Date: Fri 04-Aug-1995

Publication: Bee

Author: KIMH

Illustration: I

Quick Words:

11-Year-Old-All-Stars

Full Text:

11-Year-Olds Fall In Trumbull Tournament

B Y K IM J. H ARMON

TRUMBULL - It was the middle of the summer, but the bats for the Newtown

Little League's 11-year-old All Star team were far from hot in the Trumbull

Invitational Tournament last week.

" Our bats were ice cold, " said coach Bill Taylor. " Guys we expected to hit

just didn't. "

Newtown was handled roughly in the tournament, losing three games - the first,

4-3, to Fairfield American; the second, 13-0, to Trumbull American; and the

third, 9-0, to Wilton.

" We didn't hit, " said coach Taylor. " That's the bottom line. And when we

did hit the ball, it was right at someone. "

The trouble Newtown had against Fairfield American seems to have set the tone

for the whole tournament.

The 11-year-olds had the bases loaded twice with no outs and were unable to

score either time while losing hold of a 3-2 lead. Newtown had built the lead

with the help of a run-scoring double by Greg Burkhart in the first inning.

Fairfield came back with two runs in the bottom of the fifth to claim the

victory. Then the All Stars' offense went south.

Newtown managed just three hits - a double by Jon Werbeck and singles by

Torrence Lamb and Nate Gaines - in the 13-0 loss to Trumbull American.

Trumbull exploded for nine runs in the sixth inning to blow that game open.

The Newtown bats were still cold a game later, in the 9-0 loss to Wilton. The

11-year-olds collected just one hit . . . that being a double by Brendan

Cavanaugh. If there was one bright spot to an otherwise disappointing

tournament, said coach Taylor, it was the defense.

" Our infield defense was outstanding, to tell you the truth, " said coach

Taylor. " When the ball was put on the ground, it didn't go through. We had a

lot of good defense, the stuff the scorebook doesn't show. "