Young Newtown Sluggers Win And Gain Experience

Two travel teams from Newtown, comprised of 8-year-olds, recently completed successful seasons in the machine-pitch Bethany-Woodbridge (“Beth-Wood”) Friendship Tournament.

The league was made up of 12 teams from the state, mostly from Western Connecticut, and took place during the course of four weeks in July. The league served as an entry level to travel baseball, with a spring-loaded machine doing all the pitching, so that the players were able to concentrate on improving their hitting and fielding skills. This was the third year that Newtown entered teams in the league, and this year the town entered two equally-skilled teams which did well.

The Newtown Blue team made it to the championship game of the tournament, only to fall to undefeated South Meriden 7-5. The Blue finished the regular season with a 6-2 record, good for first place in the National League, one of two six-team divisions. After receiving a first round bye, the team defeated Brookfield 9-4 in the second round, and then defeated Woodbury 12-5 in the semifinals. In the championship game, Blue took a 4-0 lead into the fourth inning, but South Meriden rallied with seven runs in the fourth and fifth to take the lead. In the top of the sixth inning, trailing 7-5, Newtown Blue loaded the bases with no outs and had momentum on its side. However, a line out, strikeout, and another line out ended the game, leaving the Blue heartbroken, but with second place trophies.

In the regular season, the Blue started out 5-0 with wins over Brookfield, Oxford White, Woodbury, Beth-Wood, and Southbury Blue by scores of 18-3, 19-0, 11-0, 12-10, and 22-6. The Blue then ran into two tough opponents and lost to Southbury Gold 14-13 and Newtown Gold 11-5 before defeating Oxford Blue 19-2 to finish the regular season.

The Newtown Gold Lightning team finished with a record of 7-2. The Lightning started the season with six wins in a row, defeating Oxford Blue 21-7, Southbury Gold 20-16, Beth-Wood Red 18-2, Preston 23-5, Southbury Blue 24-5, and Newtown Blue 11-5. Then in a battle of the two remaining undefeated teams in the league, the Lightning lost to South Meriden 16-11 in a hard fought contest.

After falling behind 12-1 early, the Gold battled back with good hitting and great defense to cut the deficit to three runs, but that was as close as the team could get and South Meriden clinched the American League division with the victory. The Lightning finished the regular season by beating Woodbury 20-13 to improve to 7-1, good for second place in the American League. After a first round bye in the playoffs, the Lightning was upset by the American League’s third seed, Southbury Gold, whom the Lightning had defeated earlier in the season.

The players from both Newtown teams got to experience competitive baseball for the first time and were very successful in the win column, but most importantly they had fun with their friends on the diamond.