7-Year-Old Division

Stratton Faxon Law vs Art and Frame of Danbury: The Stratton Faxon Red Rockets team had a strong showing fielding only a seven-man team against the full roster of the Art and Frame Killer Bees. Steven Cotton had a strong performance playing first base in the first inning, by making two consecutive outs. Jimmy Dauber made a nice catch when he fielded a fly ball from the field to end the second inning. Zack Majeski made a terrific double play in the second inning, catching a fly ball and running down the out at first base. Andon Bambino led off the third inning with a base hit to get the inning started. Connor Faxon snagged a line drive in the third inning while playing third base and quickly ran down an advancing running to prevent a score. Miller Tetreault had two singles at bat to drive in one run for the team.

The Killer Bees were led by the strong play of Michael Ihlefeld and Michael Early, both in the field and batting. Matt Pietrorazio, Hayden Miller, Ryan Heran, and Sean O’Sullivan continued to provide their power hitting and Aiden Gardner had the hit of the game for the Killer Bees, delivering a deep short to left field for a double.

Landscaping Unlimited vs Spire: The Landscaping Unlimited Gators played their last official game of the season Saturday with some great baseball. Coach Todd made it to the game just in time after getting his wife and two-day-old baby boy Kevin Gay home from the hospital. Eric Gay snagged a line drive out of the air at shortstop and turned it into an unprecedented triple play. Gay also fielded a ground ball on the pitcher’s mound and connected cleanly with Drew Poseno at first base to get the out. Walker Previdi made an out on a grounder to first. Good stops were also made by Devin Herbstman, Josh Parsons, and Evan Casagrande. At the plate, Casagrande smacked the first pitch of the game down the left field line. The Gators had multiple singles by David Crumb, Eli Martiska, Michael Jewell, Benjamin Ochs, and Sam Cannizzo. The big hit of the day was a stand-up double clear out to right-center by Drew Poseno.

Art and Frame of Danbury vs Claris Construction: The Art and Frame Killer Bees closed out their season with strong performances from all players. Zachary Katsuleres smashed the ball deep to the outfield and Aiden Gardner continued his hot play. Liam O’Sullivan delivered multiple well-placed singles and Adam Zibluk also drove the ball well in several at bats. Matt Pietrorazio, Hayden Miller, Sean O’Sullivan, and Ryan Heran closed out their season the way they started, each delivering numerous doubles. Michael Early and Michael Ihlefeld also finished the season on a high note, playing great defense and driving the ball to the outfield.

The Claris Construction Flaming Oranges had a balanced attack with every player getting a base hit and everyone playing solid defense in the field. George Sandercox and Jake Mailloux had great hits, while Jack Petersen stroked two doubles to deep center field. Vinny Wilson, Travis McClay, and Cal Reilly made awesome plays in the field and anchored the Flaming Orange defense.

Dr Baum Orthodontics vs Hollandia Nursery: The Dr Baum Blue Sharks finished the season with a strong appearance at the plate. Jake Hossler continues to develop into a great multi-tool player. Athan Tavar continued to find the gaps with big at bats. “Two Hands” Tyler Harrison put it all together contributing at the plate and in the field. Lewis Tomaj played an All-Star caliber shortstop while Connor Smith brought his big stick to the park and provided his most powerful hits of the season. Trevor Jacozzi contributed at the plate, behind the plate and in the field for the team. Jackson Newsom covered more bases than canvas and James Ciaramello led the team in RBIs.

Hollandia Nursery was led by Zandar Kasbarian, Torin Kearney, and Ryan Verdi, who each collected three hits and an RBI. Walter Brady and Brendan Adams had two hits and scored three runs. Hollandia was also sharp in the field with Peter Reelick recording three outs at first base while Daniel DeBartolomeo, Carter Ballard, and Khal Bashawaty were solid in the infield, each recording an assist. Joseph DiMaria covered a lot of ground in centerfield, keeping two runners from taking second base on hits in the gap. Thomas Speiser was solid behind the plate deftly moving to block two wild pitches.

Apex Glass vs Frate Custom Cabinetry: The offensive star of the game was Ryan McMahon, who slugged 3 doubles. The defensive star of the game was Edwin Tout, who in addition to getting on base each time at bat, made an outstanding play at shortstop to glove a hard-hit grounder up the middle. Zachary Riley stroked his first double of the season on a hard-hit, line drive and made a great defensive play at third base, while Nick Sortino smashed a hard line drive up the middle for a double and excelled at the catching position by making several difficult plays to block wild pitches. Andrew McMahon, Matthew McMahon, and Gregory Gargano each played an inning of strong defense behind the plate and each had multiple hits in the game. Rounding-out the offensive barrage was Owen Browne, who was on-base with three hits in the game while playing solid defense at first.

