By Kim J. Harmon

MARLBOROUGH, Massachusetts – Shortstop Jon Hull scrambled back and vaulted himself into the air to snare a sinking line drive in the top of the sixth inning and by the time he fell to the grass the Newtown Bombers 10-and-under All Star team had captured the Babe Ruth New England Regional Championship and were on their way to the Cal Ripken World Series in Russellville, Arkansas.

This is the second year in a row that Newtown has sent a 10-year-old All Star team to the Cal Ripken World Series; last year, the Blaze – coached by Bill Kneisel – made the trip out to Vincennes, Indiana where they defeated Little Rock (Arkansas) and Olympia (Washington) before being eliminated.

This year, the Bombers sailed through the first three games of the tournament without allowing a single run – but the team from Gorham, Maine, put an end to that in the top of the first inning on Tuesday night with a booming triple (on the second pitch of the game) and infield groundout.

But the Bombers – who defeated the Norton (12-0) and Northbridge (3-0) teams from Massachusetts before crushing the team from Nashua, New Hampshire (16-0) – quickly rallied with two runs in the bottom of the frame to take a lead it would not relinquish enroute to a 5-1 win.

Reid Schmidt led off with a single and advanced to second on a single by Dan Poeltl. Dean Demers’ fielder’s choice grounder put runners on the corner, but Demers quickly stole second to put two runners in scoring position. Gary Braun lofted a sacrifice fly to right to score Schmidt and then Andrew Kelley singled in Demers to put Newtown ahead, 2-1.

Gorham got a runner to third in the top of the second inning, but Poeltl made a diving stab at short (a preview of Hull’s game-winning catch in the sixth) to quash the threat. And in the top of the third, Gorham put runners on second and third with an infield single and blistering double inside the first base line but Hull – relieving for starter Colton Sposta – caught a Gorham batter looking at a third strike to quash that threat.

There would be no more threats.

Poeltl took to the hill in the fourth inning and put together the first 1-2-3 inning of the game (thanks in large part to two solid plays at short by Hull). That allowed the Bombers – who had just one hit in the previous two innings – to break the game open in the bottom of the fourth.

Mike Allwein rapped a sharp single up the middle on a 3-2 pitch and then advanced to second when Chad Magoulas also singled up the middle. David Gerics followed with a booming double to leftfield to score Allwein and put runners on second and third. With one out, Schmidt looped a short fly to right that allowed Magoulas to score and Poeltl followed with a bad hop grounder to short that allowed Gerics to score and give the Bombers a comfortable, 5-1 lead.

And in the fifth and sixth innings, Poeltl – allowing only an infield single – shut Gorham down and earned himself the Most Valuable Player award for the tournament.

Getting Started

The Bombers began their championship run last Saturday with a day/night doubleheader against the two state championship teams from Massachusetts – Norton and Northbridge.

Game one pitted the locals against Norton, winners of the Eastern Massachusetts crown and although Newtown ended up winning this game by the lop-sided score of 12-0, it was a close game through the fourth inning. The Bombers, clinging to a slim 2-0 lead, were led by the strong pitching of Sposta and Hull and the defensive prowess of Schmidt (catcher) and Poeltl (shortstop).

But the locals exploded for 10 runs in the top of the fifth. Poeltl and Nick Barreto led off with singles and came around to score on a double by Braun. Kelley then doubled, scoring Braun, and scored himself on a wild pitch. Three successive walks to Allwein, Magoulas and Gerics loaded the bases for Hull, whose hard-hit single eluded the Norton center fielder and scored three more runs.

Schmidt then doubled (his second two-bagger of the day) scoring Hull and, after moving to third on Poeltl’s second single of the inning, scored on a sacrifice fly by Braun to run the score to 11-0. Kelley (3-for-4 on the day and named the game MVP) ended the scoring by singling in Poeltl with the last run of the inning.

Magoulas pitched a scoreless bottom of the fifth, sealing the win for the Bombers.

A few hours later, the Bombers returned to the field and pinned a 3-0 loss on Northbridge. Schmidt got the offense going for a second straight game by leading off the top of the first with a walk and scoring on a grounder to second by Demers.

Sposta pitched a scoreless first, getting out of a bases loaded jam by inducing a grounder to second that was easily handled by Gerics to end the inning. Hull and Poeltl kept Northbridge off the scoreboard through the next three innings, with Gerics turning in some acrobatic plays at second that wowed the large crowd.

