Dan Gustafson, Kaleb Rowe and Nicky Sajovic combined to pitch a one-hitter as the Newtown Lightning 11-year-old travel team smashed Middlebury, 12-0, Saturday night to improve to 3-1 in Connecticut Summer Baseball League.
Dan Gustafson, Kaleb Rowe and Nicky Sajovic combined to pitch a one-hitter as the Newtown Lightning 11-year-old travel team smashed Middlebury, 12-0, Saturday night to improve to 3-1 in Connecticut Summer Baseball League.
Gustafson â who reached base in his four trips to the plate â yielded a first-inning single, but struck out three batters in two impressive shutout innings for the Lightning. Rowe struck out two batters in two innings and Sajovic retired all six hitters he faced.
Troy Larsen paced the Lightning offense with two singles and an RBI. Ryan Daignault knocked in two runs with a single and a walk. Wes Tardie, Alex Roche, Pat Thornberg and Chris Devaney also singled.
In a 4-2 loss to Fairfield, nine walks issued by Lightning pitchers was a hurdle too big to overcome. Rob Andreotta knocked in both of his teamâs runs with clutch singles, scoring Wes Tardie and Sajovic in the third and fifth innings. Tardie reached base with a hit by pitch, and Sajovic got on with a beautiful bunt single. Gustafson smacked two singles as Ben Stoller drilled a single and was denied an extra-base hit on a long drive that was caught in left-center.
Pitchers Troy Larsen and John Lebinski combined to strike out 12 Fairfield hitters.
In an 8-5 win over Redding, the Lightning rallied from a 5-4 deficit with four fourth-inning runs and used lights-out relief pitching by Rowe to get the win at Liberty Field. The four-run rally was fueled by walks to Larsen, Stoller, Thornberg and Lebinski, and singles by Rowe and Gustafson. Rowe finished the game with three singles and two RBIs as Stoller, Thornberg, Gustafson and Lebinski each had two hits. Tyler Gibney slapped a single and scored a run.
The difference, though, was southpaw Rowe, who got the win by pitching three shutout innings without yielding a hit. Rowe struck out six Redding batters. Sajovic played a flawless defensive game in centerfield, throwing out a runner with a perfect strike to third base and hauling in two long fly balls.
The Lightning travel to Redding tonight (Friday) and return home Saturday for a 4 pm game against Southbury at Liberty Field.