Newtown Middle School Baseball Results

Results from recent Newtown Middle School baseball action:

NMS 11, Schaghticoke of New Milford 4: The Newtown Middle School bats were electric in a win at home on Friday. Catcher Matt Sabia (4-for-4, double) and outfielder Connor Noonan (double) led the charge. Leading off the third inning, Matt Mossberger sparked a four-run rally with a picture-perfect bunt for a base hit down the third base line. Later in the inning, Garrison Buzzanca capped a seven-pitch at-bat by jolting a two-out single that drove in a pair.

On the mound for the Lions, starter Mike Davis  allowed only an earned run in a four-inning stint. Relievers Eric Pisani and Anthony Venezia peppered the zone to preserve the lead.

Short stop Virgil Procaccini flashed the leather in the sixth frame on a 1-6-3 putout in which Pisani deflected a comebacker behind the mound and Procaccini somehow arrived in time to field and fire for the out.

NMS 9, Bethel 8: In a see-saw battle at the Bethel Middle School field, reliever Virgil Procaccini whiffed the final batter with the tying run on second base to secure a nail-biter for the Newtown Middle School nine. Bethel, which entered the contest with only one loss, banged the ball hard all day and kept  Newtown outfielders Tom Floros, Greg Hennessey, and Matt Hoyt on the run. Right fielder Hennessey was the gunner, firing a bullet to first for a 9-3 putout, and canceling another runner at second with a toss from deep right center.

Every Lions starter contributed at least one base hit. Matt Sabia pounded three, and Hoyt, Procaccini, and Austin Raftery had two hits apiece. Late in the game, Hennessey and Grant Ricketts produced base knocks in the clutch. Earlier, second sacker Garrison Buzzanca had tied the game with an RBI on a nicely-executed safety-squeeze bunt.

With road games looming later in the week at Oxford and in Middlebury, the Lions’ record stood at 5-2-1.