 1600 in 4:30, as well. Notably, junior Stockton McMullin and senior captain Brent Eppley, along with Kevin Keller, helped Darien take a 2-3-4 finish in the long jump. The most anticipated moment of the day was the 4x400 relay, which consisted of McMullin, Eppley, senior captain Sean Gill, and Keller as the anchor. The squad came in third, finishing with a team best time of 3:25. With FCIACS now in hindsight, the boys track team is preparing for their Class L State Championships meet at Willowbrook Park in New Britain on Wednesday. (6/2)

Darien Boys Volleyball Upsets #2 Seeded Ridgefield in FCIAC

-By: Ian Sullivan-

Blue Wave boys volleyball team took down Ridgefield at Fairfield Ludlowe in stunning fashion this Wednesday (5/26). After a strong 11-4 record and landing the # 3 seed in the FCIAC tournament, the Blue Wave was not going to repeat its earlier losses to Ridgefield during the regular season of 3-1 and 3-0. Although Darien was fired up, so were the Ridgefield Tigers, who took the first two sets 16-25 and 12-25 in convincing fashion. However, that didn’t stop the Blue Wave as they came back to win the next three sets 25-19, 25-19, and 15-6, shocking the Ludlowe crowd. Junior Calder Billhardt recorded 17 kills and four blocks while junior captain Austin Cockerill had 11 kills and also four blocks. “Although it looked bleak from the start, we really picked it up and got great contributions from [sophomore] Sam Bryant and our captain Austin Cockerill,” junior Graham Hotchkiss said. The Blue Wave will now face undefeated Staples High School in the FCIAC finals at Fairfield Ludlowe this Friday. (5/28). Come support the Blue Wave.

Pictured (Credited to Kara Glover Billhardt):
Junior Calder Billhardt #6
Sophomore Thomas Nicholls #5

Top FCIAC Seed Darien Lacrosse Ousted by Greenwich

-By: Christian Nielsen-

In a heavily contested game between Darien and Greenwich Lacrosse, the boys' lacrosse came up one goal short in the final minutes of the game on Tuesday. (5/25)
Greenwich came into the game at full speed, putting two quick goals into the Darien net. Huge hits were being thrown left and right, tempers flared on both ends as cheap shots piled up. Darien finally managed to get on the board at 7:21 left in the quarter when sophomore Henry West got his first goal of the night off of an amazing jump shot. Greenwich managed to control possesion of the ball for the majority of the remaining time in the first quarter, and they were awarded with their third goal with 8.9 seconds remaining, ending the first quarter, 3-1. (see video below)

Starting off the second quarter much like the first, Greenwich scored early on at 11:04. Battling back from a slow start, the Wave got its second goal when senior Alden Frelinghuysen put one in at 8:04. In an attempt to cripple Darien's momentum, Greenwich called a timeout at 7:02. The timeout definitely helped the Cardinals as shortly thereafter, at 5:55, they scored again. The Wave was getting restless, and with the help of West's second goal, Darien started scoring goals. Junior Wyatt Keith started off a huge play, battling through five Greenwich players to give the go ahead to West, who put in his second goal for the night at 4:41. A little over one minute later, sophomore Case Mathias put one behind the Greenwich goalie to tie the game at the end of the half 5-5.

Thirty seconds into the third quarter, Darien took its only lead for the night as senior Brian Annechino dialed one in at 11:29. Greenwich answered with a goal at 7:42, and another at 6:50. To even the score, junior Graham Maybell scored with 30 seconds left in the quarter.
Greenwich managed to take the lead in the 4th, and they held it throughout, leaving the final score 8-7.

Wilton Defeats DHS Girls Lacrosse in FCIAC Semifinal

-By: Shelby Penfield-

Girls varsity lacrosse had an unexpected upset against Wilton in the FCIAC semifinals Monday. (5/24) The night game on the New Canaan High School stadium turf and ended with a loss of 17-16. The game lasted longer than expected after it went into overtime. With two three- minute halves, Wilton was able to score against DHS. However, in the latter three-minute half, DHS shot back with another goal. Eventually the game went into sudden death where Wilton pulled through and scored with seconds remaining, claiming victory for the FCIAC semifinals.
Seniors Liz Calby, Cali Ceglarski and freshman Taylor Hardison were the star shooters. Hardison had four goals and scored the last goal on Wilton with nine seconds remaining, leading DHS and Wilton to overtime. On defense, seniors Paige Gasparino and Leanne Stone were able to keep Wilton’s offense from pounding goals on DHS; however there weren’t many turnovers in the game. "Getting the draws was key. Whichever team got the draw was the one that scored," said junior Emma Tuz, one of the varsity players
The DHS Girls Varsity Lacrosse is no longer participating in the FCIAC finals however the team looks to further compete in States. The game dates are to be announced.

