Norwalk Scores and Standings: June 23

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Weston's Bernie D'Amato is not going to give up his Connecticut Amateur title without a fight.

The defending champion won a pair of close matches Wednesday at Rolling Hills Country Club in Wilton to advance to the quarterfinals of the 109th Amateur Championship.

The 20-year-old junior-to-be at Princeton, who plays out of Wheeler Park in Bridgeport, held off Jeff Hogan of Watertown in his morning round, 2 & 1, then slipped past Ryan Leahy of Orange Hills in the second round, 1-up.

Last year, D'Amato whipped Nick Taylor of Heritage Village in the final, 8 and 6. He is looking to become the first repeat winner in the Amateur since Will Strickler, who currently plays on the PGA Tour, in 2007-2008.

Wilton's John Murphy, the medalist in qualifying with a 36-hole total of 4-under par 138, was ousted by Tom McCarthy of Twins Hills in the second round, 2 & 1. Murphy cruised into the second round with a 7 & 5 rout of Richter Park's Chet Hrostek.

Two-down after nine, Murphy won Nos. 10 and 11 to get the match back to all square, but he could never get the lead and McCarthy closed things out with a par on No. 17 after birdieing the 16th to regain his two-hole advantage.

A total of five local players advanced to the quarterfinals. Joining D'Amato in the round of eight was the Country Club of Darien's Devon O'Rourke, who survived a marathon day of golf in which was required to play 40 holes.

O'Rourke needed three extra holes to outlast first-round leader Branden Chicorka of River Valley in the first round, then eliminated John Jackopsic of Gillett Ridge in 19 holes in the second round.

Other local players reaching the quarterfinals were 2006 Amateur champion Tommy McDonagh of Shorehaven, Greg Reilly of the Country Club of Darien and Curtis Loop of the New Canaan Country Club.

The quarterfinals and semifinals are set for Thursday, followed by the 36-hole final on Friday at Rolling Hills.

McDonagh survived a tight first-round match against Brian Ahern of Wamponoag (1-up) before closing out Norwich's Christopher Delucia in the second round, 4 & 3.

A former standout at St. Luke's, McDonagh will be a fifth-year senior at Penn State in the fall. In 2006 at the age of 17, he became the youngest winner in the history of the Connecticut Amateur. Current PGA Tour member J.J.  Henry was 19 when he captured the first of his three Amateur crowns.

McDonagh will meet D'Amato in the quarterfinals on Thursday morning at 8:10 a.m. in a battle of former champions.  Reilly will face McCarthy at 8 a.m.,O'rourke battles Matt Smith of Quinnatisset at 8:20 and Loop takes on Yale's Sam Bernstein at 8:30 p.m. .

Reilly won a pair of close matches, defeating Ben Hunter of Sterling Farms in the morning, 3 and 2, and edging Greenwich's David Pastiore in the afternoon, 1-up. Pastiore, who plays out of the eClub of Faifield, advanced with a 6 & 4 decision over Peter Ballo of Woodway.

Loop, who earned All-Big East honors at Georgetown this past season after transferring from California, ousted Ellinton Ridge's K.J. Camera in the first round, 5 and 4, then defeated Race Brook's Matt Dziubina in the afternoon, 3-2.

-- Norwalk placed four players on the All-FCIAC baseball team, tied with regular-season champion St. Joseph for the second-most in the league. FCIAC champion Staples led with five.

Named to the first team from Norwalk were pitcher James Cooksey, who threw a no-hitter in the regular season against McMahon, catcher Kevin Daniele, outfielder Matt Ederle and utilityman Leon Fleming.  McMahon's Aleko Petridis also made the first team as a utility player.

Norwalk and McMahon were well-represented on the All-FCIAC Central Division team as well.

Named from Norwalk were infielder Spencer Jacoby and utilityman John Lautenbach. Tabbed from McMahon were catcher Chris Holomakoff and infielders Ronnie Sherman and Jamie Restivo and outfielder  Zack O’Connor.

McMahon also had three players earn honorable mention status - Scott Angeley, Dan Diaz and Brandon Davis.

The quarterfinals of the District One Little League all-towns tournament of champions took place Wednesday. Here are the results:

Norwalk 8, Redding 2

Rowayton 3, Darien National 1

Wilton 10, Ridgefield American 2

Ridgefield National 6, Weston 3

In semifinal games on Thursday, Norwalk faces Rowayton at Bailey Beach in Rowayton  and Wilton takes on Ridgefield National at Bill Terry Field in Wilton.

The final is set for Sunday at 2 p.m.  The Norwalk Jaycees won last year's TOC, defeating Rowayton Hose, 4-3.

WEDNESDAY'S SCHEDULE

American Legion Baseball

Norwalk Sr. vs. Darien/NC Sr., 5:30 p.m., at City Hall Annex

THURSDAY'S SCHEDULE

American Legion Baseball

Greenwich Jr. vs. Norwalk Jr., 5:45 p.m., at Greenwich High School

AMERICAN LEGION BASEBALL STANDINGS