Date: Fri 21-Jul-1995

Publication: Bee

Author: KIMH

Illustration: I

Quick Words:

10-Year-Old-LL-Diamond-Finals

Full Text:

10-Year-Old LL All Stars

Lose In Diamond Inviational Final

By Kim Harmon

A Hollywood scriptwriter could hardly do any better.

It was the bottom of the fifth and the score was tied, 5-5. Newtown and

Trumbull American were locked in a battle for the championship of the Newtown

Little League's Diamond Invitational for 11-year-old All-Stars.

Newtown was up. There were two outs. Torrence Lamb was on second, representing

the go-ahead run, Matt Pachniuk was on first, and Nate Gaines was scratching a

place for himself in the batters' box.

It was climax time.

But whereas Hollywood likes the good ending, this one did not end so well for

Newtown. Gaines singled up the middle, but Lamb, trying to score from second,

was gunned out at the plate by Trumbull American's Hoffbauer, keeping the

score tied.

And Trumbull American, which lost, 5-4, in extra-innings to PJ Foley in the

1994 Diamond Invitational, took advantage, scoring once in the top of the

sixth and holding on for the 6-5 victory.

" That took the wind out of our sails, " admitted coach Bill Taylor. " If it

wasn't a perfect throw, Torrence would have been safe. "

And Newtown would have completed a comeback that started in the bottom of the

third, when the 11-year-olds were looking up at Trumbull from the depths of a

4-1 deficit.

" The kids were wired for the game, " said coach Taylor. " We made a couple of

mistakes early, but we came back. We made some spectacular plays after that.

If we had tied it up, I think we may have had an advantage, because we had

more pitchers left on our bench than they did. "

Trumbull American, though, turned a lead-off single in the top of the sixth in

the winning run and in the bottom of the frame the TA defense turned a couple

hard smashes in the hole by Greg Taylor and Mark DeFeo into outs, keeping

Newtown, once again, from winning the prize of its own tournament.

Twice, now, the 11-year-olds finished as runners-up. The three other times in

the five-year history of the tournament, the 11s finished third.

" I didn't know what kind of team we had, really, " said coach Taylor. " They

played with a lot of heart and went far beyond what I expected them to do. "

Newtown showed its heart, climbing back from the 4-1 deficit. It used three

walks, an error, and a single by Pete Engel to push three runs across the

plate and quickly tie Trumbull American, 4-4.

TA, however, scored once in the top of the fourth to take the 5-4 lead.

In the bottom of the fifth, DeFeo led off by being walked. Engel flew out to

right field for the first out and Ryan Walker fanned for the second out. But

singles by Lamb, Pachniuk and Gaines plated the run and very nearly put the

11s ahead.

" I think they came here expecting to blow us out, " said coach Taylor. " But

we played well. We weren't overwhelmed at all. "

The Semi-Final Win

With four of its first five hitters in the first inning coming around to

score, the Newtown 11-year-old All-Stars had enough impetus to hold off

Shelton National, 7-5, in the Diamond Invitational semi-finals, earning a spot

in the tournament championship.

Taylor led off the game by grounding out to the shortstop, but Lamb and

Burkhart slapped back-to-back singles. DeFeo drove them both home with a

triple and then scored on a Walker single. Walker then scored on an Engel

single and, after one inning, the 11s had a 4-1 lead over Shelton.

Shelton did not score in the second or third, but Newtown added two more in

the third to increase its lead to 6-1.

It started with a two-out single by Engel and ended with a single by Brendan

Cavanaugh, who eventually scored the sixth run of the game for the 11s.

Shelton National started its comeback in the fourth inning, scoring twice on

the strength of a pair of singles. In the fifth, Shelton added two more after

a walk, single and error fueled their offense.

But with the score suddenly close, Newtown added an insurance run in the

fifth. A one-out single by Cavanaugh turned into the 11s' seventh run of the

game and in the bottom of the sixth Newtown was able to put Shelton away

fairly quietly.

Defensively, Engel was a sharpshooter behind the plate for Newtown. The young

catcher gunned down three Shelton runners trying to steal an extra base.

Walker and DeFeo also sparked the defense while Cavanaugh and Gregg Burkart

handled the pitching duties.

In Trumbull Tourney

As wired as the Newtown 11-year-olds were for the championship of their

Diamond Invitational last Saturday, they were just as flat in the Trumbull

11-year-old tournament the following day against PJ Foley of Naugatuck.

Yet, they won.

The 11s erased a 4-1 deficit in the top of the sixth, scoring five times to

earn the 6-4 opening-round win.

" Oh, we were really flat, " said coach Taylor, explaining, " They kept us at

bay all day and then they just lost it. "

Newtown was actually scoreless for four innings, falling into a 4-0 hole,

before John Werbeck's lead-off walk in the top of the fifth turned into the

11s first run of the game on a Gaines double.

Newtown was down to its final out when the offense got started and the wheels

of the PJ Foley machine came flying off.

Pachniuk singled to lead off the inning and then Walker added a one-out

single, advancing to second and giving the 11s runners on second and third

with one down.

A strikeout left the 11s with one last chance.

That last chance came when Cavanaugh was plunked on an 0-2 pitch, loading the

bases. Two walks later Á to Gaines and Engel - trimmed the PJ Foley lead to

4-3 and then Lamb, who pinch-ran for Cavanaugh, executed a fine delay steal

from third to tie up the score.

An infield error plated the last two Newtown runs.

PJ Foley was retired quietly in the bottom of the sixth and the 11s escaped

with the 6-4 win.

Keith Neidig and DeFeo pitched the game for Newtown and helped spark the

defense by gobbling up a lot of come backers to the mound

The Newtown 11-year-old All-Star team is made up of Ross Brier, Gregg

Burkhart, Brendan Cavanaugh, Mark DeFeo, Josh Dittmar, Peter Engel, JT

Everett, Nathan Gaines, Torrence Lamb, Keith Neidig, Matt Pachniuk, Tommy

Ramsdell, Brian Rodden, Greg Taylor, Ryan Walker, John Werbeck, and Mark

Werbeck.