By STEVE GEOGHEGAN, Times Sports Editor
QUINCY, Mass. – Jeff  Cortese saved the Stamford Babe Ruth 15-year-old All-Stars from what could have been a crushing defeat.
Cortese hit a two-out, two-strike pitch into left field to plate two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning and lift Stamford to a dramatic 3-2 come-from-behind win over Portland, [...]

The New York Daily News and The Associated Press have both reported that Yankees owner George Steinbrenner has passed away at age 80.
Earlier today, WABC in New York reported Steinbrenner suffered a “massive” heart attack.
He was taken to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Tampa, Fla.
For more information, visit The Hour’s online sports pages.

Is he? Or isn’t he?
That is the question everybody in the sports world seems to be asking — well, at least here in Connecticut and down in Florida.
Will Bobby Valentine be the next manager of the Florida Marlins? Or won’t he?
What seemed like a sure thing a week ago has turned into a soap opera [...]

One of the worst kept secrets in the world of Major League Baseball right now is that Bobby Valentine is a candidate — if not THE candidate — to become the next manager of the Florida Marlins.
According to some local sources, though, Valentine expects to get the job.
The Hour and The Stamford Times are both [...]

With the stormy weather that made its way through the state on Tuesday, several state tournament games were halted before being completed.
Two local teams did get their games in, but with mixed results.
In baseball, Trinity Catholic was ahead of Valley Regional 5-0 after six innings in the first round Class S state tourney. The game [...]

State tournament games and events begin on Tuesday.
In baseball, Trinity Catholic will hold down the 14th seed in Class S and host Valley Regional at 3:30 p.m. In Class LL, Westhill is the 21st seed and will be at No. 12 Southington while Stamford is the 27th seed and will be at No. 6 Newtown.
In [...]

Allison Macari’s RBI double with one out in the bottom of the sixth inning plated Julianne Vincent with the winning run and lifted the Westhill High softball team to a 2-1 win over Darien in the FCIAC Tournament semifinals on Tuesday at Sacred Heart University.
Jen Joseph pitched a three-hitter with seven strikeouts and one walk [...]

The Westhill softball and baseball teams earned semifinal berths in the FCIAC playoffs on Monday.
The top-seeded softball team downed No. 8 Stamford 8-0.
“It should’ve been a 1 or 2-0 game but Stamford made some errors in the fifth inning and we were able to score five runs,” Westhill coach Tom Pia said.
With the Vikings ahead [...]

It’s a trifecta for the city of Stamford, which put all three of its schools into the FCIAC softball tournament.
Undefeated Westhill earned the top-seeded and will face No. 8 Stamford on Monday while Trinity Catholic earned the No. 7 seed and will travel to No. 2 St. Joseph, also on Monday. Games start at 4 [...]

STAMFORD – Steve Hagedus continued his hot hitting by going 2-for-3 with a two-run home run and three RBIs to lift the Stamford High baseball team to a 3-1 win over Fairfield Warde on Thursday.
Hagedus backed starter Tommy McIntosh (2-3), who pitched a five-hitter with two walks and seven strikeouts.
The Black Knights (9-10 overall, 9-8 [...]

Last week after a fifth straight loss, Stamford High baseball coach Fred Kelley’s first comments were about another squandered pitching performance by Steve Hagedus.
He called him the best pitcher in the city and then, amended that to say the best this past week.
Well, to pick a best pitcher in the city, as well as the FCIAC this [...]

STAMFORD – The King baseball team pounded out 13 hits en route to a 12-7 win over Greens Farms Academy in the New England Small School Championships on Wednesday at King.
The Vikings (10-7) advance to the New England tournament semifinals where they’ll host South Kent School or play at Hamden Hall on Friday at 4:15 [...]

By JOE RYAN
STAMFORD — The Westhill baseball team came up with just enough offense and J.C. Porter made those precious runs stand up in a 4-2 win over Stamford at the Westhill diamond on Friday.
Porter pitched a six-hitter and struck out eight as the Vikings improved to 10-6 overall, 10-5 FCIAC.
Steve Hagedus gave his second [...]

There is no time to get ready for the FCIAC baseball playoffs because it seems like they are here now.
In the next two weeks, 11 teams will be vying for the eight spots but really it is about six teams competing for three spots, including all three Stamford high schools.
Right now, Greenwich, Staples, Wilton, St. [...]

