Westport defeated Danbury Sunday 6-1 to win the Fairfield County Fastpitch Softball League championship in the U-14 division.

No. 4 seeded Westport beat No. 2 seeded Danbury in their third game of the day.

Westport advanced to the final by knocking off Norwalk 11-3 and edging No. 1 seed Stamford 11-10 in a seesaw game earlier in the day.

Westport rallied from a 6-2 deficit to take an 11-7 lead and hung on.

Todays The Advocate of Stamford/Norwalk spotlightҒs Westports Jeff White and his lifelong love of baseball.

White has been president of Westport Little League baseball for 22 years and has overseen expansion of the townҒs baseball fields from 12 to 20, including one named for his father on Compo Road North.

But most of the baseball world knows him for his 11-year stint as Major League Baseballs chief financial officer and his present position Җ through his Fare Play Inc.,—as an advisor to the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

It has been a labor of love, immersing him at both the big-time and grass-roots levels. Through it all, White has maintained the boyish enthusiasm that has linked his aspirations to their realizations, the newspaper said.

“I’ve been pretty lucky,” White said. “I get the best of both worlds. Part of me is that kid all over again.”

Today’s Hartford Courant spotlights Staples High School junior Dan Ozar, 17, as its “State Volleyball Player of the Year.”

The 6-foot-1 setter/outside hitter has been a member of three Class M championship teams, including this season’s undefeated team, since the CIAC started sanctioning boys volleyball in 2001, the newspaper said.

Ozar earned FCIAC All-Conference honors in 2003 and 2004 and was MVP of the conference tournament both years.

Westport’s Ernest Verina III, one of 140 persons to carry the Olympic flame through New York City Saturday, said today the experience was a once-in-a-lifetime thrill.
Ernie Verina makes his run through the Big Apple Saturday. Spencer T. Tucker/Office of the Mayor photo

“It was great. I got to meet so many people. It was so phenomenal,” he said. “I feel honored to have taken part.”

Verina, 26, was chosen to participate by the Coca Cola Company after his wife wrote a 100-word essay to the company, a presenting sponsor of the torch relay.

The 1995 Staples High School grad works for the Department of Homeland Security in New York where he is a special agent in drug trafficking cases.

“He has taken the humble path to help keep America safe,” Jennifer Verina wrote.

Westport’s Alan Kaye, in a letter to today’s New York Times Sunday sports section, said he has a new attitude about the New York Yankees.

“Did you watch the Yankees game last Sunday?” he wrote to the newspaper.

“Amazing game! You know, I have decided that I intellectualize too much. My compulsively analytical personality tells me that baseball is all messed up because teams can just go out and buy the players they need, with the Yankees being the most blatant culprit.

“Now, I have a new attitude. Why should I deprive myself of all the positive emotions of witnessing what might be the best lineup in the history of baseball overcome mediocre pitching and stage what is the most exciting thing in sports to watch the comeback?

“The Yankees did it twice last Sunday . . . in one game! They have done it 27 times already this year. So, I am back to being an unabashed ח and maybe even enthusiastic Yankees fan.”

Westport FC, the defending state champion over-30 soccer team, won its first national tournament game Sunday, defeating Pittsford, N.Y. 1-0 in a driving rainstorm in the Rochester suburb. 

Mark Noonan (Staples ‘83) fired a blistering shot with 18 minutes to go. Chris Mitchell (SHS ‘91) was there to put in the rebound. 

A spectacular save on a breakaway by former professional goalkeeper Alex Deegan (SHS ‘91) with three minutes to play assured victory. 

The next round in the national tournament is set for Westport, on the weekend of June 26-27, exact time and site to be determined.

UConn basketball coach Jim Calhoun spoke to a full house at today’s Y’s Men meeting in Westport. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) WestportNow.com photo

Staples freshman Matt Greco steals second today as he ignited a four-run seventh inning that helped the Wreckers beat New Canaan 7-1 at New Canaan. See SPORTS. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

Westport’s Sean Mulcahy, a 2000 Staples grad and former UConn defensive tackle, is exploring other options after failing his physical with the Cleveland Browns, according to today’s Hartford Courant.

The physical showed lingering effects from a neck injury Mulcahy sustained last fall, the newspaper said.

“I’m going to get some second opinions and hopefully get checked out by some other teams,” Mulcahy said. “There’s a chance I could be done playing ball.”

Mulcahy was selected as a free agent by Cleveland April 25 and reported to a Cleveland mini-camp last Friday.

He underwent a pre-workout physical—and that’s when the bad news came.

Westport’s Sean Mulcahy, drafted Sunday as a free agent by the Cleveland Browns, appreciates all the congratulatory calls and notes from his hometown but cautions that the toughest part is still ahead making the team.

“I’ve gotten a lot of phone calls and e-mail,” Mulcahy, a 2000 Staples grad and standout defensive lineman at UConn, told WestportNow. “I really appreciate everyone’s support.”

He added, “But the real test is the summer training camp in July and August. I’ll have to make the three or four cuts.”

Mulcahy and fellow UConn Husky Uyi Osunde, also drafted by Cleveland as a free agent, will travel to Cleveland Friday for a weekend minicamp. Then it’s back to Storrs to study for finals.