It might have been a bad omen - losing that first game to Danbury in the Bethel Tournament - but the Newtown Babe Ruth Baseball 9-year-old All Star team turned it into a good omen by reeling off 10 consecutive wins to capture the Bethel and Distr
It might have been a bad omen â losing that first game to Danbury in the Bethel Tournament â but the Newtown Babe Ruth Baseball 9-year-old All Star team turned it into a good omen by reeling off 10 consecutive wins to capture the Bethel and District 5 Tournament championships.
The State Tournament will begin next weekend at Rogers Park in Danbury.
The Blaze coasted through several scrimmages in preparation for the tournament season and was pretty confident heading into the Bethel Tournament. But a 7-4 loss to Danbury set them back on their heels.
Briefly.
All the Blaze did was win six straight to win the tournament title and then win four more in a row over Southbury in a best-of-seven District 5 championship series.
âWe have 13 kids,â said coach Bill Kneisel, âand with the first go-around, itâs kind of hard to tell what kind of team we had. But we knew these kids could play ball.â
And play ball they did. After the initial loss to Danbury, the Blaze defeated Brookfield (12-1), New Milford (11-5), New Fairfield (10-0) and Southbury (9-5) to earn another opportunity against Danbury in the tournament final. Then with 3-0 (Sean Burson and Ryan Tita combined on a no-hitter) and 7-4 wins, the Blaze had earned the title.
âWe played four scrimmages and won huge,â explained coach Kneisel. âWhen we beat Danbury in the final scrimmage, we went into Bethel thinking we had it. But we laid an egg. After that, all the kids contributed at one time or another.â
In the loss to Danbury, the Blaze put together just five hits with Oliver Powers going 2-for-2 with two RBI. Austin Bonadio, Burson (double), and William Arndt had the hits. Chris Haylon earned a couple of free passes.
In the win over Brookfield, Tita (double) and Powers collected two hits apiece while Colin Morris, Burson, Arndt, Sean Ross, Curtis Droniak, Chris Tenney, Dominick Fedak and Haylon all had hits. Powers and Ross combined to drive in five runs. Jack Kneisel stole a base â one of eight the Blaze pilfered â while Burson, Tita and Powers combined on a five hitter.
In the win over New Milford, Ross was 3-for-4 to power the offense. Morris, Tita, Powers, Chris Tenney and Fedak all had hits. Morris, Ross, Tita and Bonadio scored two runs each while Droniak, Ryan Powers and Fedak also scored. Burson and Bonadio combined on a two-hitter.
In the win over New Fairfield, Ryan Powers was 2-for-2 with a pair of runs scored while Haylon was 2-for-2 with two RBI and a run scored. Morris, Ross (triple), Burson, Tita and Tenney all had hits with Ross driving in three runs. Burson and Fedak combined on a three-hitter.
In the win over Southbury, an 11-hit attack was fueled by two-hit performances from Tita, Oliver Powers and Ryan Powers. Morris, Ross, Burson, Tenney and Fedak all had hits while nine different players scored one run apiece.
In the first win over Danbury, the Blaze collected just six hits â singles by Ross, Burson, Tita, Oliver Powers, Tenney and Ryan Powers â while Kneisel and Burson had the only RBI. But that was fine, because Burson and Tita combined on a no-hitter with seven strikeouts.
And in the tournament championship, nine different players collected hits. Ross, Oliver Powers, Tenney and Kneisel had two apiece while Morris, Burson, Ryan Powers, Fedak and Haylon all had one hit. Burson and Tita worked on the hill, scattering eight hits for the win.
The Blaze were on a roll and they rolled right over Southbury in the District 5 best-of-seven championship series.
âI would like to say they were out-managed,â coach Kneisel joked, âbut our team is very good and very deep.â
In a 5-0 win in Game 1, the Blaze managed just five hits â two of those doubles by Tita and Oliver Powers. Ross, Burson, and Ryan Powers also had hits. Burson pitched four solid innings and Bonadio tossed two innings of hitless relief for the save.
In the 11-9 win in Game 2, the Blaze collected 10 hits â two of those triples by Tital and Oliver Powers. Morris was 2-for-3 with two runs scored and three RBI. Tenney, Burson, Ryan Powers and Arndt all had hits and Droniak scored a pair of runs. Ross also drove in three runs despite finishing 0-for-3. Fedak pitched three strong innings in relief.
In a 7-3 win in Game 3, Ryan Powers was 2-for-3 with a double and two RBI to lead the way. Burson, Tita and Oliver Powers (two RBI) also doubled while Ross (two runs scored) and Bonadio singled. Arndt and Droniak swiped bags while Fedak and Bonadio combined on a two-hitter with nine strikeouts.
And in the 5-2 series clincher, the Blaze needed just six hits because Arndt was busy firing a four-hitter, striking out six. Ross had a pair of hits while Burson, Tita, Oliver Powers and Ryan Powers had one apiece.
Over the course of the two tournaments, Oliver Powers went 10-for-23 (.609) with three doubles, a triple and 12 RBI. Ross went 13-for-24 (.542) with a double, triple and nine RBI) and Tita went 13-for-25 (.520) with four doubles, two triples and 13 RBI. Eleven of 13 players drove in at least one run and 12 of 13 players swiped at least one base.
Burson (20 innings, 1.50 ERA), Tita (17.1 innings, 3.81 ERA) and Bonadio (10.2 innings) were the workhorses on the mound, but the Blaze also got some solid innings from Oliver Powers, Fedak and Arndt. The six-man staff pitched 61 innings (so far), allowing 52 hits while striking out 67 batters.
The team is in a groove and the states are coming up.