Greenwich Cardinals beat Wave Rugby

-By: Dan Pidgeon-

Blue Wave Rugby team traveled south for a few miles for a showdown against Greenwich at Greenwich High School on Friday. (5/21) The Blue Wave faced off against one of the best teams in the nation with a 25-year-old rugby team compared to the Blue Wave’s three-year-old squad. The Greenwich Cardinals had the advantage throughout the entire game and won handily 64-17. Greenwich was expecting a shutout, but the Blue Wave scored three tries in the last five minutes to show the Cardinals they still had some fight. The first try came from junior Daniel Campbell when Junior Sam McCarthy passed it to him and ran through the Greenwich defense. Junior Sam McCarthy scored the second try after his senior brother, Connor, ran down the field and passed it back. The last try was scored by junior Chris Brook after Campbell passed it back to Brook as he was getting tackled, which allowed Brook to run it into the right corner. Although the scoreboard didn’t show it, Darien had a well-played game versus the Cardinals according to Brook. “We played really well considering their strength and program,” Brook said. Come support the rugby team in its last matches of the year in a tournament at Yale University next Saturday. (5/29)

Picture: Junior Sam McCarthy converting a try

Rugby Team Wounded but Winners

-By: Daniel Campbell-

The DHS rugby team’s last home game was full of injuries, including three hospital visits, but the Blue Wave still came out on top and beat St. Peter’s Prep from Jersey City, NJ on Sunday. (5/16) The game kicked off at 2:30pm at Royle Elementary School, and 80 minutes later the final score was 31-19. Darien struck first when senior Niclas Rasmussen scored in the corner to put the Wave up 5-0. A score and two-point conversion a few minutes later by St. Peter’s put them up 7-5, but Darien took the lead soon after on a kick by senior captain Connor McCarthy that was run in by his brother, junior Sam. Another score by senior Henry Glavin, whom Connor said did a “supa job,” as well as one by St. Peter’s after several minutes of goal line defense by the Blue Wave made the halftime score 17-14.
Both teams buckled down in the second half, when tempers rose after a few dirty plays and arguments. The elder McCarthy ran in a try of his own after juking at least four out of the seven players on St. Peter’s backline, but St. Peter’s struck back and pulled within five. An extra ten minutes were due to a number of injuries for both sides and both teams kept trying for one last score, which Darien got with a run by senior Grant Scott to secure the victory as time ran out.
“It was good,” said the terse captain Connor. In more detail, there was stellar tackling and rucking by the Blue Wave, as well as a nice job by some of the back-ups after injuries. In the end, three members of the team were taken to the hospital: Glavin and sophomore Max Kiplinger for head injuries and sophomore Kasper Rasmussen for a finger injury. Additionally, the DHS B side won its game as well against the St. Peter B team, marking the first time this season the A and B teams won on the same day.
The next outing is against Greenwich High School in Greenwich at 4pm this Friday. (5/21)

Darien Softball Crushes Warde

-By: McKinley Stauffer-

The Blue Wave softball team attained second place in the FCIAC standings after dominating Fairfield Warde on varsity’s home diamond on Thursday. (5/13) According to senior captain Michele Piccaro, “this game was a vital win, because it determined our seed in the FCIAC.” The girls came to hit as they put up four big runs on the board in the bottom of the first. Starting shortstop, junior Nicole Buch, was the leadoff hitter and started out the game with a walk. Number 4, sophomore Emily Blosio, executed a sacrifice bunt that advanced Buch to second base. Sophomore Olivia Godz, hitting third in the line-up, pumped out a base hit leaving runners on first and third for the next batter. Number 34, sophomore Courtney Bell, drove in the first run of the game with a solid hit. The preceding batter, sophomore Kelly Fahey, hit a line drive into the leg of the opposing team’s pitcher, Gina Treglia. Fahey’s RBI allowed Godz to score. The highlight of the inning was sophomore Jessica DeMaio’s base clearing, two-run double. She had a total of three RBI’s throughout the game. The young yet talented player pitched a tight game, only allowing Warde to make six hits. DeMaio had a total of six strike outs and three walks. Although the bats came out strong in the first inning, they didn’t come back out until the bottom of the 5th. Warde nailed two runs at the top of the second inning, and scored one run in the top of the 3rd. Bell belted out a double in the top of fifth, and scored the insurance run, putting Darien in the lead with a final score of -3. At the top of the sixth, Bell made the double play to end the game. Number 34 caught a pop fly at third and fired one to tag out the runner, leaving Blue Wave victorious. According to captain Nicole Buch, “Westhill’s our next biggest challenge, but Danbury is our next focus.” Come support the Darien High School softball team as they take on Danbury 12:30 p.m. this Saturday (5/15) on the varsity softball field.

