By Tim Parry

Not a lot of people outside the Staples locker room heard of Jeff Frusciante before the beginning of the 2007 season. Heck, playing in an offense that ran a lot more than it passed, not a lot of people heard of Frusciante after catching six touchdown passes for the Wreckers.

But Catholic University head coach Dave Dunn knew enough about Frusciante to make him a part of his 2008 recruiting class. And Frusciante knew enough about Catholic that he wanted to spend his next four years there.

“The system fits me perfect down there. I’ll be playing wide receiver, and they throw a lot,” Frusciante said before a practice session on Monday for tonight’s Hall of Fame Classic in West Haven. “The coach, I thought he was great, and everything just clicked there.”

Frusciante hopes to represent Staples well, too, as its lone representative tonight on the Fairfield County team, which is hoping to snap its five game losing streak against New Haven. Though he was more known as a wide receiver, he will be in the defensive backfield tonight.

“It feels real good to play in it, even to just get picked,” Frusciante said. “And even if I didn’t get to play, it’s nice to be a part of it.”

Frusciante and the Wreckers went a perfect 8-0 int he regular season before before stumbling in the FCIAC championship game against Greenwich and in the first round of the CIAC playoffs against Bunnell.

But it’s that final regular season win that sticks in Frusciante’s mind. That was an overtime win over New Canaan in the same stadium he was standing in on media day.

“We thought we tied. We were kind of annoyed, and then we found out about the Kansas City shootout,” Frusciante said. “Watching that in college football and getting to play in a game like that was awesome to play in. It was something you dream about being a part of. I’m just glad it worked out in our favor.”

Video bonus footage of Frusciante:

It’s been a busy weekend for the CIAC, with state champions to crown in a ton of sports.

And after a cool spring weather-wise, mother nature went crazy yesterday, blistering athletes with temperatures in the 90s. Which meant in-season conditioning became a major factor for all the athletes involved.

Here’s a quick roundup of winners, losers (though to be politically correct, they are runners-up), and more, including clips from the local sports media…

FRIDAY:
Westhill wins Class LL Baseball Title
I slammed Westhill pitched T.J. Hickey’s mound antics in a post a few weeks ago. He’s recovered nicely and, on the mound, became the go-to guy a lot of us saw during the football season. As he kept Masuk batters in check, Bobby Migliazza and Greg Smith led the offense in a 12-1 win up at Palmer Field in Middletown.

The clips: Stamford Advocate game story; Stamford Advocate sidebar; Connecticut Post.

Also Friday: Darien takes volleyball title; Staples wins again in Class L.

SATURDAY
The links:

• Masuk phenom Rachele Fico shuts down Naugatuck: Connecticut Post; New Haven Register.
• Law upsets Ludlowe for Class L baseball title: New Haven Register; Connecticut Post.
• Danbury takes Division II girls lacrosse championship: News-Times; News-Times sidebar.
• Prefect ending for New Fairfield lacrosse team: News-Times.
• Prep tops Ridgefield in 3OT to take Class L lacrosse title: Connecticut Post.
• Darien girls defeat Wilton again for girls lacrosse championship: Stamford Advocate.
• Blue Wave Boys make it a lacrosse sweep: Stamford Advocate.

How important was prom night for the Westhill baseball team? Not as important as a shot at the FCIAC championship, according to one Viking parent. The seniors on the team reportedly left the Friday prom at 10:30 p.m. to get a good night’s sleep before the game against Staples, which began at noon at The Ballpark at Harbor Yard. This was in contrast to the Vikings not getting home until 1 a.m. Thursday after a rain-delayed start to its semifinals win over Norwalk…

David Speer is already a legend for pitching Staples to the FCIAC championship as a sophomore. But he’s not the only 10th-grader to step up for the Wreckers. First baseman Grant Moss delivered a two-out bases-loaded single in the top of the seventh that proved to be the game-winner…

