Lightning Baseball Highlights

15U District 4 Tournament Baseball Results

Newtown Lightning 7 New Fairfield 4: Behind the strong pitching arms of winning pitcher Alex Saviano and closer Greg Frattaroli, the Lightning won their second district game and advanced to the semi-finals at Ridgefield’s East Ridge Field. Saviano shackled the opposition, surrendering just one run during the first four innings. After New Fairfield capitalized on Lightning errors to narrow the lead to 5-4 in the fifth inning, Frattaroli stranded the tying run at second on a groundout to second baseman Ryan O’Keefe. Frattaroli then blanked New Fairfield over the final two innings, and the Lightning added two seventh-inning runs on a slew of New Fairfield errors. The Lightning struck for five first-inning runs. Frattaroli singled up the middle to drive in Anthony Maki, who had reached on a two-base error. Parker Lintz was hit by a pitch and Mike LoBosco drilled an RBI double over the left fielder’s head. Saviano ripped a single to knock in a run and Ian Kirner lined a two-RBI single to left field.

Ridgefield 14, Newtown Lightning 4: The Lightning was overmatched against Ridgefield, one of the state’s best teams, at Ridgefield’s Old High School.But the Lightning fared much better than Pomperaug, which lost to Ridgefield 26-0 in the subsequent district championship game. The Lightning scored a second-inning run off Ridgefield ace left-hander Ryan Callanan when Greg Frattaroli singled up the middle, Alex Saviano walked, Ian Kirner advanced them on a groundout and Frattaroli scored on a wild pitch. In the fifth inning, Kirner walked, Kyler Harmeling singled to right center and Anthony Maki walked to load the bases. James Rebman blasted a three-RBI double over the right fielder’s head. Center fielder Maki had the game’s fielding gem, throwing a strike to catcher Harmeling to nail a Ridgefield runner at home plate.

Pomperaug 9, Newtown Lightning 7: The Lightning led 7-3 and were one out away from advancing to the district championship but couldn’t get the final out at Ridgefield’s Old High School Field. Pomperaug sent 10 batters to the plate during a six-run seventh inning. Trailing 1-0 in the third inning, Newtown’s Ryan O’Keefe singled, stole second, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on a ground single through the right side by Anthony Maki who later scored on two errors by the first baseman to give Newtown the lead. Pomperaug scored two runs in the fifth inning for a 3-2 lead, but the Lightning came from behind a second time on four consecutive singles by Cole Baldino, Maki, Greg Frattaroli and Mike LoBosco. In the sixth inning, Nicky Sajovic walked and O’Keefe singled, and they scored on a long triple by Maki to right field. Maki continued home on an errant throw to the plate by the second baseman. Frattaroli pitched four strong innings, scattering five hits and yielding just one run.

15U/14U Travel Baseball Results

Norwalk 16, Newtown Lightning 12: Down 12-2 after 3 ½ sloppy innings of play, the Lightning bats came alive to narrow the Norwalk lead to 14-11 before the local club succumbed under the lights at Fairfield Hills Field. The offensive surge was led by Anthony Maki, who had one of the biggest explosions of his career. Maki crushed a three-run, inside-the-park home run to right field and two long triples. Ian Kirner also blasted a two-RBI triple to right field and James Rebman swatted a long double. Kirner finished the game with three RBIs. Ben Stoller and Alex Saviano slashed RBI singles and Nicky Sajovic scored three runs. But eight Lightning errors sent the team down to defeat.

Newtown Lightning vs. Harlem, NY: Fairfield Hills Field’s lights automatically went out at 10 pm in the middle of a fifth-inning Lightning rally and the game was called off without a winner. Trailing 6-1, the Lightning had two men on in the fifth inning with one out and the top of the line-up coming to bat, when the field went black. Harlem got lost en route to Newtown, and the game started about 50 minutes late. The Harlem team was filled with speedsters, a hard-throwing pitcher with a devastating slider and a strong defensive catcher, Jaylen Ammaker. The Lightning’s Ben Stoller got a big jump on a Harlem pitcher and managed to steal second when Ammaker’s throw was so fast that Harlem’s second baseman missed the ball and was struck in the Adam’s apple. The fielder was momentarily knocked to the ground and had to be removed from the game. The Lightning run came in when John Hampford and Ryan O’Keefe walked and Anthony Maki singled to right field to knock in a hard-sliding Hampford at the plate. Greg Frattaroli had a first-inning single down the right-field line, and, as a catcher, threw to first baseman Stoller to pick off a Harlem runner at first base. Stoller made the best defensive play of the game, leaping high above first base to rob a Harlem batter of a hit. Alex Saviano came on in relief and threw three shutout innings, frustrating Harlem hitters and striking out three with a sinking fastball and a sharp-breaking curve.

New Milford 8, Newtown Lightning 7: Trailing 8-7 with the bases loaded and no one out in the bottom of the seventh inning, the Lightning couldn’t bring in the tying run under the lights at Fairfield Hills Field. It was a tough loss for Newtown, which had battled back from a 7-2 fifth-inning deficit. The Lightning’s hottest hitter, Anthony Maki, continued his torrid offensive output, blasting a first-inning triple and scoring three runs. Maki now has 10 extra-base hits in 44 at-bats, including two home runs, six triples and two doubles. He has scored 25 runs, more than double the number of runs by anyone else on the team and leads the team in RBIs with 14. He also leads the team with a .386 batting average and a .542 on-base percentage. Nicky Sajovic knocked in a run with a double down the left-field line in the fifth inning, and he scored on an RBI single by John Hampford. He drilled two hits, and Ryan O’Keefe knocked in a run with a single. Sajovic pitched two shutout innings in relief, and another Lightning reliever, Alex Saviano, threw 2 1/3 innings without yielding an earned run. The Lightning’s top defensive play came in the first inning when the local club got out of a bases-loaded jam with the team’s first 1-2-3 double play of the season. Pitcher Greg Frattaroli gloved a sharp grounder, threw to catcher Tom Floros for a force out, and Floros pegged the ball to first baseman Ben Stoller for a double play.