Coach Josh Hull, who has seen his share of All Star level baseball with his two older sons Tyler and Seth, is always astounded by the Bomber’s defense.

“This team has a bunch of kids playing the infield that could be the starting shortstop on any other team we face and outfielders that catch everything that is hit to them,” he said. “It is so demoralizing for other teams to see one hard-hit ball after the other turned into outs by this defense.”

After Newtown wasted singles by Magoulas and Hull in the fourth, Poeltl pitched a perfect bottom of the inning, aided by two nice plays at third by Barreto. Braun (the game MVP) then stroked a two-out double in the fifth and came in to score on a double by Kelley making it a 2-0 game.

After surrendering a lead-off single in the bottom of the frame, Poeltl calmly struck out two batters and induced a harmless fly ball to third to keep Northbridge scoreless for yet another inning. Poeltl, the Bomber’s closer in most games, gave himself some breathing room in the top of the sixth by driving in Hull with a single, making the score 3-0. He then calmly set down the side in order in the bottom of the inning to secure the win.

On Sunday, the Bombers moved on to face Nashua Northwest from New Hampshire and erupted for a 16-0 win.

Schmidt started the offensive fireworks again with a long triple to left and promptly scored on a single by Poeltl. Demers followed with another single and then with runners on first and second, Braun (once again, the game MVP) drove a double to right center that scored Poeltl. Kelley then drove in Demers with a single and Braun scored on a grounder by Sposta making the score 4-0 against the hard throwing Nashua starter.

Sposta pitched a scoreless second, giving him six scoreless frames in the tourney over three games. The Bombers tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the second and set the stage for an epic third inning explosion.

Sposta and Joe Davis led off the frame with successive singles, with Sposta scored on a well-hit double by Gerics to right center. Schmidt then sent another ball to the fence, scoring Davis and Gerics, and then came in to score on a fielder’s choice grounder by Poeltl. Demers continued his hot hitting (5-for-6 in the tourney to that point) by stroking a double (his third straight hit) that scored Poeltl.

The carnage continued as Braun doubled in Demers and was driven home by yet another double by Sposta in his second at bat of the inning. After another single by Davis, Gerics stroked his second double scoring Sposta and Schmidt completed the scoring with his third RBI of the frame, singling in Gerics with the 10th run of the inning.

Manager Tim Braun was able to take a seat on his ball bucket and relax.

“We generally throw strikes, make plays and hit the ball well, but this was an awesome display by a bunch of very relaxed, yet focused kids,” he said.

And it was because of the awesome display throughout the tournament that Coach Braun – who made a promise to his team should it win the Regionals – will be sporting a new buzz cut on the trip down to Russellville, Arkansas.

Lightning Go 8-2

The Newtown Lightning defeated Woodbridge, 9-7, at Liberty Field last Saturday to improve to 8-2 and clinch the New Canaan Baseball League regular season title. Troy Larsen earned the victory, striking out four batters and yielding only one run during the first three innings, and he was backed by an offense that pounded out eight hits in five innings.

Chris Devaney smashed a triple to tie the score at 1-1 in the second inning and continued home on a throwing error to give the Lightning a lead they never relinquished. Devaney finished the day with two hits, two RBIs and three runs scored.

Ben Stoller scored twice; Ryan Daignault doubled; and Kyle Morrissey, Weston Tardie, Tyler Gibney and catcher Rob Andreotta drove in runs to fuel to offense. In the field, Andreotta tagged two hard-sliding runners out at home plate in the first and second innings on perfect throws from second baseman Stoller. Stoller also took a relay throw in the outfield from Devaney and cut down a Woodbridge runner trying to stretch a double into a triple in the last inning.

On Sunday, the Lightning fell to New Canaan Black, 16-9, in New Canaan. The Lightning offense was led by two hits from Max Lopez, two runs scored by Daignault and doubles by Kaleb Rowe and Devaney. The game marked the return of the hard-hitting Rowe, who had been sidelined for a month with a wrist injury, and defensive stalwart Michael Koch, who missed a few weeks with a knee injury.

Besides the Lightning players mentioned above, two other teammates played key roles in winning the regular-season championship. They were Alex Roche, who played nearly every position, and catcher Pat Thornberg, one of the squad’s top hitters.