Bombers Baseball Results

Newtown Bombers 8-year-old travel baseball team results:

The Bombers recently headed up to South Meriden with their 4-0 record to battle an equally talented South Meriden team. South Meriden was 3-0 and showed why as it jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead after the first inning. The young Bombers, facing their biggest adversity to date, battled hard but could only manage three hits through four innings. Meanwhile, South Meriden continued to apply the pressure and held a commanding 9-0 lead after four innings.

As the sun was setting, however, the Bombers came to life. Hayden Miller started off the fifth with a triple. Jack Petersen then smacked a run scoring double, bringing up George Sandercox, who added an RBI single. Tyler Harrison and Josh Parsons added singles to load the bases for Matt Williams, who delivered a clutch, two RBI single to cut the lead to 9-4. Jake Mailloux delivered a single to complete the scoring in the inning, making it 9-5.

After a leadoff single by South Meriden in the bottom of the fifth, the Bombers’ defense went to work and quickly retired the next three batters. The Bombers raced off the field and ran to the bat rack to take their final swings, filled with a newfound confidence. With one out, Sean O’Sullivan hustled down the line and reached on an error. David Braun then connected for a clean single to bring up Miller, who cleared the bases with a smash triple to deep left field. Petersen then reached on an error, which allowed Miller to score, cutting the lead to 9-8. Sandercox was retired on a nice defensive play, leaving Newtown down to its last out. Three consecutive singles by James Celentano, Harrison, and Jackson Newsom gave the Bombers a 10-9 lead heading into the bottom of the inning. South Meriden was able to push across the tying and winning runs, resulting in a heartbreaking 11-10 loss for the Bombers.

The Bombers didn’t have time to dwell on their first loss of the season as they had to regroup and take on Oxford two nights later. The Bombers started quickly, scoring four runs in the first inning. Oxford battled right back and scored three in the bottom of the inning to make it 4-3. Oxford took the lead in the second as they erupted for six runs. Harrison led off the fourth inning with a single and Parsons followed with a run-scoring double. Mailloux drove in the second run of the inning with a single to narrow the Oxford lead to 9-6.

The Bombers went quietly in the fifth and then gave up three runs in the bottom of the inning to fall behind by the score of 12-6. The young Bombers showed their never-quit attitude as they strung together three straight singles by Miller, Petersen, and Sandercox to load the bases. After a fielder’s choice allowed Miller to score from third, Harrison drove in his third run of the game on another fielder’s choice. An Oxford error allowed another Newtown run to score, making the score 12-9. Williams followed with an RBI single to close the gap to two runs, but the Bombers ran out of gas and lost the game by the final score of 12-10.

The Bombers next traveled to West Hartford to try and put an end to their two-game losing streak. The Bombers loaded the bases in the first with one out but failed to score. West Hartford put a run on the board in the first to put the pressure on the young Bombers. Newtown finally broke through in the third and scored two runs as Miller, Sandercox, and Celentano each had singles. The Bombers’ defense was airtight as they held West Hartford scoreless over the next three innings to maintain their 2-1 lead.

In the top of the fourth, the Bombers exploded for six runs. O’Sullivan started off the hit parade as he ripped a single up the middle. Miller and Sandercox added singles, setting the stage for Celentano’s two-run scoring double. Harrison delivered an RBI ground out and Josh Parsons added a single to bring up Mailloux, who ripped a hot shot single to drive in the final run of the inning. West Hartford managed one run in the fifth but the Bombers answered right back in the sixth as O’Sullivan once again led off the inning with a single. Miller followed with his fourth hit of the day, bringing up Celentano who delivered an RBI single.

The Bombers entered the bottom of the sixth three outs away from the win with a comfortable 9-2 lead. West Hartford had other plans and started mounting a furious comeback. The Spartans banged out five hits and pushed three runs across with only one out and had the tying run at the plate. The Bombers picked up the second out on an RBI ground out, which closed the gap to 9-6. With two outs and the game on the line, Celentano made a diving catch at first base on a foul pop up to end the game in spectacular fashion. The Bombers improved to 5-2 on the season with the win.

Playoffs

The Bombers began their playoffs this past weekend in Woodbridge as the No. 3 seed among ten teams in their bracket. Their first round opponent was Oxford, which was one of only two teams to defeat the Bombers during the regular season. Both teams started the game playing outstanding defense and were locked in scoreless tie after two innings. Oxford scored four runs in the top of the third to put pressure on Newtown. The Bombers showed their poise as Edwin Tout led off the bottom of the third with a single. Back to back singles by O’Sullivan and Miller set the stage for Sandercox, who delivered a bases-clearing double to make it a 4-3 game.

The Bombers clamped down on defense once again and held Oxford scoreless in the fourth and fifth innings. Sandercox was the story on defense as he recorded all six putouts in the two innings, with the gem being an inning-ending unassisted double play in the fifth. The Bombers managed to push the tying run across in the fifth inning as O’Sullivan led off with a single and scored on another Sandercox RBI.

Both teams failed to score in the sixth, sending the game to extra innings, another first for the Bombers. In the top of the seventh, Oxford started a one-out rally. After an error and two singles, Oxford’s clean-up hitter delivered a crushing drive to deep right center field for a grand slam. The Bombers managed to regain their composure and end the inning without further damage, but came to bat facing what seemed like an insurmountable four-run deficit.

After one quick out, O’Sullivan hit what appeared to be the second out but the Oxford defense failed to make the routine catch. Miller then followed with a single, bringing up Petersen, who hit a deep fly ball to left field to drive in one run. Sandercox delivered again with another RBI single, his fifth of the day, which allowed Celentano to deliver a run-scoring single of his own, to make the score 8-7. Harrison then came up and kept the rally going with a run-scoring single. Celentano was able to move to third base on the hit, which set the stage for Newsom to pull a hard smash single right down the third base line for the game winning, walk-off hit, to complete the improbable 9-8 comeback victory.

With the win, the young Bombers move to the next round of the single elimination tournament.