Rounding The Bases — Youth Baseball Highlights

The Newtown Babe Ruth Baseball League, comprised of 13- to 15-year-old players, kicked off its 2009 spring season last weekend at Fairfield Hills Field. Game results from the first week are as follows:

Ravens 12, Poeltl’s Posse 5: The Ravens coasted to victory behind an 11-run first-inning explosion and a magnificent pitching debut by Parker Lintz. The Ravens’ first 11 batters reached base safely and scored. After Cole Baldino walked and Michael Koch singled, Ian Kirner drove them home by drilling a triple down the right-field line. Nicky Sajovic ripped an RBI single, Lintz singled and John Hampford walked to load the bases. James Rebman dropped a two-RBI double down the right-field line, and Ryan Truchsess walked to reload the bases. Ryan Daignault walked to force in a run and Rebman scored on a wild pitch. Baldino walked to load the bases and Koch smacked an RBI single to left center. Sajovic knocked in a run with a sacrifice fly to center and Lintz plated two more with a single. Lintz, a former New Jersey player with little pitching experience, shined in his Newtown pitching debut, limiting the opposition to four hits and two walks over four innings. He struck out two and was aided by two excellent catches by center fielder Sajovic, including a sliding dive in left center. Left fielder Hampford also made a brilliant, diving catch in left center.

Poeltl’s Posse received tremendous relief pitching from Greg Hennessey who baffled the Ravens with off-speed stuff for four innings. Hennessey struck out eight of the 13 batters he faced, yielding just one hit, Lintz’s two-RBI single. Teammate Dan Poeltl knocked in three runs with two singles and a double, and Mac Morlock ripped two singles. David Gerics had a double and Tom Floros singled. For the Ravens, Koch finished with three hard-hit singles and three runs scored. Baldino pitched solidly in relief, striking out two in 2 2/3 innings. Sajovic nailed down the victory, getting the final batter to ground out.

Hornets 7 Ravens 5: The Hornets opened a 3-0 first-inning lead, capitalizing on three walks, an error and several wild pitches. Colton Sposta pitched 2 2/3 shutout innings to pick up the win. David Gerics recorded a save, striking out three batters over the final three innings.

Sposta, Ryan Daignault and Gerics combined to strike out 10 Ravens’ batters. The Hornets scored four runs on wild pitches and one on an error. Michael Newman drove in a run with an RBI groundout, and Ryan Daignault crushed a single to left field to bring in another run. The Ravens scored their first run of the season in the fourth inning when Nicky Sajovic slammed a double over the left fielder’s head and Ryan Truchsess slapped an RBI single to right field. The Ravens scored three runs in the fifth inning to narrow the Hornets lead to 5-4. Cole Baldino walked, stole second and scored on a wild pitch. Michael Koch walked and scored on a long triple down the right field line by slugger Ian Kirner. Sajovic followed with an RBI single to score Kirner. Sajovic stole second and then stole third as Gerics uncorked a wild pitch to the backstop, which is farther back from home plate than most major-league backstops. Hustling Ravens catcher Daignault retrieved the ball and threw a strike to Gerics, who tagged out a sliding Sajovic. In the seventh inning, Ravens catcher Tom Floros crushed a triple over the right fielder’s head and scored on an infield throwing error to close out the scoring. Ravens pitchers Koch, Sajovic and Hampford struck out nine batters.

Ravens 7 Hornets 5: Led by the powerful bat of James Rebman, the Ravens boosted their record to 2-1 Tuesday at Fairfield Hills Field. Rebman knocked in three runs, including a clutch two-RBI double, and made a great play in the field. The Hornets got on the board first, scoring two first-inning runs. Tim Wilder and Colton Sposta both reached and were driven in by David Gerics. The Ravens bounced back to tie the score in the second inning. Nicky Sajovic singled and scored on Dean Demers’ hit and John Hampford drilled a double down the left-field line. Rebman tied the score with a sacrifice fly to right field that scored Demers. The Ravens took the lead in the third inning after Cole Baldino walked and Michael Koch crushed a single to center. Parker Lintz smacked two-out single that scored Baldino. In the fourth inning, the Ravens opened the lead to 4-2. Rebman reached on an error, stole second and scored on a two-out single by Ryan Truchsess. The Hornets narrowed the deficit in the top of the fifth inning when Gerics was hit by a pitch, stole second and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Ryan Daignault. Ravens’ center fielder Hampford made a nice over-the-head stab to catch the fly ball, and Rebman robbed the next batter, Tyler Gibney, with a backhanded stab at second base. The Ravens added two more runs in the fifth inning. Lintz and Sajovic walked, and both scored on Rebman’s booming double. Rebman stole third, and after Truchsess walked, the duo pulled off a double steal that scored Rebman. Ian Kirner pitched three strong innings for the Ravens and combined with Sajovic, Baldino and Lintz to hold the Hornets to four hits. Lintz retired all three batters he faced, mowing down the final two with strikeouts, to get the save.