Travers Belts Another Homer in Darien National Win

Charlie Travers was at it again Thursday for Darien National, belting another memorable home run as the team remained unbeaten in the District One Little League tournament with a 14-8  victory over Stamford American. 

Travers drilled a shot that appeared to get no more than 15 feet off the ground.  The ball split the two bleachers in center field before landing in the parking lot at McGuane Field.

In the previous game against Ridgefield National, Travers smashed a homer that some say was one of the longest ever hit at Ridgefield's Fitzgerald Field. 

With Thursday's win, Darien improved to 4-0 in pool B play and needs to win only one of its remaining two round robin games to advance to the single-elimination semifinals.

Travers also had two doubles in Thursday's contest in which Darien fell behind, 3-1, after the first inning.

Darien National grabbed a 4-3 lead in the second on back-to-back homers by Casey Brown and Tyler Constantino.

Stamford answered with a pair in the bottom of the second, only to have Darien respond with two more runs on its own in the top of the third for the game's third lead change.

Also in the third, Stamford pitcher Colin Bernard was hit in the cheek bone with a comeback shot. He did not appear to suffer a serious injury but was pulled from the game following a  brief delay.

"I'm okay," Bernard said confidently afterwards.

Darien extended its lead to 8-5 in the fourth on an RBI single by Scott Voight, who later scored in the frame on a sacrifice fly.

In the fourth, an issue arose during an attempted substitution by Stamford American to allow the catcher to pitch.

However, Stamford was not permitted make the move, as Little League rules prevent a catcher who has played more than three innings behind the plate from taking the mound in the same game.

Darien then broke open the game with four runs in the fifth, highlighted by Robie Waters' RBI single and  Tyler Constantino's  two-run double. 

Darien tacked on two runs in the top of the sixth before Stamford American made the final more respectable with three runs in its final at-bat. 

Stamford American suffered its first loss, dropping to 2-1. Stamford Springdale is in second place in Pool B with a 3-0 mark. The top two finishers in each pool move on to the semifinals.