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…

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: