Base Technologies Baseball Team Wins Three

The Newtown Base Technologies 15U-14U baseball team won three of four games this past week. Game highlights are as follows:

Newtown Base Technologies 6 Ridgefield Lawn & Landscaping 4: Newtown pitcher Dean Demers walked none while hurling the team’s first complete game, and Kaleb Rowe clubbed a towering bases-loaded triple to break the game open in the third inning. Newtown scored first when Mike Daubert singled, stole second and scored on two errors. In the second inning, Newtown pushed the lead to 3-0. John Lebinski reached on an error, Rowe singled to right center and Andrew Martinez ripped a single to load the bases. Daubert crushed a 2-RBI single to left center. In the third inning, Newtown upped the lead to 6-0. Brock Chimileski walked, Ben Stoller singled to right field and Lebinski walked. That’s when Rowe unloaded a long, bases-clearing blast down the right field line. In the fourth inning, right fielder Martinez made a nice over-the-shoulder catch to strand a Ridgefield runner at second base. The following inning, catcher Chimileski pegged a strike to Daubert to cut down a base stealer and end the inning. Newtown played errorless ball and Demers pitched a perfect game for 3 2/3 innings and shut out Ridgefield for the first six innings. In the game, he struck out six and scattered six hits.

Ridgefield Lawn & Landscaping 13 Newtown Base Technologies 6: Newtown’s offense was led by Dean Demers’ three singles and two singles each by Andrew Martinez and Kaleb Rowe. Brock Chimileski and Mike Daubert smashed doubles. Alex Romeo was the only Newtown pitcher who shut down the relentless Ridgefield offense. Romeo pitched 1 1/3 shutout innings, striking out three, walking none and yielding just one single. Third baseman Ryan Errico made an excellent defensive play, ranging into foul territory in left field to catch a high pop-up. First baseman Greg Horne made a sensational play, hustling in and diving to catch a foul pop in front of the first-base dugout.

Newtown Base Technologies 8 Danbury 4: Newtown pitchers John Lebinski and Mario Pizighelli held Danbury to one run over the first six innings to lead Newtown under the lights last Friday at Danbury’s Westerners Field. Newtown scored two two-out runs in the first inning. Dean Demers singled to right field, stole second and scored on Ben Stoller’s single to right field. John Lebinski bombed a long RBI double to right center to score Stoller. After Danbury scored a first-inning run to narrow Newtown’s lead to 2-1, Lebinski blanked Danbury for two innings. He was aided by shortstop Demers who backhanded a smash in the hole in the second inning and threw to Stoller for an out. Pizighelli fired harder than he has all season, retiring six straight batters in the fourth and fifth innings, including four on strikeouts.  Leading 2-1 in the fifth inning, Newtown struck for a single run when Andrew Martinez drilled a single, moved to second on a passed ball and scored on a clutch single on a 3-0 count by Ryan O’Keefe. In the next inning, Newtown added five more runs to take an 8-1 lead. Pizighelli, Demers and Stoller stroked consecutive singles and Lebinski reached on an error by the first baseman. Brandon Cooper whacked a double to right center before Martinez and Ryan Daignault singled and O’Keefe knocked in a run on a fielder’s choice. In the bottom of the sixth inning, catcher Daignault made arguably the greatest play some coaches had ever seen. He sprinted for a foul pop on the first-base side, dove head-first, and reached out to grab the ball while colliding face-first into a fence in front of the Danbury dugout. He wasn’t injured and went back behind the plate. After Demers came in the next inning to end a last-inning Danbury rally, Lebinski lifted Daignault up in triumph.

Newtown Base Technologies 7, Ridgefield Dimitri’s Diner 6: Trailing 6-5 in the last inning, Newtown’s Greg Horne slapped a clutch bases-loaded single down the right field line to score the winning runs last week at Newtown Middle School Field. Trailing 4-0 in the second inning, Ben Stoller started Newtown’s comeback by clubbing a double to right and moving to third when the Ridgefield catcher threw to first after a dropped third strike. Horne smacked an RBI grounder to the shortstop who threw wildly to first, advancing Horne to second. Troy Larsen crushed a single to left, Colin Dutt walked and Mike Daubert drove in a run with a bases-loaded walk. Newtown narrowed the deficit to 4-3 in the third inning. Stoller reached on an error, stole second and third, and scored when Lebinski drilled a double down the right field line. Newtown took a 5-4 lead in the fourth inning when Austin Raftery singled, Daubert walked and both scored on Dean Demers’ misplayed fly to centerfield. After Ridgefield took the lead with single runs in the fifth and sixth innings, Newtown had several clutch at-bats to win the game in the final frame. Alex Romeo and Stoller walked before John Lebinski was hit by a pitch, setting the stage for Horne’s game-winning hit.