By Kim J. Harmon

There was no champagne and no Gatorade – just orange soda being sprayed all about after the Gruce Tile Orange Crush claimed the Newtown Babe Ruth National League championship on Sunday night with a thrilling, 9-7 win over Drug Center.

Oh, it was Drug Center that looked to have the early jump on this game. Down 1-0 (Gruce had taken an early lead on back-to-back singles by Stefan Poulin and Mike Frattaroli and a high-hop grounder by Joel Minalgo), Drug Center exploded for six runs in the bottom of the second inning to take a 6-1 lead.

Jeff Peterson led off the frame with a single, then stole second and third. Jimmy Gaston walked and stole second and Jeff Correa earned a one-out walk to load the bases. A wild pitch scored Peterson with the first run and then consecutive walks to Mike Shannon and Derek Charbonneau allowed Gaston to score the second run. Zack Leighton then singled in a pair of runs and later scored on a double. Croy Carlin added a run-scoring, infield dribbler.

But Gruce answered right back.

In the top of the third inning, six consecutive hits from Ken Cardelle, Poulin, Frattaroli, Minalgo and Allen Hubbard led the charge. Hubbard had a two-run double and then rolled all the way around the bases to score on an errant throw.

In the bottom of the third, Drug Center scored once when Leighton was issued a walk with the bases loaded.

That tied the score at 7-7.

But in the top of the fifth, Gruce pushed across a run to take an 8-7 lead and added an insurance run in the top of the sixth on a wild pitch with the bases loaded. Then Poulin took the ball for the Orange Crush and fanned the first batter, induced the next to pop out back to him, and then watched as the third batter grounded to Matt Coletti (who made two fine defensive plays in the game) at short, who threw over to Alex Hennessey at first for the final out of the game.

Then came the orange soda shower.

Poulin (who helped himself with a pair of hits) whiffed seven batters in three innings of work while Frattaroli, Billy Kovack and Carlos Fuentes also pitched well. Fuentes and Minalgo also finished with two RBI apiece.

The Gruce Tile Orange Crush – seeded second in the playoffs – included Brett Balforth, Ken Cardelle, Matt Coletti, Mike Frattaroli, Carlos Fuentes (MVP), Greg Gruce, Alex Hennessey, Allen Hubbard, Billy Kovack, Joel Minalgo, Graham Moller, Stefan Poulin and Zach Seaman. The team was coached by Mike Benedetto and Ken Condon.

Drug Center had reached the playoffs by virtue of a 3-2 win over WellFleet Financial in the opening round and a 9-6 win over Classic Design in the semi-finals. Against WellFleet, Carlin pitched three scoreless innings while Derek Charbonneau, Gaston and Alex Dahlmeyer had key hits. Against Classic Design, Jeff Peterson and David Pugh both pitched well while Carlin, Anthony Klabonski and Leighton all went 2-for-3.

Classic Design had reached the semi-finals with a 7-4 win over Jurman Metrics in the first round. Pat Daly and Travis Hunter combined on a four-hitter, striking out 11 batters. Stephen Hartlett and Kevin Herring had key hits.