By Kim J. Harmon

Nearly two months after beginning the 2006 vintage base ball season in Waterbury – and traveling to Simsbury, Hartford and Pittsfield, Massachusetts – the Newtown Sandy Hooks finally had a chance to host their season opener on Sunday afternoon at Fairfield Hills.

A stalwart band of nine men – the Boston Colonials – made the long trip down from Massachusetts for  a 1886/1864 doubleheader match and took back with them a pair of wins. Though the Colonials had early trouble trying to hit Doug “Pops” Pendergist, early fielding troubles staked the visitors to a five-run lead.

Later, a titanic home run over the fence in right field – and off one of the abandoned Fairfield Hills buildings – had the Colonials in high spirits.

On the other hand, few of the Newtown strikers were able to solve the twirling curve ball of the Boston hurler although “Pops” smashed a pair of long doubles down the left field line and Dennis “Doughboy” Norwich rapped a hard single up the middle to help notch a couple of aces for the local nine.

Because of the length of the 1886 game, a shortened 1864 match was played but the Colonials - despite having never played those rules before - proved equally adept and recorded another win.

The Hooks will attempt to earn that first win this weekend when they travel to Providence to take on the Cornish Game Hens.