Pictured: sophomore Emily Blosio #4

Photo credited to Charles Spivey

Boys Tennis Loses To Rivals From Warde

-By: Sean Gill-

Boys’ tennis team faced off against FCIAC rivals Fairfield Warde on Monday (5/10) in what is becoming one of the most exciting rivalries in any FCIAC sport. The rivalry between Warde and Darien goes back a few years when Warde knocked off Darien 4-3 in the first round of the FCIAC tournament. Last year, Darien beat Warde in the first round 4-3, and then at the State tournament Darien and Warde tied for the State Championship. The historically evenly matched teams faced off in another exciting match which started off with a quick win by the #1 doubles team senior captain Charlie Taylor and senior Sam Jackson who won 6-1, 6-1. However, Louie Rawden, playing at #1 singles, was dispatched by Warde’s #1 singles player Daniel Prior who was responsible for the tiebreaking win against Darien in the FCIAC tournament a few years ago. Next, #2 doubles freshman Ryo Usami and junior Malcolm Willis beat their opponents 6-2, 6-1, but #5 singles Rupert Hansford lost 6-4, 6-0. This left the match up to the #2,3 and 4 singles matches, which all went to the third set, and all took over two and a half hours. Senior Dennis Connetta was the first to finish at #4 singles, and lost 4-6, 6-1, 6-3. Senior captain Britt Gordon, playing at #2 singles, played very competitively against one of the best #2 singles players in the league, but ended up losing 4-6, 6-1, 6-3, and with the loss Warde clinched the win. However, senior captain Reilly Harmer was still playing at #3 singles, and his match went on for another 30 minutes, and Reilly ended up winning in a three-set epic 3-6, 6-4, 7-5. The final score was 4-3 in favor of Warde, but despite the loss, Darien has to feel good about playing tough against an opponent that lost none of its top three singles players from last year. The boys now have a 7-5 record and are playing Norwalk at on Tuesday. (5/11).
(pictured senior Dennis Connetta)
#1 singles Louie Rawden lost 6-0,6-1
#2 singles Britt Gordon lost 46 61 63
#3 singles Reilly Harmer won 6-3 6-4 7-5
#4 singles Dennis Connetta lost 4-6 6-1 6-3
#5 singles Rupert Hansford lost 6-0 6-4
#1 doubles Charlie Taylor/Sam Jackson won 6-1 6-1
#2 doubles Ryo Usami/Malcolm Willis won 6-2,6-2

Rugby Tries to Break Losing Streak

-By: Connor McCarthy-

After a tough losing streak at its own venue, Darien Rugby hopes to beat St. Peter’s Prep of Jersey City this weekend. On Sunday (5/16) at 2:30pm at Royle School, the Blue Wave will undertake probably the most important game of this season. The forward pack should hopefully include the big guns – seniors TJ Ganser, Randy Brewer, Max Schreyer, James Payne, Nicasio Arroyo, and the ever elusive Sebastian Kopp, while hopefully the back line will include Grant Scott, Niclas Rasmussen, and Henry Glavin – all lost to injury in the past couple weeks. Junior Ashwin Basu will also hopefully enlighten the team with his graceful agility, unless of course he breaks his nose for the fourth time this week.
This game marks the end of an era for Darien Rugby. With the first wave of seniors finally leaving, the club will be in a transitional phase next year, and potentially the season after that. The budget is low, but the hopes are high. Please come to watch the last home game of the season, and support the boys in one of their final stands for the competitive season.
Pictured: the team after a recent win.

