Fairfield — Black Hall Club assistant professional Adam Rainaud is among the contenders after the first day of the 81st Connecticut Open Championship.

Rainaud fired a 4-under 67 at The Patterson Club, leaving him two shots behind co-leaders John Flaherty and Corey Birch, two UConn golf teammates who each fired a 6-under 65. Clark Robinson of Ellington Ridge Country Club resides in third with a 5-under 66.

The 54-hole stroke play tournament continues today. The 150-player field will be cut to the low 40 golfers plus ties after the second round.

The third and final round tees off on Wednesday.

Rainaud, who's tied for fourth with Cody Paladino and Mike Gilmore, had back-to-back birdies on the second and third holes to go to 2-under and remained there at the turn. On the back nine, he recorded birdies on the 12th, 13th and 18th holes while bogeying the 17th.

Golfers dealt with a 38-minute lightning delay and one-hour rain delay on Monday.

It was a good day for several local golfers. Phil Perry of Black Hall shot a 1-under 70, putting him in a tie for 14th while Michael Masso of Lake of Isles had an even par 70. Masso is tied for 19th.

Bill Hermanson of Black Hall (74) and Nick Torrance of Lake of Isles (75) also are in the top 70.

East Regional LL (11-12) softball

• Lower Sussex (Del.) spotted Waterford an early 4-0 lead before rallying for a 5-4 victory over the Connecticut champions in a winners' bracket game of the East Regional Little League (11-12) softball tournament at Bristol.

Waterford will play North Bellmore-North Merrick (N.Y.) in an elimination game on Tuesday at 2 p.m. Gina McKittrick tripled and drove in two runs for Waterford while Jessica San Juan added an RBI single.

East Region JL (13-14) softball

• Pawcatuck/Westerly lost its first game of the tournament, 4-1, to Charlton-Dudley (Mass.) in Orange. Abby Flakus went 2-for-3 for Pawcatuck and Briana Beverly doubled. Also, Trinity Lennon struck out five and allowed just one earned run in seven innings. Pawcatuck/Westerly will play Fairfield, a 7-0 winner over Portland (Me.) in an elimination game on Tuesday at 9 a.m.

Sutera (11-12) tournament

• Frank Pacheco and Kenny Miller Jr. pitched New London to a 10-8 victory over Montville and a spot in Wednesday's championship game against Lyme/Old Lyme at 5:30 p.m. Miller also hit a two-run homer for New London while Ethan McKinney homered for Montville.

• Lyme/Old Lyme advanced to the final with a 5-1 win over Pawcatuck as Sam Richardson struck out seven. Tait Sawden hit a double for Lyme/Old Lyme and Drew Champagne and Ian Spackin had two hits each for Pawcatuck.

Sutera (9-10) tournament

• East Lyme advanced to the championship by defeating Ledyard 7-3. Patrick Kelly, Gavin O'Brien, Owen Elmer, Drew Bechham and Ethan Moore all had extra base hits for East Lyme. Jojo Parcido struck out five for pitching for Ledyard.

• Derrell Mitchell stuck out seven as New London topped Waterford 8-4 to advance to Wednesday's final against East Lyme at 5:30 p.m. Mitchell and Greg Santora Jr. had two hits each for New London. Kolby Quinn and Jeff Fabian had two hits each for Waterford.