The Newtown Force 16-and-under travel softball team last had a chance to visit the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, take in a Cleveland Indians/Detroit Tigers major league baseball game and, oh yeah, play a little softball at the U16 Pony Nationals in Vienna, Ohio.

More than 110 teams from around the country competed and the Force went 3-4-1 before being eliminated in bracket play. The Force went 0-2-1 in pool play and then 3-2 in double elimination bracket play.

A 6-2 loss to the Yorktown Huskies of New York was the one that bounced the Force from the tournament. Kaila Harrington doubled and scored on a passed ball in the third inning while Elissa Robertson singled in Niki Usher in the fifth inning for the only Newtown runs. Rachel Zinni also had a key hit while pitching five solid innings, allowing seven hits with four walks and striking out five.

Laura Conroy sparked the defense, making two putouts with an assist.

The Force slipped past the Huskies, 7-6, earlier in bracket play and did most of the damage with a five-run third inning explosion.

Zinni singled, Robertson was hit by a pitch, Nora Lynn Shimko smacked an RBI double to center, Kelly Tenney walked and Megan Sajovic rapped an RBI single. But with Melissa Fracker at the plate, the Huskies were called for three illegal pitches – scoring three runs and crediting Fracker with three RBI – before finally plunking Fracker with a pitch to send her to first.

The Huskies tied the game in the top of the fifth, but the Force came back in the bottom of the frame to win on an RBI single by Zinni.

Stacy Broughton pitched three innings, allowing four hits while striking out two as Zinni went for two innings, scattering four hits while whiffing one.

In other bracket play, the Force dropped a 4-0 decision to the Mass Drifters with Shimko collecting the only hit. In an 8-1 win over the Northern Virginia Blaze, Katie Schmidt swatted a three-run homer in the sixth inning to put the game out of reach. Broughton had a pair of RBI while Zinni, Harrington and Roberston all drove in runs.

Sajovic fired a one hitter, walking five and striking out six.

In a 3-2 win over Connecticut Mirage Purple, Schmidt clubbed an RBI double and Tenney rapped an RBI single in the first. The game went into extra innings, invoking the international tiebreaker (a runner automatically starts off at second base), and the Force captured the win when Robertson sacrificed Nikki Usher to third while Shimko’s bunt brought Usher home. The Mirage threatened in the bottom of the frame, loading the bases, but Schmidt made two great plays at third to shut the door.

Broughton and Sajovic combined on a two hitter.

In pool play, the Force tied the Long Island Express, 2-2, with both runs coming on a sacrifice bunt by Zinni. Usher and Conroy scored the key runs. Broughton pitched six solid innings, scattering four hits while striking out five. Conroy sparkled in the field with three putouts and a pair of assists.

In a 3-1 loss to Ohio Classic Purple, Shimko tripled and Kelly Tenney singled to tie the game, 1-1, but the Classic scored twice in the seventh to put the game away. Zinning pitched all seven innings, allowing four hits while striking out five.

And in a 4-1 loss to Pennsylvania Lower Perkiomen Xtreme, the Force’s only run came in the third when Annemarie Davis reach base on an error, moved to second on Zinni’s bunt and then to third on Robertson’s sacrifice and scored on a passed ball.

Out of the 113 teams competing, the Force were ranked 49th. As for teams they competed against, Ohio Classic Purple was ranked third, the Yorktown Huskies 17th, the Mass Drifters 33rd, the Long Island Express and Connecticut Mirage tied for 65th.

That strong showing in the Pony Nationals came after the Force won the second annual New England Territorial Cup Softball Tournament in North Branford (receiving an invitation to the Triple Crown World Series Tournament in Park City, Utah, in 2007).

The Force positioned themselves as the third seed from pool play with two wins, a loss and a tie. The locals defeated the Western Mass Storm (1-0) and the New York City Lady Bulldogs (4-1) but lost to the Seacoast Hurricanes of New Hampshire (4-1) and tied the New Jersey Fury (0-0).

The Force, though, defeated the No. 2 seeded Fury in the semi-finals and followed up with a win over the No. 1 seeded Hurricanes in the championship.

That championship game went 14 innings, with the Force prevailing 2-1 when Usher started out at second (per tiebreaker rules), moved to third on a bunt by Zinni and scored on a bunt by Sajovic. Zinni also pitched all 14 innings, scattering six hits while walking three and striking out eight. Earlier in the game, a Shimko triple and Tenney sacrifice fly plated the Force’s only other run.

The Force reached the championship with a convincing 8-1 win over the Fury. Schmidt drove in four runs to power the offense while Conroy drove in two on a great sacrifice bunt. Broughton pitched six innings, striking out three, and Shimko ended the game with a diving catch from behind the plate.

In the first elimination round game, the Force slipped past the Western Mass Storm, 5-4, in extra innings. Shimko drove in a pair of runs and Sajovic doubled in a run in regular frames while Zinni’s sac fly in the extra inning scored Usher with the winning run. Broughton pitched well, giving up just three hits and striking out two in seven innings of work.