Baseball Beats Bridgeport

-By: Charles Spivey-

Darien Boys varsity baseball beat Bridgeport Central on Monday (5/10) by a score of 19-0. Senior David Hickey pitched through five innings and was able to keep Bridgeport scoreless. Starting in the 6th inning sophomore Dillon Duncan stepped on the mound and finished off the victory for Darien.
Almost everyone on the team was able to hit, which allowed Darien to score a season high of 19 runs. “It was a good win, and one step closer to making the state tournament, but we still need to keep working hard and make sure we finish the season with a bang,” senior Brandon Tripodi said.
Darien’s next game is on Wednesday at 4pm (5/12) versus Fairfield Warde at Farfield. Pictured senior Mike Wohlberg.

Girls Lax Lose to Farmingdale

-By: Claire Dickson-

Darien High School was quite a scene on Saturday (5/8) when the girls lacrosse team played Farmingdale on Darien Youth Lacrosse day. Accompanied by a fifth-grade raffle winner and mascot for the day, the girls ran out of a tunnel made of upcoming high school laxers, face paint and an intense atmosphere: the game was on. The excitement didn’t lend itself to a DHS victory. The five-game winning streak ended with a 10-18 loss to the Long Island team, Farmingdale. The game started out strong, with the Wave girls scoring the first goal in the first minute, but the Dalers were right behind them, scoring right away. There were plenty of pushes and shoves, but the Wave girls didn’t prove to be as aggressive as the Dalers. The game was close for almost the whole first half, but Wave began to lose it as Farmingdale racked up the score towards the end of the first half.

The girls played hard, but in the end Coach Lindley’s main message was that they didn’t have enough heart. Let’s hope that they can find it for their final FCIAC game on Tuesday (5/11) against Brien McMahon in Norwalk.

Picture: Senior Cat Thomas goes in for the check as senior Paige Gasparino runs back to recover. Courtesy of Darien Patch.

Girls 300 hurdles from May 6th

Junior Alex Iqbal- 1st
Junior Elizabeth Crafford- 2nd
Freshman Annie Archibald- 3rd
Staples- 4th

Video taken by Meg Murphy

Darien Squashes Staples: Finishes Top Three in Nine Events

-By: Meg Murphy-

The Darien Girls’ Outdoor Track team has an 8-0 record remaining undefeated after beating Staples and Harding on Thursday. (5/6)
Starting off right, the 4x100m relay team run by seniors Meredith Jordan, Meg Murphy and juniors Charlotte Phillips and Alex Iqbal took first place with a time of 52.6 seconds.
In the 100m Jordan placed first with a time of 13.1 seconds. In second place, Murphy and sophomore Katy Close tied with a time of 13.6. With this time, both Murphy and Close qualified for the FCIAC meet in Danbury on May 25.
In the 100m hurdles, Darien took the top three places. Sophomore Robin Bone took first (15.3s), Iqbal took second (18.2), and freshman Ali McGarey finished third (19.6).
Again, Darien took the top three places. In the mile, junior Amanda Dobler placed first, junior Julia Boulton second, and sophomore Leslie Yuen third.
And once again, the team stole the top three. Iqbal finished first, junior Elizabeth Crafford second and freshman Annie Archibald third.
Darien takes the top three spots in long jump: Bone, Phillips, and Iqbal.
In the high jump-senior Mackenzie Jones took first with her personal best at 4’10. Junior Sarah Dailey finished second with a height of 4’4. With a height of 4’4, sophomore Karoline Lozier placed third.
Junior Megan Keane, freshman Caroline Weihs and freshman Jenny Bealle took the 800m.
Bone won pole vault with a height of 10’6, junior Lee Bolton second at 9’0, and sophomore rookie Katie Southworth placed third at 8’6.
Jordan and Phillips took first and second in the 200m, respectively. Running the 200m for the first time ever, Jones finished third and qualified for FCIACs with a time of 28.7s.
In the discus, senior Aimee Rich took first with a throw of 80’11, junior Rachel Ullrich second with throw of 66’0, and sophomore Victoria Kominek third with throw of 63’11.
In the shot put, sophomore Niya Wright finished first and senior AnnaRae Anderson second.
In addition to hurdles, long and pole vault, Bone won the triple jump with a jump of 35’11, and Jones took third with a jump of 28’5.
The 4x400m relay run by Donovan, Crafford, Bolton and Keane took first after a strong anchor leg by Keane.

