By Kim J. Harmon

Last week when a player like Joe DeVellis whacked two grand slams in one game of the Newtown Babe Ruth American League championship, no one gave much thought to where a kid like that came from.

No, not the National League.

Not the Minors.

Nor the Midgets.

Nor even the Rookies.

Well, sure, a player does sort of make his way through all of those divisions on his way up to the top – but for some kids the very first step they take in baseball is all the way back in a place like Charlie Brown T-Ball.

About 120 young baseball players in Newtown gathered this past spring for some good ol’ fashioned T-Ball. With those 120 players (ages 4 to 6), 20 volunteer coaches (Tom Bittman served as site director), and all kinds of mothers and fathers there was quite a bit of activity at Newtown High School through the course of the six-week program (sponsored by the Newtown Parks and Recreation Department).

The players (roughly 80% of them boys and the other 20% girls) spent their time learning the basic skills of the sport – the hitting, the catching, the throwing – and had a lot of fun competing against one other in games.

The rules are simple – no scores, no outs. All the players from one team will bat, then all the players from the other team will bat, and that comprises one inning of play. The players will attempt to hit the ball off the tee (placed there by the coaches) and then run the bases like in any other game of baseball.

The final game of the spring was on June 16 and all the players got a medallion for their participation.

ORANGE

Coach – Mike Sowa

James Cochran

Stefan Dullinger

Matthew Hoyt

Erik Laaksonen

Brian Leblanc

Robert Linden

Michael Long

Drew Martin

Timothy McGrath

Anthony Pagett

Tanner Sowa

Sean Watkins

BLACK

Coach – Jim Seymour

Coach – Robert Sonntag

John Duffy

Cameron Eiseman

Charlie Feltch

Richard Kerins

Jacob Locorotondo

Brandon Marks

David Mauro

Adam Oelberg

Ryan Seymour

Sean Sonntag

Levi Vanherk

SAGE

Coach – Ray Larnerd

Danny Bittman

Cleo Conk

Jake Dance

Christopher Erikson

Megan Evans

Vanessa Feldman

Joshua Goldman

Daniel Hamar

Andrew Jensen

Timothy Kelly

Grant Larnerd

LIGHT BLUE

Coach – Michael Bailey

Coach – Michael Daubert

Calvin Bailey

Timothy Ciavara

Tyler Coleman

Justin Corsello

Alexander DaPra

Sean Dardine

Michael Daubert

Wyatt Depuy

Bradley Fish

Casey Fuller

Alexander Nydell

Tristan Villamil

ROYAL

Coach – Jeff Stanton

Coach – Brian Molley

Melissa Biscoe

Harrison Buzzi

Brendon Callery

Parker Detrick

Jessica Gibbons

Kiely Kuligowski

Sam Molley

Emily Nacewicz

Andrew Ryan

Christopher Stanton

Alex Weber

RED

Coach – Thomas Milano

Coach – Guy Russo

Linda Biafore

Steven Biafore

Jessica Fusaro

Patrick Milano

Jacob Moore

Daniel Olszewski

Allena Ruscoe

Andrei Ruscoe

Mitchell Russo

Michael Spak

Peter Strom

Ben Thompson

FOREST

Coach – Doug Frattaroli

Coach – Eileen Frattaroli

David Cartisano

Haley Cobb

Michael Davis

Julia Frattaroli

Benjamin Galassi

Evan Grega

Kory Kling

James MacDonald

Jeffrey Maki

Jonah Muniz

Thomas Primavera

NAVY

Coach – Gene McIntyre

Coach – Vince Cannavo

Nick Balakier

Brandi Braziel

Hanni Brumaghim

Emily Cannavo

Gregory Horne

JP Kitzmiller

Austin McIntyre

Brandon McIntyre

Wesley Morlock

Michael Scharfenberg

Robert Shaw

Mitchell Stewart

WHITE

Coach – Randall Dieckman

Coach – Gina Long

Joseph Alvarez

Steven Anderau

Francesco Biancardi

Libby DiDomizio

Natalie Dieckman

Kristen English

Matthew Frost

Conner Gallagher

Michael Long

Hunter Moore

Matthew Shannon

Joshua Tuffy

GREY

Coach – Jeff Zahansky

Coach – Kim Connolly

Trevor Connolly

Mason Flynn

Erica Knapp

Alex LaCroce

Stephen Rahr

Tyler Roberts

Mathew Sabia

Kerry Scallon

Jason Sherwood

Tyler Sherwood

Brandon Smith

Jack Zahansky