BETHEL - Heading into a game against South Meriden on Wednesday night, the Newtown Babe Ruth 11-year-old All Stars were just one win away from qualifying for finals of the Alfred H. Leonard Invitational Tournament in Bethel.
BETHEL â Heading into a game against South Meriden on Wednesday night, the Newtown Babe Ruth 11-year-old All Stars were just one win away from qualifying for finals of the Alfred H. Leonard Invitational Tournament in Bethel.
The All-Stars are one of 47 teams which began tournament play early last week. The game against South Meriden took place after press time.
In the tournament opener, Newtown cruised past New Fairfield, 10-2. Aron Fay and Mike Tibbetts banged out two hits apiece while Sean Ryan, Ryan McGrath and Stephen Marks all combined on the mound to shut New Fairfield down.
The game ended with Newtown turning a rare 6-4-3 double play. Tibbets tossed to Joe Bowen, who fired over to Tucker Kass for the out. Kass ended up breaking his finger on the play and will be out of commission for a few weeks.
Newtown then nipped New Canaan, 3-2, on a hit by Brian Shimko in the bottom of the sixth. Scott Suhoza scored on Tom Gaboriaultâs first-inning single to give Newtown its firs run and then Fay lofted a sacrifice fly in the fourth to score another run. In the sixth, Shimko drilled a shot to right-center, scoring Marks with the winning run.
Brian Cullinan and Kevin Cahalane each had a pair of hits. On defense, Marks made five unassisted putouts at first while Bowen made numerous assists at shortstop. Ryan, Tibbetts and McGrath shared the pitching chores.
It didnât get any easier for Newtown on Sunday, facing West Norwalk, the defending Bethel Tournament champions. But with two outs in the bottom of the sixth, Tibbetts and McGrath singled and Marks drove an 0-2 pitch to centerfield to score Tibbetts with the only run of the game and give Newtown a date with South Meriden.
Tibbetts started the game on the hill, pitching two scoreless innings with a walk and two strikeouts. McGrath then came on and pitched three scoreless innings, walking none and fanning three. Marks, the closer, set West Norwalk down 1-2-3 in the sixth. The trio allowed just three hits on the day.
In the field, Gaboriault made two spectacular catches in right field while McGrath and Cahalane also registered key putouts in the outfield.
The Babe Ruth 11-year-old All Stars will be hosting the District Tournament, which starts on Saturday, July 8, with Newtown facing Brookfield at 1 pm on Field A at Glander Stadium (Fairfield Hills).