Powerhouse Greenwich Defeats Darien

-By: Jack Bushell-

Girls' tennis team lost to Greenwich on Thursday (5/6) at home. Greenwich is one of the top teams in the FCIAC along with New Canaan and Staples, both teams Darien faced defeat. Greenwich has a young team that sets the stage for the next few years: two of its best athletes are freshmen. Senior Alex Budd lost to a freshmen. She was not alone with the rest of the team loosing their games. The sole bright spot of the day came from junior Sophie Doering who won her match against the high-powered team. Darien is 6-3. Junior player Amanda Brodsky ( pictured w/ senior Emily Hough) responded “yeah definitely” when asked about the girls chance of qualifying for the FCIAC and State tournaments. The number one and two doubles and singles can both still qualify for the State-Open match. The team's next match is at home on Friday (5/7) at 4pm. Come cheer the girls on as the play St. Joes of Trumbull!

(senior Sarah Gorski pictured left)

A Late Rally From McMahon Downs Darien

-By: Jack Bushell-

Wave baseball took on Brien McMahon on Thursday (5/6) after a thrilling game against St. Joes on Wednesday. Junior Andrew Hurn got the start and pitched well through 6 1/3 innings. After the 2nd inning the Blue Wave was up on the score board 2-1 – a score that carried them through the 7th inning. There was some sibling rivalry going on with coach Jared Cross's brother, John Cross, being the head coach of the McMahon Senators. This is a team that Darien has beaten in the past two years and a team they could have beaten again. Hurn was relieved by senior Ricky Hodges(pictured bottom) with two outs to go in the 7th. When Hodges came into the game there were two runners on base. Hodges then walked in the tying run with the bases still loaded and only one out. After a series of three singles, the score quickly became 6-2 McMahon. The Wave had one more shot in the bottom of the 7th and was threatening with senior Michael Wolhberg on third, but they could not get a rally going. McMahon really showed some class when #27 came into score after a base hit; he taunted Hodges saying "Virginia Tech, yeah right". The Wave lost the game 6-2 and has not won in back-to-back games since starting the season 4-0. The team's next game is on Monday (5/10) when they face Bridgeport Central in Bridgeport. (junior Tommy Farren pictured top)

Blue Wave Ends the Losing Streak in the 10th

-By: Jack Bushell-
Colaboration with: Sam Nelson
(Photo by: Sam Nelson & Christian Panier)

Darien jumped out to an early lead on the Cadets of St. Joes 2-1 on Tuesday (5/5). Senior Michael Miller(pictured right) got the start against one of the best teams in the FCIAC. The Cadets would not relax after just the first inning. Miller pitched a great four innings and then was relieved by senior Ricky Hodges with runners on second and third. Hodges could not hit the strike zone and walked two batters, one to load the bases and one scored a run. The next hitter who came to the plate hit a bouncer right to Hodges, an easy out at home. Ricky threw the ball away and everyone was safe. Darien was able to get out of the inning after relieving Hodges with sophomore Dillon Duncan. The Wave was now down 4-2. After the 6th inning Darien was still trailing 5-2. "It took us awhile to get warmed up", senior Shari Garcia said, a regular fan of St. Joes. This was trouble for Darien. Darien had lost the last eight games and was not showing much energy. The team knew that when facing a strong team like St. Joes, they had to keep the energy high and stay focused. The bats did not start up leaving the pitching staff to keep the game close. Junior Quin Irwin of St. Joes pitched a gem of a game only giving Darien two runs and was relieved by St. Joes senior Drew Thomson to close the game.
At this point in time Darien had runners on and was threatening by the time Thomson got on the mound. Senior Scott Dempsey was brought into the game to pinch hit against the hard throwing Cadets. Dempsey stood up to the challenge and hit a laser shot to the left field wall with a double, scoring a runner and putting Darien closer 3-5. With runners on second and third senior Michael Wolhberg scored junior Dan Pidgeon(pictured above) with a sacrifice fly to make the score 4-5. Junior Ian Sullivan pinch ran for Dempsey on second to give the Wave more speed, going to third on Wolhberg's sacrifice fly. Senior Brandon Tripodi came up with the biggest hit of the game with a single to center to tie the game at five.
We are going to extra innings! Pidgeon started the bottom of the 9th off with a single but Darien could not get the runner in. The teams battled to the 10th inning and Darien had runners on second and third with one out in the bottom of the inning. The Cadets walked the next batter to load the bases, they brought the infielders in for a possible play at the plate. Sophomore Sam Gillespie was at bat and delivered the game winning hit over the infielders, driving in senior Tommy Blankemeier to end the game 6-5 with a Wave Win! This is a huge win for Darien stopping the eight-game slide. However, if the team looks to keep this up they must get their bats going earlier in the game and make fewer errors throughout. Darien will face off against Brien McMahon on Thursday (5/6) at home on the turf. Hopefully, they can keep their new streak alive.