In pool play, the Force opened with a 1-0 win over the Storm in seven innings. Shimko roped a triple and Schmidt followed with a sac fly to score the only run. On defense, Usher made two great catches in center field. Zinni pitched seven shutout innings, striking out five.

The locals then defeated the Bulldogs, 4-1, as Sajovic, Shimko and Schmidt all drove in runs. Tenney made a big defensive play in the sixth and Conroy had four assists in the game to spark the defense. Broughton fired a complete-game three hitter.

The Force then dropped a 4-1 decision to the Hurricanes, managing just three hits, with Shimko driving in the lone run. Sajovic pitched six innings, striking out five while allowing 5 hits. Pool play concluded with the locals deadlocking the Fury, 0-0, as time ran out. Schmidt had nine assists at short, throwing out two runners at the plate and stopping the go-ahead run. Zinning and Broughton combined on a five-hitter with four strikeouts.

In the tournament, Zinni allowed just one earned run in 26 innings of working (0.28 earned run average) while allowing 11 hits and striking out 16. Broughton allowed three earned runs in 21 innings of work (1.00 ERA) while allowing 11 hits and striking out 12 batters. And Sajovic allowed two earned runs in six innings of work (2.33 ERA) while scattering five hits and striking out five batters.

U14 HAWKS

Hawks 1, AVS  0

Concord 14, Hawks 3

Hawks 10, Revere (Mass) 6

Hawks 3, Stamford 2

Concord 10, Hawks 0

The Newtown Hawks 14-and-under travel softball team tuned up for its trip to the U14 Nationals in Varina, Virginia, with a third-place finish at the Babe Ruth New England Regional Tournament in Stamford last weekend.

The Hawks boasted exciting wins over AVS New Hampshire (1-0); Revere, Massachusetts (10-6) and in-state rival Stamford (3-2). But a pair of losses to powerhouse Concord, New Hampshire (14-3 and 10-0) knocked the locals out of the tournament.

In the opener, Ally Modzelewski went the distance, scattering two hits, walking only one and fanning six to lead Newtown past AVS. Newtown’s lone run came in the first inning and when Marley Koschel was hit by a pitch, and moved over to second on an infield grounder by Laura Newberry, and scored on a single by hot-hitting Rachael Ruiz.

Ashley Kuligowski also singled in the game.

Koschel sparked the defense with several outstanding catches in centerfield as second baseman Kaitlin Marsden made several fine plays and Modzelewski registered seven defensive assists from the mound.

The highlight of the defensive effort came in the bottom of the seventh as New Hampshire’s last offense charge was stopped cold when Koschel made a catch in center field and relayed to Newberry, who chased down an AVS runner who overran the base to complete a double play.

In the first loss to Concord, Marsden, Nicole Elias, Newberry and Modzelewski all had hits. Newtown was down just one in the fifth, but a  huge inning by Concord sealed the victory.

In the win over Revere, Massachusetts, Modzelewski and Kate Bowen combined on the mound for the victory. Modzelewski held Revere scoreless and retired the first six batters, but Revere rallied in the third to scored three runs. Bowen would finish the game, striking out eight batters.

Kuligowski pounded out three hits while Newberry and Koschel each collected two. Emily Krewson, Bowen, Marsden, and Christine Beck all singled. Elias made two great catches on pop ups to spark the defense

In the revenge win over Stamford (Stamford knocked Newtown out of the state tournament a year ago), Stamford took an early 1-0 lead off a two-hit rally in the third inning but Newtown would counter in the sixth with two runs. Kuligowski walked and was moved to second on a infield ground out by Koschel. Marsden reached base on a fielder’s choice, moving Kuligowski to third, and a hard hit ball by Emily Krewson produced an infield  error, which scored Kuligowski.

Modzelewski would follow with another hard hit ball which yielded yet another Stamford error, scoring Marsden.

Stamford tied the score in the top of the seventh but in the bottom of the frame the locals grabbed the win when Bowen reached base on an error and scored on Caitlin Cosgrove’s booming double to the centerfield fence. Bowen went the distance on the mound, striking out eight.

Newberry (with a thrilling over the back catch in the hole behind third) made several superb defensive plays while Koschel made a spectacular diving catch in center and then popped up to throw the ball in to Bowen, who stepped on second to double off the runner. Modzelewski, Newberry, Bowen, Kuligowski and Koschel all collected singles.

And in the 10-0 Loser’s Bracket loss to Concord, Christine Beck, Bowen, Kuligowski and Ruiz all collected singles. Outfielder Alex Caracciolo played well for the Hawks. During the tournament every player on the Newtown team at least one time reached base safely.  For the tournament, Kuligowski hit a team-high .461 while Bowen hit .428 over the weekend.

The Hawks will be heading for Virginia next weekend for the August 14 start of the Babe Ruth Nationals.

Babe Ruth Registration

Registration for Newtown Babe Ruth Fall Softball is now in progress. Play is open to players ages eight to 12 as of December 31, 2005. Go to http://www.newtownsoftball.org for further registration information and forms. Registration closes August 23. Play will begin within a few weeks later. For more information or questions, contact Sheila Ozalis at smithozalis@cs.com.