One Big Win For One-Eyed Cats

The Newtown One-Eyed Cats won the 10 year old District 5 baseball championship at Liberty Field on June 29. Newtown won all three games of the five-team tournament, defeating Southbury 3-2, Oxford 11-1, and then Southbury again, 10-8 in the championship to win the title. 

In the opening game, Newtown faced Southbury, which had defeated Woodbury in the play-in game.  Shea Talbot pitched five strong innings, giving up two runs and battling out of several jams. Excellent defensive plays behind Talbot included right fielder Jack Mulligan throwing out a runner at home plate to end the first inning, Trevor Tyrrell hustling in from left field to make the putout at third base after a runner was caught in a pickle between third and home in the second inning, and catcher Aidan Moulder nailing a runner who was dancing too far off third base in the fourth inning. Trailing 1-0, the One-Eyed Cats got on the board in the bottom of the third after Luke Barrett smashed a double to the fence, stole third, and Todd Petersen drove him in with a sacrifice fly. After Southbury took a 2-1 lead in the top of the fifth, Barrett led off the bottom of the inning with a double. Petersen laid down a beautiful bunt that he beat out, and in the process home plate was left uncovered, allowing Barrett to smartly run home to tie the game. Talbot hit his second double of the game, bouncing it over the fence in left, to drive in Petersen. Bryan Vander Have came on to pitch a scoreless sixth to earn the save to advance Newtown to the winner’s bracket final.

Oxford, which defeated Bethlehem, was Newtown’s next opponent. Moulder started on the mound and pitched a four-inning complete game as the Cats scored in every inning and came away with an 11-1 run-rule win. Hitting stars were Michael Cotton who was 2-for-2 with two runs batted in, Mulligan who was 2-for-2 with a pair of runs scored, and Moulder, Trevor Tyrrell, and James Schumacher each of whom had singles and an RBI. Tyler Fuori ended the game with a single, driving in James Doyle for the walk-off mercy-rule victory.

Southbury then defeated Oxford to get another chance at Newtown in the championship round, and the opposition came ready to give Newtown another battle. After Talbot plated Petersen on a first inning single for the Cats, Southbury scored five unearned runs, and seven in all off starting Talbot in the second inning. Trailing 7-1 with two outs and nobody on base in the third, the Cats began their comeback. Cotton, Petersen, and Barrett walked, and Talbot ripped a double to clear the bases. After a single and stolen base by Schumacher, Talbot and Schumacher scored on the same wild pitch to cut the lead to 7-6. In the fourth inning, Dan Mason and Fuori each had RBI singles to give Newtown the lead.  Newtown tacked on two more in the fifth when, after Barrett walked, he advanced to second base on a wild pitch and never stopped running until he reached home plate after the ball was overthrown into center field. Talbot singled and scored on a Mulligan single to make it 10-7. While Newtown was coming back at the plate, Vander Have was the unsung hero on the mound. He took over in the third and held Southbury scoreless into the sixth. He struck out the final batter he faced to clinch the win.

Talbot was named MVP of the tournament, going 5-for-8 at the plate and recording the game one win on the mound. “Every single player on this team contributed to our victory. We are a solid team from one to 12.” Manager Chris Petersen said. The One-Eyed Cats advance to the Cal Ripken State Tournament, to be held in Bethel, starting July 7.