Ridgefield National Loses To Darien In District One

The Ridgefield National Little League team allowed 13 runs in the first two innings Monday and dropped a 15-6 decision to Darien National in the District I  tournament at Fitzgerald Field.

The game got off to a wild start on a 95-degree afternoon, as Darien plated seven runs in the top of the first inning, highlighted by Charlie Travers' two-run home run. 

Ridgefield answered with six runs in its first at-bat, pulling within 6-5 on Matt Rapp's three-run shot.

But then the team gave up six more runs in the top of the second—including another two-run homer by Travers—to fall behind, 13-6. Danny Boyle also went deep in the second for the winners. 

Darien's pitching settled down, blanking Ridgefield the rest of the way.

Darien, which could be the class of the tournament, improved to 3-0 in its seven-team pool.

Ridgefield dropped to 1-2 in pool play, meaning it likely will have to win its final three games in round robin competition to have a chance to advance to the single-elimination semifinals.

Travers went 4-for-4, also adding a double and single, and tossed a scoreless inning in relief of Darien starter Casey Brown, who was 3-for-4 with a home run.

Ridgefield reliever Ben Kagan took over in the second and cooled off Darien's potent offense, allowing only a  pair of solo homers.

Other than those two blips, Kagan shut down Darien's offense by  inducing a  number of groundouts. He kept the Darien hitters off balance with a nasty curve and a slow knuckler.

Ridgefield coach J.R. Burke, who tried to encourage his players to have fun after the tough first two innings, believes all is not lost for his club. Ridgefield National does have history on its side.

"Last year, we started this way (1-2), won four in a row, entered another tournament and won seven straight games," Burke said.

"It is going to be tough for us now to get into the single-elimination tournament. But I predict that we can go 4-2 the rest of the way and then we will see."