Wave Volleyball Falls to Ridgefield

-By: Ryan Barthold-

The Blue Wave Boys Volleyball team fell to the Ridgefield Tigers on Wednesday evening. (5/5) They lost 1 set to 3 to the eighth-ranked team in the state. Darien came out strong with a 3-0 start in the beginning, with junior Calder Billhardt (pictured) serving. The Tigers eventually tied up the set 13-13. However, junior Austin Cockerill caught fire, accounting for multiple kills, and helping the Wave win the set 25-20. Both sides came out firing for the second set, each team alternately leading until 17-17. The set ended with the same score of 25-20, only this time the winner being Ridgefield. The third set resembled the second set very much, as after 17 all, Ridgefield once again charged ahead, putting up yet another score of 25-20 to win the set. Darien fought with Ridgefield in the fourth set until 16-13, when the Wave only won two points during the next 11 serves. Darien dropped to 6-5 on the season, while Ridgefield improved to 9-3. The Wave will take on Greenwich at 4pm on Friday (5/7) at Greenwich High School.

Blue Wave Softball Suffers First Loss

-By: Kevin Cassidy-

The Blue Wave Varsity Softball team’s spectacular start came to an end on Tuesday night. (5/4) The girls lost to the Ridgefield Tigers by a score of 1-0 leaving them with an 10-1 record.

The game was a true pitcher’s battle. Darien was lead by sophomore ace Jessica DeMaio. (pictured) DeMaio ended up pitching the complete game. She had four strikeouts and only let up one earned run. She was helped out in the field with some strong defense, specifically some nice plays by junior shortstop Nicole Buch.

There was not much action until the bottom of the 4^th inning when Darien’s first two batters were walked, giving Darien with runners on first and second with no outs. Unfortunately, the Blue Wave was not able to capitalize on this scoring opportunity. This seemed to be the story of the day for the Blue Wave. The whole day they only managed to get one hit and were left with eight strikeouts. For the Wave to get back to its winning ways Coach Nick DeMaio explained the defense needs to come back.

“Its more in their head than in there bats,” Coach DeMaio said. He felt the girls were swinging the bat well, “they just needed to find a way to get the ball in play.”

In the top of the 7^th with two outs and runners on first and second, Ridgefield freshman Kathryn Eckhoff was able to get a bloop single into right field. This drove home what would end up being the winning run for the Tigers.

The girls have the chance to turn it around when they face a strong St. Joes team in Trumbull at 4pm on Wednesday. (5/5)

Varsity Lax Crushes Fairfield

-By: Kevin Cassidy-

The Blue Wave Boys Varsity Lacrosse Team crushed Fairfield Warde on Tuesday afternoon. (5/4) Darien jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead by the end of the first quarter. Sophomore Henry West and Senior Brian Gleason added flashy goals to help the Blue Wave. Darien continued its dominance by adding on 10 goals in the second quarter to secure a 15-0 lead by the end of the first half. From there the wave cruised to an easy 21-1 final. The boys are back on the turf on Friday (5/7) when they travel to New York to face Yorktown at 7pm.

The boys junior varsity kept the momentum going. Directly following the varsity dismantling of Fairfield Warde, JV wanted its own domination. The squad jumped out to a 12-1 lead by the end of the first half. The team never looked back closing with a final score of 17-1. The JV team will be also travel to play Yorktown this Friday (5/7) at 4:30pm.
Pictured: sophomore Case Matheis quarterbacks the offense from behind the net.