The King baseball and softball teams each scored home victories on Monday.
In baseball, the Vikings blasted The Williams School 14-4 in five innings.
A trio of freshmen helped lead the way. Joe Santora belted two home runs and knocked in six runs, Logan McCullough got the win and struck out four over four innings and Elie [...]

In a world of pitch counts and arm angles, sometimes the simplest solution is the best.
As Stamford’s Steve Hagedus struggled in the early innings of Saturday’s game against New Canaan, coach Fred Kelley took a trip to the mound to see what was bothering the senior right-hander.
Hagedus said he couldn’t find the plate, to which Kelley [...]

Although it would be hard to point to something other than an eight-run uprising in the bottom of the fifth inning as the reason Westhill was able to beat Staples 10-3 on Friday, there were two moments on the defensive side that helped keep the Wreckers’ offense from breaking out.
The first came in the [...]

Steve Hagedus overcame illness to throw four-hit ball over six innings to lift the Stamford High baseball team to a 9-2 victory over New Canaan Saturday at Mead Park.
Hagedus (2-0), who battled flu-like symtoms all week, settled down after the third inning to hold the Rams in check. He walked six and struck out two [...]

When you look at Scott Valenzano, whether on the baseball diamond or on the ice, you just hope he doesn’t get hurt.
Everybody seems to tower over him but although he may look small, he plays as big as anybody.
It doesn’t take great powers of observation either. Last spring when Westhill was playing its way to [...]

• • •
COMING SOON: Videos of Dante Terenzio and Briana Brown signings, too.

We received word this morning that longtime Fairfield County sports figure and Hall of Famer Nick Koulas passed away at the age of 92 at a Stamford-based assisted living facility.
According to his Fairfield County Sports Hall of Fame biography, “Koules is a legendary figure around the baseball diamonds and basketball courts of the county as [...]

Finally, somebody was able to stop former Trinity Catholic star running Nick Cortese cold in his tracks.
Unfortunately, it was a group of big shot lawyers from Cox Radio who got to do the deed.
The Stamford Times will be publishing a story in this week’s paper about how a local radio station had named Cortese, Trinity’s [...]

A couple of things:
First, holy cow, it’s pretty much August already.
The second: To all those wondering why the cover of this week’s Sports Section of The Stamford Times is a reaction shot of the Stamford Babe Ruth All-Stars losing their state title game, when just 60 or so miles to the northeast, the Stamford 18s [...]

The outlook wasn’t brilliant for the Mudville nine that day
— From Casey At The Bat

• • •
After having attended many youth and high school baseball games this spring and summer, I’ve come to the realization that this sport can’t even kill itself. We are all taught the love of the game expressed in the immortal [...]

The wait is over.
Due to holiday deadline issues a week ago, The Stamford Times sports section couldn’t bring you our coverage of the Westhill High School softball team’s special trip to Yankee Stadium on June 30.
Until now.
This week, the Vikings memorable journey is recapped courtesy of three pages of coverage in this week’s edition of [...]

The other night I was watching the game between the American Legion and Senior Babe Ruth teams and was looking around for somebody to talk to in between the pitches. It is one of the great things about baseball … you can socialize as well as cover the game.
Sometimes you get lucky and I did [...]

The night was not perfect and the game is not yet what it was first imagined to be, but as Stamford American Legion Manager George Ducanic said it shows that the emphasis of youth baseball in Stamford is back where it belongs — on the players.
Trinity Catholic’s Sammy Kosterich slapped a single to right-center field and [...]

In the same edition of this week’s Sports Section of The Stamford Times we not only celebrate the past, but we also tip our caps to the future.
The 2009 Spring Sports All-City Teams are published this week, honoring those in the sports of baseball, softball, boys lacrosse and golf. Additionally, a total of 45 other [...]

Summer is finally here and we’re not horsing around when we say that.
The Little League All-Star season is about to start and talk of a high school girls hockey team coming somewhere down the line is even starting to warm up slightly … and we have a story about a young lady who doesn’t horse [...]

Mother Nature first threw us a curve ball and then somebody at the Orange Hills Country Club in Orange just told us an out-right lie, thereby throwing us for a couple of loops this weekend as we prepared for you the June 14, 2009 edition of The Stamford Sports section.
Our cover girl this week is [...]