18U Summer Travel Baseball

Shelton 10, Lightning 0: Shelton was led by three outstanding college players, including Eric Christensen, who last year surpassed Newtown High Coach Matt Memoli as Shelton High School’s all-time hits leader. Newtown pitcher Colton Sposta yielded just four hits and three runs, and struck out four batters over the first three innings. Newtown trailed just 3-0 after three innings. Ben Stoller and Tim Jorgensen, who crushed a line drive to the gap in right center, had Newtown hits. Newtown’s lone defensive highlight came in the first inning when first baseman Stoller jumped high and made a one-hand grab with two men on and two outs.

Ridgefield 9, Lightning 8: Trailing 9-3 in the final inning, Newtown rallied for five runs but came up short in a wood-bat game. Ridgefield — a team with high school varsity players from Danbury and Brookfield High Schools, Ridgefield junior varsity players and a top college player — took a 1-0 first-inning lead. Newtown fell behind but responded with three second-inning runs. Tim Jorgensen crushed a double to left center, and Colton Sposta walked. Spencer Warshaw ripped an RBI single to right, and Will Arndt blasted a double to center to knock in Sposta. Warshaw, who would later pitch 1 1/3 scoreless innings in relief, also scored on an errant relay throw by the centerfielder. Ridgefield scored six third-inning runs to take a 7-3 lead. Down by six runs in the final inning, Jorgensen, Sposta, and Arndt walked to load the bases with two outs. Stoller fought off several pitches before drilling a two-RBI single to left. Mile Lobosco reached on an error, and John Lebinski battled back from an 0-2 count and ripped an RBI single. Dan Milot reached on an error, and Newtown had the tying and winning runs on base before making the final out.

Lightning 7, Ridgefield 6: Down 6-3 with one out and no base runners in the final inning, the Lightning bounced back to beat Ridgefield. Tim Jorgensen reached on an error, and Scott Cunningham and Colton Sposta walked to load the bases. Will Arndt knocked in a run with a force out for two outs. The next three batters — Ben Stoller, Mike Lobosco, and Gary Braun — refused to lose and came up with clutch at-bats. Stoller battled back from two strikes to draw a walk, Lobosco walked, and Braun lined a walk-off, game-winning single to right, scoring Arndt and Stoller. Lobosco, who relieved Sposta in the sixth inning, was the winning pitcher, striking out three of the five batters he faced. Sposta pitched well over the first five innings, yielding four hits and striking out five, before running into trouble in the sixth inning. Braun and Dan Milot each finished the game with two singles.

Lightning 5, Danbury One 2: Pitching for the first time in many years, Newtown’s Gary Braun hurled a spectacular complete game Wednesday night at Newtown High School Field. Danbury, comprised primarily of Abbott Tech High School varsity players who won the Constitution StateConference Western Division title last month, ribbed Braun when he took the mound, because he was a catcher on that team and Newtown’s lone Abbott Tech player. Braun got the last laugh, scattering nine hits, walking only one, striking out four and pitching craftily out of numerous jams. Newtown took a 2-0 first-inning lead in the wood-bat game. Will Arndt smashed a single through the left-field hole, Ben Stoller walked and both runners moved up on a wild pitch. Dan Milot walked on a wild pitch and streaked for second. Danbury catcher Alex Johnson fired the ball over the second baseman’s head into center field, and Arndt and Stoller scored. The Lightning upped the lead to 3-0 in the third inning. Arndt walked, and Stoller drilled a line single to right. Arndt moved to third on a fielder’s choice and scored on a wild pitch. Braun yielded single runs in the fourth and fifth innings but escaped further damage by throwing to first baseman Stoller, who made a quick tag to pick off a runner to end the fifth inning. In the bottom of the inning, Arndt singled, stole second and scored on an RBI single to right by Mike Lobosco. In the sixth inning, the Lightning upped the lead to 5-2 when John Lebinski walked against reliever Jake Barriere, moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on a sizzling RBI double down the left field line by Tim Jorgensen.  Lebinski also hit a long double. After six games, Lobosco leads the Lightning with a .462 batting average, followed by Stoller’s .385, Jorgensen’s .357 and Arndt’s .308. Stoller’s .579 on-base percentage leads the team, followed by Lobosco at .529 and Arndt at .471.