Darien Baseball Advances In State Tournament

The Blue Wave won its first state baseball tournament game in three years as they beat Rockville 4-1, this weekend with strong pitching (a hallmark of the Darien team), solid fielding, and timely hitting

The win meant the Darien High School team advances to the next round.

Starter Dillon Duncan pitched six and one third innings striking out nine, conceding just three hits and one run. Reliever Johnny Dehlin retired the two batters he faced for the save.

Darien put the first run on the board in the second inning. Mike Stovall reached on an error and went to third on a single by Andrew Maley.  With two outs Brendan Donohue hit a ground ball to the third baseman who looked to second, realized he didn't have a play, and threw to first only to have Donohue beat the throw by half a step allowing Stovall to score from third.

Darien struck again in the third inning. With two outs Rockville pitcher Kurt Annelli encountered a bout of wildness walking Sam Gillespie, Stovall, and Tommy MacLean, to load the bases. Tucker White drove the first pitch he saw to center for a two run single giving Darien a 3-0 lead.  

Rockville threatened in the bottom half of the frame as the first two batters reached on a walk and an error. Then Duncan bore down. He struck out the next two batters and the last batter lined out to second baseman Donohue. He retired the side in the fourth and fifth innings to record nine consecutive outs.

In the sixth inning Rockville finally scored on a single and a double making the score 3-1. Darien responded in the seventh. Bryan Previte walked, stole second, and came around to score when Gillespie hammered a double down the left field line for his second hit of the game.

Leading 4-1 in the bottom of the seventh, Dehlin came on in relief with one out, runners on first and second, and the tying run at the plate. A strikeout and a ground out to Alex Yergey at third put out the fire and sent the Blue Wave to the next round of the tournament.

Next up, Darien faces number one seed Cheney Tech Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. in Manchester.

Editor's note: Clyde White is a parent of a Darien baseball team member. Interested in Darien baseball news? See also: ""