Quite A Turnaround ... Kromberg Earns MVP Honors As Hawks Cap Improbable Run

By Andy Hutchison

BETHEL — Seeded eighth, the underdog Newtown High School baseball team could not have been expected to go all the way in the South-West Conference Tournament. The Hawks, after all, narrowly qualified. But Newtown capped an improbable run to the top in a 9-7 win over No. 3 Notre Dame-Fairfield in the May 28 championship game at Bethel High.

Kyle Kromberg, who had a scary injury on the same field during a midseason game against Bethel, left the playing field with a much better feeling this time around. The Newtown outfielder, on April 28, suffered a concussion, a broken nose and lost consciousness in a collision when he dove for a fly ball, causing him to miss seven games. Kromberg played in Newtown’s semifinal and championship games at Bethel and — not only did he play — he took home tournament Most Valuable Player honors following a three-hit performance in the pinnacle game.

Kromberg knocked in a pair of runs and scored twice as Newtown built leads of 6-0 and 9-3, then held on for a nerve-wracking victory under a steady, light rain.

“It was the most amazing feeling ever. I mean, I wanted to bounce back, I wanted to do my best, but I really didn’t think it would be this good,” Kromberg said.

Kromberg wore the same jersey that had to but cut off of him by medical responders back in April. Catcher Brandon Rosenberger’s mom, Annette Rosenberger, stitched the uniform top back together so Kromberg could wear his original jersey when he came back to visit his teammates while inactive.

“You can’t say enough about a kid like that. He’s got baseball in his blood and I couldn’t be happier for him,” NHS Coach Strait said.

Jake DeVellis also had a three-hit effort and scored three times and Ryan Tita had a pair of hits as part of the Hawks’ 13-hit attack. Newtown jumped on Notre Dame starter Alex Amedia for three runs in the top of the first inning and scored in each of the first four innings. Newtown had a 6-0 lead going to the bottom of the third before the Lancers got to within 6-3. Newtown added what turned out to be three crucial runs in the fourth.

NHS starting pitcher Ricky Gallucci battled into the sixth inning to earn the win and Charlie LoBosco closed the game out. Both pitchers worked into and out of trouble against the hard-hitting Lancers. Gallucci got out of a bases-loaded jam in the fifth and LoBosco did the same in the sixth inning as the Lancers tried to complete a comeback.

ND (16-7) settled for runner-up honors for the second straight year. Newtown (15-8) won its first SWC tourney game in this year’s quarterfinals, nipping top-seeded Pomperaug 2-1.

Kromberg, Tita and Rosenberger all knocked in two runs, and DeVellis, Gallucci and Anthony Lucia each drove in one to spark Newtown’s offensive outburst.

“I was just real happy that we stuck the bats out there, got ’em moving early, scored some runs and put the pressure on them,” Strait said.

Things got a little dicey late in the game when the Lancers eventually got themselves into position to take the lead, but Gallucci and LoBosco got the necessary outs to get the job done to earn a celebration on the pitcher’s mound.

“I dreamed about it, but I didn’t know if we could do it. I mean Notre Dame is a great hitting team — you saw they hit me well at some points, but we had to bear down and get it and I think we wanted it more than anyone. Senior year — that’s all I wanted this year was to win SWCs and I can’t believe we did it. I can’t believe we did it,” Gallucci said.

LoBosco allowed a pair of inherited runners to score on wild pitches in the sixth, but settled down in the final frame and ended it with a strike out.

“In the seventh inning I just kept my cool. I knew the championship was on the line — we’ve got to get this,” LoBosco said.

The Newtown players may have felt some pressure in the late innings, but Strait believes the team’s underdog status took some pressure off throughout the tourney.

“There is no pressure as the eighth seed because you’re expected to lose and we came through with that mentality for the whole tournament — and hopefully it carries through in the state tournament,” the coach said.

Unfortunately for the Hawks, the momentum stopped in an 8-6 loss at Amity in the Class LL’s first round on Monday.