Hawks Second In Babe Ruth Championship

The Newtown Hawks placed second in the Babe Ruth U14 State Championship held in Cheshire during the weekend of July 13–15.

On Friday night, in the first game of the tournament, the Hawks faced the ever-competitive Milford travel team. Despite traffic that delayed the Hawks’ warm-up, the girls came to ready to play and Newtown jumped out to an early 8-2 lead, including a triple by Katie Reilly and a phenomenal jumping catch by Brianna Baranowski in left field. Milford fought back in the middle innings and Newtown later found themselves tied 9-9 in the bottom of the seventh and Milford was up to bat. As to be expected, Milford would not go down without a fight either and ended up pushing a run across to win 10-9 and secure themselves the second seed, leaving Newtown fourth seeded for Saturday’s double elimination games.

In the first round of double elimination, the Newtown Hawks were set to face the first seeded Cheshire Flames, a team made up of talented ninth graders. Although the Hawks did not score, they would not give up and fought hard. In particular, Kelly Merrick hit a double in the second inning and Baranowski a single in the seventh. Lauren Wilcox, on the mound, kept the Hawks in contention with 10 strikeouts in five innings. Despite great efforts, the Hawks came up short 7-0 and found themselves moved to the losers’ bracket for Sunday.

As proven before, giving in is not part of the Newtown Hawks’ vocabulary. On Sunday morning the girls jumped out early and beat Brookfield 11-1 and knocked them out of the tournament. Key plays include two bunts and two runs by Hanna Bigwarfe, two singles and three runs by Caitlyn Linden, two singles and one run by Merrick, two singles and two runs by Baranowski, as well as a double from both Wilcox and Tina Demaio. Wilcox, Annie Hoffman, and Tegan Doherty combined nine strikeouts and giving up only four hits.

In the finals of the loser’s bracket it was time to face Milford again and the Newtown Hawks had no intention of a repeat of a close game like Friday night, proven by the seven runs scored in the top of the first inning. Haley Ryan provided two singles and three stolen bases in that inning alone. Later in the game she also had a delayed steal home to secure a 10-0 lead. Bigwarfe, Merrick, Baranowski, Mali Klorczyk, Demaio, and Wilcox also each added hits and runs in the game. On the mound, Wilcox struck out nine and allowed only five hits. Defensively, Baranowski had three catches in center and Wilcox made four defensive plays from the mound. During the entirety of the 1.5-hour game, not a single Hawk player nor fan was quiet. The Hawks won 10-2 to advance to the championship round.

Now Newtown was set to face the Cheshire Flames again. The Hawks were still on fire from the previous victory and Wilcox came out to score the first run of the game in the third after hitting a double with a 0-2 count. Cheshire was thrown onto their heels, causing some errors early on. Cheshire responded with two singles resulting in two runs to take a 2-1 lead. Klorczyk made two huge catches from LF, one being a diving catch. Eventually Cheshire pulled away late in the game for a 7-1 victory and the Connecticut Championship.

The Newtown 14U Hawks placed second overall in the tournament and are heading to Lynn, Mass., July 27–29 to compete in the New England Babe Ruth Regional tournament. The girls and coaches would like to thank some of their sponsors: Home Quest Home Inspection, Dental Associates, Union Savings Bank, McKenney Mechanical Contractors, Francos Pizza, Rings End, The Holy Cow Ice Cream Shop, The Blue Colony Diner, and Toll Brothers-Newtown Woods.