DOVER, N.H. — The Newtown Wildcats capped off an improbable undefeated run through the 11-year-old Cal Ripken 50-70 New England Regional tournament with a 6-5 come-from-behind victory over Norwalk in the championship game, on August 6.

The Wildcats ripped through the eight-team double elimination tournament that began on August 1, defeating Hudson, Mass., 11-2, host Dover 12-2, and Connecticut state champion Norwalk 3-2 to advance to the championship for a rematch with Norwalk.

In the final round, Norwalk, needed to defeat Newtown twice on a sunny afternoon. Coming into the tournament, Norwalk (25-4) had dominated Newtown (18-13), beating Newtown by five runs or more in each of their four meetings, including a 10-2 whitewashing in the Connecticut state final.

Similarly to their previous matchups played in Connecticut, Norwalk jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Three Norwalk singles and three Newtown errors resulted in the five runs, but only one of the runs yielded by Newtown starter Matt Pietrorazio was earned. After going down 1-2-3, in the bottom of the first, the second inning was a turning point.

Pietrorazio struggled with a tight strike zone and walked three batters in the frame, but struck out two to strand three Norwalk runners. Then in the bottom of the second, Pietrorazio lined an RBI single, driving in Karl Miller who had singled. Pietrorazio allowed one base runner in each of the next two innings, but catcher Jack Petersen threw out a runner stealing second base to end the top of the fourth.

“Matt gave us what we needed on the mound after the rough first inning. We needed to keep Norwalk where they were to even think about coming back,” Newtown Manager Dan Cotton said. 

In the bottom of the fourth, Newtown cut into the lead again. Hayden Miller singled, Petersen was called out on a controversial call at first base, but Miller advanced to second. Karl Miller singled and stole second. Andon Bambino singled in Hayden Miller, and Zack Majeski drove in Karl Miller with a ground out to make the score 5-3.

Majeski relieved Pietrorazio and put up a zero in the top of the fifth and the Newtown bats went to work again in the bottom of the inning. With one out, Trevor Jacozzi singled, and Andrew McMahon reached on an error. Zander Kasbarian singled to advance the runners, and Hayden Miller walked, bringing Jacozzi home to make the score 5-4. Petersen singled to drive in McMahon, and Karl Miller drove in Kasbarian with a single to give Newtown a 6-5 lead. Bambino then hit a ball to deep right field to drive in Hayden Miller with a sacrifice fly, but upon appeal, the umpire called Miller out for leaving third base too early. Newtown was three outs away from the championship. 

Newtown made its sixth error of the game to start the sixth, but, Majeski induced the next Norwalk batter to ground into a 4-6-3 double play (Jacozzi to Hayden Miller to Pietrorazio) to pump up the Newtown crowd. Majeski, after loading the bases with a walk and two singles, fell behind 3-0 on Norwalk’s number three hitter before throwing two straight strikes. After a foul ball, Majeski got the Norwalk batter to ground to Kasbarian who fielded a bad hop and nipped the runner by a half step to seal the championship.

Karl Miller was named player of the game for his 3-for-3 performance at the plate.

Earlier Rounds

In game one of the tournament, Kasbarian pitched brilliantly for four innings, giving up one run and striking out five to earn player of the game honors in the 11-2 victory over Hudson, the Western Massachusetts state champion. No Newtown batter had more than one hit, but Karl Miller scored three times and Jacozzi had two RBI.

In game two, Newtown faced host Dover, without star hitter Hayden Miller who strained his hamstring in the opening ceremonies Friday night and had hobbled noticeably in the Saturday victory.  Dover had upset defending champion Cranston, R.I., in the opening round. After walking the first three batters, two of which scored, starting pitcher Pietrorazio settled down to face the minimum, retiring the next nine batters he faced.

Newtown scored one in the first, seven in the second, and four in the third inning for its 12 runs. Kasbarian earned player of the game honors for the second straight day, this time with his bat. He was 2-for-2 with two RBI and three runs scored. Pietrorazio, Petersen, and Steven Cotton each had two hits and Ryan Heran slammed an RBI double to pace the rest of the offense. David Braun also had an RBI single and finished up on the mound, holding Dover scoreless in the fourth inning to preserve the ten-run mercy victory.

With victories in the first two games, both Newtown and Norwalk had days off on August 3 before facing off under the lights on August 4. Newtown jumped out to a lead in the first when Hayden Miller hit a ball over the 230 sign for a solo home run. Petersen followed with a single and was driven in by Bambino’s line drive single to give Newtown a 2-0 lead in the top of the first. Starting pitcher Kasbarian worked around three singles in the first to strand the bases loaded. Then he started cruising, giving up only a run in the third on an RBI groundout.

Newtown also could not plate any runs for several innings. With Newtown up 2-1 and one out in the bottom of the fifth, Newtown right fielder Andrew McMahon caught a fly ball and when speedy Norwalk leadoff batter AJ Robinson took off from second base, McMahon threw a strike to third baseman Majeski, which started a rundown in which six Newtown players took part and the final tag was made by centerfielder Karl Miller when Robinson just plain tuckered out.

In the top of the sixth, Newtown plated an important insurance run when Bambino grounded out to score Karl Miller who had walked and stolen second and third base. Kasbarian stayed on the mound for the sixth. With one out, a single and double put runners on second and third. Cotton stayed with Kasbarian, “I had a feeling about Zander. He has the guts to get the big out,” the coach said.

Kasbarian got Kam Walker to ground to third, freezing the runner at third. Then he got the next batter to pop up weakly in the infield but Pietrorazio lost the potential game ender in the lights. But Kasbarian induced a grounder to short where player of the game Hayden Miller stepped on second for the final out to send Newtown the championship. Other hitting stars were Petersen (2-for-3), Majeski (2-for-2), and Bambino (2 RBI).

Norwalk defeated New Hampshire state champion Swanzey 4-3 on August 5 to advance to play Newtown in the championship.

Hayden Miller and Andrew McMahon gave the Cal Ripken pledge prior to two of the games.

The Wildcats hit .370 in the tournament, striking out only nine times. Jack Petersen led the team with six hits, but three batters hit higher than his .462 tournament average (Steven Cotton and Trevor Jacozzi each hit .600, and Zack Majeski hit .500). Every player had at least one hit and one RBI.  Wildcat pitchers gave up 11 runs (only two earned runs) in 22 innings, striking out 15 batters.