Baseball Started off Hot..Now Not so Much

-By: Jack Bushell-

After starting the season 4-0 the baseball team has dropped its last 7 games. A team who graduated a large senior class last year was going to be in trouble this season. The team counts on its pitching to keep the game low scoring as the hitting has not been monumental this season. The toughest loss in the season came when the team lost to #5 ranked Greenwich (4/27) in the 10th inning where the team lost 2-3. When the team did score more than 10 runs, the pitching let them down and lost the game 11-14 against Norwalk (4/16), a team they should have beat. In order for the boys to make up for the past seven games, the pitching must stay consistent, the hitting also needs to pick up in key situations. The next game for the team will be against Ridgefield on Monday (5/3) at Ridgefield, weather permitting

Junior Dan Pidgeon pictured

Darien defeats former national champions Xavier

-By: Ian Sullivan-

The Darien High School rugby team defeated Xavier High School from Manhattan this Saturday (5/1) in a thrilling upset of 32-22. Facing Xavier on their home court at Randall’s Island in Manhattan didn’t faze the Blue Wave. Senior flanker Max Schreyer and junior winger Daniel Campbell both had early tries (scores) to jumpstart the Blue Wave’s success to a 12-10 lead at halftime. Seniors Henry Glavin, TJ Ganser, and Niclas Rasmussen scored early in the second half. Then, with five minutes left, junior Sam McCarthy scored putting an end to the Xavier run. “Our defense was really good and on offense [senior captain] Connor McCarthy, Sam McCarthy and [junior scrum-half] Andrew McGarey made

great kicks that pinned

Xavier down and also contributed to some of our scores,” junior Daniel Campbell said after the game. The Blue Wave’s

next game will be at Royle School against St. Peters Preparatory High School (New Jersey) at 2:30 on Sunday May 16.

Picture 1: #14 junior Daniel Campbell and Will Weinstock running out of the pile.

Picture 2:Seniors Henry Glavin and Andy Brewer and juniors Michael Sawitsky, Sam McCarthy, and Jose Corte-Real.

Picture 3:Ruck

Wave Lax Sweeps Away NC in Second Half

-By: Darius Majd-

In a highly anticipated match up with rival New Canaan this weekend, the Darien boys' lacrosse team overcame a shaky start and pulled away for a dominant home victory. Down 3-1 after one quarter, the Blue Wave went on an 8-0 run that stretched into the fourth quarter on Saturday(5/1). It was a balanced effort, the offensive starters, plus junior defenseman Eric Parnon scoring. Midfielders senior Bryan Annechino and junior Graham Maybell led the way, scoring three and two goals a piece. Senior attachman Brian Gleason also notched two goals. But it was the defense, led by senior Andrew West, which keyed the victory. Looking at times impenetrable, the Darien D caused turnovers and took New Canaan out of their offensive rhythm. At 9-2 overall and 8-0 in the FCIAC, Darien is in good position to get a high seed in the FCIAC and state tournaments. The Blue Wave is back in action on Tuesday, (5/4) with a 4pm home game vs. Fairfield Warde.

Wave Softball Grabs 10th Straight Victory

-By: Matt Pik-

The hot streak continues for the girls’ softball team, as it tallied yet another victory with a 2-0 shutout of Staples High School at home on Friday. (4/30) Sophomore Kelly Fahey knocked in two runs on a blistering double in the first inning. Sophomores Emily Blosio and Olivia Gozdz scored those runs, and it turns out that this would be all the run support Darien would need. Sophomore Jessica DeMaio (pictured) put up another stellar effort on the mound, striking out nine batters as she blanked the Staples lineup, not surrendering a single run. Wave softball is now 10-0 on the season so far, remaining undefeated after this win. The unprecedented spectacular start is now drawing great attention, as it should for this team. The softball team hopes to bolster its record to a remarkable 11-0 when they host Ridgefield on Monday. (5/3) Photo courtesy of Kara Glover Billhardt

Girls Hand Fairfield a Loss

-By: Kevin Cassidy-

On a beautiful afternoon Girls’ varsity lacrosse team faced off against Fairfield Ludlowe at the DHS Stadium. The Blue Wave Girls came out victorious with a decisive 19-4 win. The Blue Wave proved to clearly be the stronger team. Sophomore Maggie Close said, “It was a good team effort”. They were able to jump out to a 9-3 lead by the end of the first half. The girls did not look back. The team was strong on both offense and defense as they cruised to an easy win. The girls improve to a record of 9-1. The next game is against Norwalk on Tuesday (4/4) at 4pm at DHS.

34- Blue Wave Goes on the Attack
32- Blue Wave Shows Off Strong Defense
40- Blue Wave Works the Offense