The 14U Newtown One-Eyed Cats Babe Ruth baseball team is heading back to the New England Regional Tournament as the Connecticut State Champions for the third time in four years.

The Cats were dominant in their four state wins, outscoring their opponents by a 36-2 margin in the mid-July tourney. Highlights are as follows:

Game 1: Dan Mason pitched a complete game while giving up only two hits in a 15-2 win over Wethersfield. Shea Talbot led the offensive onslaught with three doubles and five RBI. In addition to his complete game, Mason also contributed with a 3-for-3 night at the plate. Trevor Tyrell went 2-for-2 with two walks.

Game 2: Pitching and defense were the themes of the day for Newtown. Joe Pagett pitched a complete game two-hit shutout in a 10-0 win over Shelton. Mark Leonardi was the offensive hero as he went 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles.

Game 3: In the only close game Newtown would have in the tourney, Jack Mulligan continued with the starting pitching dominance. Mulligan threw a complete game three-hit shutout in a 2-0 win over last year's state tourney runner-ups, Simsbury. Shea Talbot and Mulligan each had third inning RBI singles to give Newtown a lead they would never relinquish

Game 4: After some iffy weather almost put an end to this game before it started, Newtown clinched the state tourney with a 9-0 win over Simsbury. A close pitching duel was broken open in the fourth inning when Newtown scored seven runs on some sloppy Simsbury defense and a bases-loaded triple by James Schumacher. Just to make sure Simsbury did not have a chance to get back in the game, Schumacher threw out a pair of base runners over the next two innings. Dan Mason took the mound again and threw Newtown's fourth straight complete game in the tourney

Newtown played exceptional defense throughout the entire tournament. That coupled with great starting pitching and some timely hitting sends the boys up to Oxford, Maine for the regional tourney with a lot of confidence.

"These guys have been together for six years and it shows. The level they're playing at right now is impressive. Their goal now is to get to the World Series. I like their chances," Head Coach Chris Petersen said.