Since Ryan Walsh has two wins and a save already in this state Class S tournament, Times correspondent Joe Ryan puts the junior right hander out there as one of the best pitchers chucking the ball right now.
Statistically speaking he certainly has can make a good argument regardless of how spot-on Darien’s Devin Burke has [...]

It was a week to remember for the Westhill High School athletic department. But it proved to be a Monday to forget.
On Saturday, Westhill baseball pitcher Steve Rivera hurled his team into the FCIAC championship game with a no-hitter over Darien. A few hours later, the Viings softball team repeated as FCIAC champs when un-sung [...]

My colleague and Stamford Times correspondent Joe Ryan and I got into a discussion the other day about this fiasco that has become the FCIAC/CIAC baseball dilemma. The gist of the story is the due a bizarre scheduling format, coupled with a rain out, FCIAC teams who went to the final would be or could [...]

Now that the harbingers of doom have thrown down their wrath and killed off both FCIAC finalists, can we realists step in and fix the system?
Westhill and Staples were both ambushed by having to play back to back on Saturday and Sunday with Monday and, potentially, Tuesday on their horizons. If you can’t see the [...]

After last postseason, after all the big game performances, you would think Westhill’s Steve Rivera would not have another surprise up his talented sleeve.
So, how about a no-hitter?
Because that is what happened on Saturday: The Vikings ace no-hit Darien, 3-0, in the semifinals of the FCIAC playoffs in Trumbull.
Westhill will face Staples in a repeat of last [...]

Thursday’s FCIAC baseball semifinal games and softball championship contest have been postponed until Saturday due to the forecast of wet weather.
On Saturday, at 5 p.m., at Sacred Heart University, Trumbull and Westhill will match up for the girls softball championship. The Vikings will be looking to defend their championship in that game.
As far as baseball [...]

There is new news that is exciting and there is old news that is unique and that’s not even mentioning the start of the FCIAC baseball and softball tournament last week.
All have found their way into this week’s Sports Section of The Stamford Times.
First and foremost, the big news is that Trinity Catholic basketball star [...]

Westhill’s Stanley Paul ripped a home run to right that started a four-run rally in the bottom of the fifth and Steve Rivera’s pitching did the rest as the Vikings won 6-1 in their opening round game against Fairfield-Ludlowe.
Rivera solidified his reputation as a big game pitcher by going the distance and was just as valuable [...]

Technically speaking, I suppose, it was Wilton that ousted Stamfor when the Warriors defeated the VIkings by a 1-0 score in Thursday’s regular season finale.
Still, if the Vikings had just pushed across two runs over the course of those seven innings, the Black Knights would be gearing up for Mitch O’Meara-David Spear showdown against David [...]

Sad news to report in the city this week as our cover story is about the sudden demise of the Stamford Spinnakers girls high school ice hockey team, which ceased operations after 11 years of giving a big chunk of the city’s female hockey fans a place to play.
The Spinnakers will live on as a [...]

The big news this week is still being talked, blogged about and texted about — the Westhill-Stamford baseball classic on Monday at Cubeta Stadium.
Steve Rivera’s one-hit victory over Mitch O’Meara and his Stamford team will go down in history as one of the city’s all-time great performances and the entire night itself is one that [...]

Here’s the latest FCIAC Standings, through Monday, May 11:
BASEBALL
1. Staples, 10-3*
T2. Darien, 10-3*
T2. Westhill, 10-3*
4. Trumbull 9-3
5. St. Joseph 7-4
6. McMahon 8-5**
7. Trinity 8-5**
T8. Ridgefield 8-5
T8. Wilton 8-5**
10. Greenwich 7-6
11. Fairfield Ludlowe 6-6***
12. Stamford 6-6 ***
T13. Danbury, Norwalk, Fairfield Warde, 6-7.
16. Bridgeport Central 2-10
17. New Canaan 1-11
18. Bassick 1-12
19. Harding 0-12

* — Staples has beaten [...]

It’s Mother’s Day Weekend, so is there any better time, really, to salute the mothers of sports? That’s what The Stamford Times does with this week’s edition of its Sports section as we salute all of the mothers of the city through the eyes and emotions of three local moms — Patty Ann Tublin, seen [...]

Tennis anyone?
At Westhill High School, the Vikings are playing plenty of tennis these days and on Tuesday the two teams beat Stamford to sweep the City Championships for the second straight year.
The girls squad, which includes our cover girl this week — the team’s lone senior, Molly Carson, of the first doubles team — is [...]

