Lightning Strike, Top Ridgefield For Title

Led by the booming bats of Scott Cunningham, Ben Stoller, John Lebinski, Brandon Cooper, and Eric Sutton, the Newtown Lightning beat Ridgefield, 10-8, to win the Connecticut Senior Baseball League’s spring championship June 6 at Fairfield Hills Field.

It was the third consecutive title for the team of 16-19-year-old players. Against Ridgefield, the Lightning bounced back from a 1-0 deficit with three first-inning runs after two outs. Wyatt Depuy reached on an error, stole second and, after a walk to Lebinski, scored on Sutton’s RBI single to center. Cunningham followed by crushing a two-RBI double over the center fielder’s head, and the Lightning never surrendered the lead.

In the second inning, Austin Ekstrom, the game’s winning pitcher, reached on a two-base error when the left fielder dropped a fly ball. Alex Saviano lined an RBI single down the left field line, and Cooper blasted an RBI double to left field. Stoller made it back-to-back RBI doubles by drilling the ball down the right-field line and scored when the first baseman booted Depuy’s hard-hit groundball. Lebinski clouted the longest hit of the night, a towering RBI double to deep left field, to give the Lightning an 8-1 lead.

Ridgefield rallied for one third-inning run and four fourth-inning runs to cut Newtown’s lead to 8-6. In the bottom of the fourth, Cooper reached on a two-base throwing error by the shortstop. Stoller beat out an infield single, and the late throw by pitcher Sean Phelan sailed into right field, scoring Cooper and moving Stoller to second. Depuy’s groundout moved Stoller to third, and he scored on a passed ball to increase the lead to 10-6.

First baseman Stoller made two outstanding defensive plays to back Ekstrom in the fifth and sixth innings. Shortstop Sutton perfectly fielded a hard-hit smash, but his throw bounced and was off target. Stoller left the first-base bag, scooped the ball out of the dirt and stepped back on the base to nip the runner. With two men on base in the sixth, Stoller fielded a sizzling grounder and made an unassisted putout.

Ekstrom scattered six hits and walked three over six innings, yielding only three earned runs and striking out nine. Sutton struck out the side in relief to get the save and preserve the Lightning’s championship.

The Lightning finished the season with a 9-5 record, including three wins over the first-place team, Amity, which finished with a 10-4 record.

Ekstrom led the pitching staff all season, striking out 47 batters in 30 innings. Depuy had the highest batting average, .462, and the most RBIs, 14. Stoller had the most runs scored, 17, and Sutton had the highest on-base percentage, 533.