Aside from the fact that Fairfield Warde has dropped its last two games, it has made some strides.

Warde opened the season 5-0 after failing to qualify for the state tournament. Warde has already picked up quality wins over teams like Norwalk and Greenwich.

One through nine, Warde has a solid lineup that puts the ball in play and boasts good speed. Lead off guy Mike Garcia has been setting the bale, batting .400 with two home runs entering this week. Dario Pugliano (.526) and Will Halliday (.450) have also been key contributors at the plate.

Sophmore Mike Defillippis and junior Shane Goven are two young, solid arms and lead the pitching rotation.

"I thought we’d be much improved from last year,” coach Mike Caron said. “Our offense has been capitalizing on big innings. We’ve gotten key two-out hits and haven’t been stranding a lot of runners.”