Newtown 11’s Capture Second In Jimmy Fund Tournament

The Newtown 11-year-old Blue Travel Team captured second place in the annual Bethel Jimmy Fund Tournament this past week. Newtown lost to Danbury 9-6 in the championship game after reeling off five straight wins to reach the finale, which was held on June 24.

Newtown opened the 12-team tournament with a 6-2 loss to archrival Danbury. Nick Lotrecchiano hit a homerun and Virgil Procaccini added two hits in the opener.

Dropped to the loser’s bracket, Big Blue could not afford any more losses and promptly won a handful of games. The winning streak started (after a forfeit by Woodbridge) with a dramatic come-from-behind 7-6 victory over New Fairfield. In that game, Newtown jumped out to a quick lead with some nice hitting and solid pitching by Jim Parker, but New Fairfield roared back and took a 6-3 lead going to the bottom of the sixth inning. Facing elimination, the Newtown bats came alive. Charlie Huegi started the rally and Newtown plated four runs without recording an out to earn the comeback win. Jim Parker had three hits and Julian Dunn added two, and each of them drove in a pair of runs.

Newtown and its resurgent hitting attack beat New Canaan 8-1 in the next round. The 10-hit attack was led by Kevin Conte, Colton Smith, Connor Roche and Lotrecchiano, each of whom had two hits apiece. Julian Dunn added a towering two-run homer. New Canaan was limited to four hits with strong pitching from Bobby Archiere, Connor Roche and Troy Frangione. The win forced Newtown to play a second game of the day against New Milford. Once again, strong pitching by Procaccini, Roche and Archiere propelled Newtown to any easy 7-1 victory, avenging last season’s loss in the district playoffs. They allowed only two hits and a walk, and the defense was strong. The offense was fueled by Josh Krapf with an RBI single and Lotrechiano, who homered for the second time, and drove in two runs.

Newtown faced a familiar Southbury team for the championship of the loser’s bracket and the right to face Danbury in the finals. Newtown continued its solid hitting, plating a run in the first inning and five more in the second to jump out to a quick lead. The offense was led by Smith’s three hits and multi-hit games from Parker and Roche. The pitching of Procaccini, Smith and Archiere held off a furious rally from Southbury, to preserve the 9-6 victory.

The finals against Danbury began on a promising note, with Newtown striking for a run on a near home run by Procaccini, but Danbury stormed back with some clutch two-out hitting and held off a furious Newtown rally for the 9-6 win.

Newtown is managed by Rob “Coach” Frangione, Pat Smith and Ken Roche.