By Andy Hutchison

WESTPORT — Connor Brill hit a two-run, tie-breaking homer to cap a five-run sixth inning as the Staples baseball team rallied to outslug visiting Fairfield Ludlowe 11-9 on Friday. Jules Cicero accounted for five runs with a solo homer in the first and a grand slam in a five-run second as the Wreckers opened a 6-0 lead.

Ludlowe got the next nine runs before Staples turned the game around in the sixth. Vincent Vega delivered an RBI single and Bruce Schlegelmilch hit a two-run double to tie the game at nine, setting up Brill’s heroics.

Cicero finished 4-for-4 with five RBI; Vega, Mark Kelly and Brill each had two hits with Kelly smacking a double. Chase Landgraf also doubled and knocked in a run. Kelly got the win in relief.

Staples was coming off a 10-0 win over Bridgeport Central on Tuesday following a 7-2 loss to Fairfield Warde the day before. The Wreckers are 11-4 overall.

Andy Hutchison

^{_{Andy Hutchison has been covering school sports — including Staples athletics — as well as news and feature stories, since the 1990s. He is the sports editor at the Newtown Bee. He writes for the Monroe Sun. He was director of communications and radio color commentator for the Bridgeport Sound Tigers (now Islanders) hockey team. He has won numerous writing awards, including regional and national first-place honors.}}