Westhill rode the wind which was headed out to right field for a seven-run explosion in the bottom of the third inning on their way to a 16-5 win over St. Joseph on April 23.
Steve Rivera, who had to relinquish his mound duties early due to shoulder stiffness, went three for four with two runs scored and two [...]

Rain. That’s the big story of the week around the city as day after day after day, Mother Nature has defeated pretty much every sports team that is trying to play out a spring sports season in Stamford.
Except for the Stamford softball. Thanks in great part to a yeoman’s effort by the grounds crew, Tuesday’s [...]

Sports Recap – Week Ending April 18
Information Courtesy of King communications office

The Vikings had a rough time shaking off the winter chill this week and lost some tough battles to worthy opponents.
Monday, April 13
Boys’ Varsity Lacrosse (1-3) Falls to Westhill, 13-6
King was inconsistent facing a more experienced Westhill High team.  Though the Vikings corrected [...]

Trinity Catholic’s ace, Ryan Walsh, pitched his second complete game victory of the week in beating Westhill 6-2.
Walsh allowed four hits but only one of them came over the last six innings. The junior struck out five and walked only one. He was equally effective at the plate, going 2-for-3 with a run scored and [...]

The next time a coach is questioned about leaving in starters in what seems to be a blow-out game, just tell them the tale of Stamford coach Fred Kelley’s Monday afternoon.
His squad had built a 12-run lead during the first six innings over New Canaan and it looked like a perfect time to bring in the subs. Unfortunately, the [...]

Sorry for the delay in posting, but things have been hectic here at the office as we wrapped up our season previews, got the regular season under way and through an Easter holiday, as well.
However, many things of interest have happened regarding the city’s sports scene so I figured we’d take a look at some [...]

You have got to love deadlines. Or, in this case, hate them with a passion. Unfortunately, the deadline for The Stamford Times is early Wednesday afternoon, just hours before the spring sports season officially kicks off — which means their will be no print coverage of Wednseday’s games in this week’s paper edition.
However, for fans [...]

Sometimes an off-subject comment gets you wondering. It makes you think, “What if?”
In getting ready for the baseball season, Stamford High School pitcher Mitch O’Meara said how it was a shame that some players he grew up playing with went to different high schools. In some ways, it is a shame, but in other ways [...]

There have been so many great ideas that have stood up to the test of time.
The wheel. Sliced bread. Cable TV. You get the idea.
This spring, Stamford High School athletic director Pete Samperi has come up with another one: Baseball — Stamford vs. Westhill — Under the lights at Cubeta Stadium.
Circle your calendars, sports fans, [...]

April means spring time which means baseball and softball season is fast approaching and in this week’s edition of The Stamford Times, we’ll be looking at the city’s high school baseball and softball teams.
Westhill and Stamford feature two of the top pitchers in the league in the Vikings Steve Rivera and the Black Knights Mitch [...]

From Japan to Stamford to Tennessee, the long arms of Bobby Valentine just seem to help out everybody involved in the sport of baseball.
Just consider the case of Austin Westlake, a baseball player at Vanderbilt University.
Click here to read more about Westlake and his connection to Bobby V, courtesy of the NashvilleCityPaper.com.

The New York Post is reporting that ESPN Radio is reporting that Stamford native Bobby Valentime would be interested in returning to the New York Mets as manager.
Read if for yourself by clicking here.

On Friday night, the Bridgeport Bluefish baseball team released some big news of local interest: Darryl Brinkley was coming home. According to the Bluefish Web site, the team signed Brinkley for the rest of the 2008 summer.
Here’s what the team said in a press release:

Bridgeport, CT – September 5th – The Bridgeport Bluefish of [...]

Qunnipiac freshman soccer player Furtuna Velaj, who scored two goals in her team’s 2-1 win over St. Bonaventure in Sunday’s season opener, has been named WQAQ Athlete of the Week, according to the radio station.
According to the WQAQ Web site, Velaj, who is from Stamford CT, was awarded U-19 Player of the year award [...]

He’s the last professional baseball player to hit .400, which he did last summer playing for the Calgary Vipers, an independant minor league baseball team. And while Darryl Brinkley – the former Stamford American Legion baseball and Sacred Heart standout – may not be hitting at the torrid pace he did last summer, 2008 has [...]