The next batter Westhill senior ace T.J. Hickey faced was Mike Rutski, who walked to make it a 3-1 game. Hickey responded with words for the home plate umpire, and kicked some dirt on the way back to the mound. Certainly he didn’t show the same composure as he had in last-second wins for the Vikings on the football field…

Speaking of Hickey, who likes to have the ball in his hands in big-pressure situations, his costly play in the seventh opened the tide for Staples. Vin Lametta hit a slow-roller towards shortstop and reached out to bare-hand the ball. He dropped the ball, but recovered in time to throw to first-baseman Steve Rivera, who was late getting to the bag and dropped the ball in front of a diving Lametta…

While concession stand prices were a reminder that the FCIAC Championship Game was played in a minor league ballpark, the Bridgeport Bluefish did very little Saturday - if anything - to promote itself in front of hundreds of potential attendees. Let this be a rule of thumb: Parking a Bluefish-wrapped P.T. Cruiser near the entrance and having the team’s URL under the main scoreboard does not guarantee fans coming back to enjoy the main tenant’s product. And with the All-FCIAC teams being honored as well, this was a missed marketing opportunity for the Bluefish, who are struggling at the gate so far this season…

Stamford head coach Bob Augustyn was honored as the FCIAC Coach of the Year on Saturday, just one day after announcing his retirement. He will continue to be a guidance councilor at the school, but said he is looking forward to some of the little things - like April vacation and spring training - that many of us take lightly…

In March, there was no guarantee that Staples sophomore lefty pitcher David Speer would make the varsity team. Just two months later, he’s the FCIAC’s top hurler.

After being named to the All-FCIAC first-team on Saturday, he went out and pitched a complete-game four hitter against Westhill to give seventh-seeded Staples its first FCIAC championship in 23 seasons.

He now has an FCIAC tournament MVP trophy, but he’s not old enough to have a driver’s license. But the composure he showed on the mound at The Ballpark at Harbor Yard makes you think he’s pass Driver’s Ed. with flying colors.

After all, Westhill managed just one in the first two innings of error-plagued Staples baseball.

“The errors weren’t really that costly. They came at the right time, they didn’t come back to haunt us.” Speer said. “It’s just been the perfect year.”

Speer (8-0) began the season as a reliever for the Wreckers. But he solidified the Staples rotation with a shut-out at New Canaan on April 11, and has not looked back.

“When you bring kids to play in a minor-league ballpark, they’re going to be nervous, there are going to be errors,” Staples head coach Jack McFarland said. “But Speer has got flawless mechanics. Every pitch has a different speed, so you can’t time him.”

But Speer can still walk around the halls of Staples and go unnoticed, McFarland said.

Or maybe that’s not the case anymore.

“He’s a straight-A student, he doesn’t talk much, so teachers in the hallway will ask me to point him out. So I’ll find a 6-foot-4, 210-lb. person and say ‘there he is, right there.’” McFarland said. “He wears his pants up to [his chest], he’s got braces and a ballcap, and he’s just 15 years old, but he’s a master on the mound.”

Mike Samela, his battery mate and a senior captain, says he didn’t even know anything about Speer until this season.

“He’s something special,” Samela said. “He’s got ice in his veins. He’s not your normal sophomore, he looks like he’s been pitching on the varsity for years.”

Next stop for Staples: A Tuesday-night game at McMahon in the first round of the CIAC Class LL tournament. The Wreckers defeated McMahon 8-7 in an FCIAC semifinal game this past Wednesday. Westhill will host Naugatuck in a first round game Tuesday afternoon.

Click below for more sights and sounds from the FCIAC championship postgame:

When the average sports fan hears the name “Mike Samela” in the fall, the thought of the Staples quarterback running a bootleg for an overtime touchdown as snow showers fell on New Canaan’s Dunning Field to lift the Wreckers to the FCIAC football title game comes to mind.

In the springtime, it’s the thought of an athletic catcher who lets nothing get past him, and a dominant hitter on the baseball diamond.

Though the senior’s high school career will end in May - or June - of this year, his dominance on the athletic fields should continue for four more years. Samela has agreed to play both baseball and football at Amherst, and his Wreckers coaches think he can handle the balance of athletics and academics.

And they don’t have to look far down Samela’s family tree for proof: Matt Samela, Mike’s brother, is a starter on both the football and baseball teams at Ithaca College.

“He’s tremendously gifted, He’s a kid that will keep getting better and better,” said Staples head football coach Marce Petroccio, who took in the Staples-Ludlowe game last Friday. “He’s going to have a great career at Amherst and he’s going to get a great education, so it’s a home run for Amherst.”

Though Samela was Staples’ starting quarterback for just one season, he’s slated to play the position at Amherst.

“He’s got a tremendous arm, he’s got quick feet, he should do very well there,” Petroccio said.

Staples head baseball coach Jack McFarland, who has also coached Samela on the football field, said playing two sports in college is very difficult, but believes Samela is the kind of kid who can do it.

“Most kids are told you can’t do it, don’t do it, it’s too much,” McFarland said. “But he’s a high achiever, I think he’ll do fine.”

There is, of course, the challenges involved in balancing two sports and academics, one that Petroccio said can become a conflict even on the high school level.

“The football coach wants you lifting weights and getting ready for spring football, and the baseball coach wants you playing fall baseball,” Petroccio said. “But if anyone can do it, Mike can do it. He’s a type of kid that will do whatever you ask whenever you ask. But when you pile it on with the academics, it’s a lot to ask a kid.”

LocalSportsFeed founder Tim Parry sat down with Samela after the Staples-Ludlowe game. Here’s what he had to say about the challenge:

Thirty of Fairfield County’s finest football-playing scholar-athletes were honored April 10 by the Ralph DeSantis chapter of the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame. Also honored at the dinner at Continental Manor in Norwalk were the head and assistant coaches of the year in the SWC and FCIAC, as well as two officials of the year.

Three players received $500 scholarships to be used towards their college education as well: William Bass (Bassick), Richard Holmes (Danbury), and Chris Payne (Wilton).

Wilton’s Tim Eagen was introduced as the FCIAC’s coach of the year by his mentor, Tom Fujitani, who he served under as an assistant coach for several years, and thanked his assistant coaches and the Warriors’ booster club for its efforts in helping to build a top-notch program. Ridgefield’s Kevin Callahan introduced one of his former players, New Fairfield’s Andy Buchsbaum, as the SWC’s coach of the year.

Carl Cairo (Greenwich) and John Pereira (Pomperaug) received their league’s respective assistant coach of the year awards.

The scholar-athletes honered were:

• William Bass, Bassick
• Nick Verderosa, Bethel
• Chris Green, Brien McMahon
• Kenneth Cobb, Bridgeport Central
• Steven Moss, Brookfield
• Jeffrey Farrell, Bunnell
• Greg Passineau, Canterbury
• Richard Holmes, Danbury
• George Rhein, Darien
• Matthew O’Laughlin, Fairfield Ludlowe
• Thomas Marx Jr., Fairfield Warde
• Jonathan Meyers, Greenwich
• Scott Hickling, Joel Barlow
• Victor Ciancetta, Masuk
• Chris Lemoine, New Canaan
• Patrick Cassidy, New Fairfield
• Jonathan Henion, New Milford
• Eric Puffer, Newtown
• Cyprian Oyomba, Norwalk
• Patrick Purrell, Notre Dame-Fairfield
• Stephen Barton, Pomperaug
• Tyler Strittmatter, Ridgefield
• Michael Dinihanien, St. Joseph
• Jason Zins, Staples
• Justin Shumyhora, Stratford
• John O’Leary, Trinity Catholic
• Jameson Cherilus, Trumbull
• John Midy, Westhill
• Dylan Hannum, Weston
• Chris Payne, Wilton

Also honored were a few unsung heroes of the game, the referees. Without them, of course, the games wouldn’t count in the standings. Bob Seirup, who has been working with the Fairfield County Football Association for 54 seasons, was honored as its official of the year. Bill Vasutro was the Colonial Football Association’s honoree.