Blaze Stay Alive In Cal Ripken World Series

VINCENNES, Indiana – After capturing the New England Regional championship, the Newtown Babe Ruth 10-year-old All Stars were told (some would say warned) that the competition in the Cal Ripken World Series was on a whole ‘nother level.

Boy, was that ever true.

Last Saturday the locals ran into a buzz saw from Clovis, California, the Pacific Southwest Regional champion, and suffered their worst defeat ever, 14-2.

But the Newtown Blaze has shown that – as a team – it can pick itself up off the mat, dust itself off, and move on. And the Blaze did just that again on Tuesday afternoon with a 10-1 win over Little Rock, Arkansas, the Southwest Regional champion and then on Wednesday afternoon with an 11-8 win over Olympia, Washington.

“These teams are just amazing,” said manager Bill Kneisel

In the opener for Newtown (which drew a bye in the Series), Clovis got started right away with a double by Roman Myers and an RBI double by Jordan Luplow. Wesley Blankenship then singled in Myers to put the Pacific Southwest champs on top, 2-0.

And in the second, Clovis really erupted. A couple of Newtown errors got things started, but then a fielder’s choice by Dylan Carbajal, hits by Myers, Luplow, Blankenship, Kasey Witt (triple), Matt Crick (double) and Marcus Tweedie, a couple of passed balls and five walks helped Clovis plate 11 runs.

“I think the kids just got overwhelmed and we just imploded,” said Kneisel. “I don’t think this California team is losing any time soon.”

In the bottom of the third, Newtown finally got in the board. Sean Burson, Chris Tenney and Colin Morris all earned free passes of Topoozian. Oliver Powers then drives in Burson with a single and Tenney later scores on a passed ball.

In the fourth, Clovis put one more run up on the board and the game – with the mercy rule invoked – soon ended.

The Blaze managed just the one hit.

But the locals got untracked on Tuesday afternoon against Little Rock, the Southwest Regional champs. Little Rock dropped into the Loser’s Bracket with a 7-0 opening-round loss to Jacksonville, Florida, and things didn’t get any better against Newtown.

“We played regular Blaze baseball,” said Kneisel, “and picking up a win was awesome. This has been a once-in-a-lifetime experience for these kids.”

The Blaze scored in ever inning, banging out six hits and taking advantage of five Little Rock errors to grab a 10-1 win and set up a game Wednesday afternoon against Olympia, Washington, the Pacific Northwest Regional champs who suffered a 13-10 loss on Tuesday to South Lexington, Kentucky, the Ohio Valley Regional champion.

Against Little Rock, the Blaze puts two runs on the board in the bottom of the first inning. Burson walked and Ryan Tita banged out a single. Oliver Powers then doubled in Tita and Burson to give Newtown the 2-0 lead.

In the top of the second, Little Rock got a couple of base hits but Tita was able to keep them off the scoreboard. In the bottom of the frame, Dominic Fedak singled, Jack Kneisel reached on an error, and Fedak scored on a passed ball. An error allowed Newtown to plate three more runs and the Blaze had a 6-0 lead.

Little Rock loaded the bases in the top of the third on two singles and an error, but the Blaze once again survives the threat. In the bottom of the frame, Kneisel banged out a run-scoring single and later scored on an error to give Newtown an 8-0 lead.

In the top of the fourth, Little Rock scratched out its only run on an RBI single by Daniel Imbro. In the bottom of the frame, Ryan Powers reached on an error and scored on a single by Tenney. In the bottom of the fifth, Burson singled and later scored on an error for Newtown’s 10th run of the contest.

In the win over Olympia, the Blaze banged out 15 hits and took advantage of three errors to score 11 runs. The Blaze was nursing a one-run lead after five innings, but three runs in the top of the sixth to put the game away.

South Lexington (Kentucky) and Clovis (California) played on Wednesday night (after press time) with the winner heading to the World Series final and the other dropping into the Loser’s Bracket.

Newtown would have to get past the winner of the South Brunswick (New Jersey)-Jacksonville (Florida) game and the loser of the South Lexington-Clovis game in order to reach the finals. So, there still is a long road ahead.

 

Clovis 14

Newtown          2

WP – Dominic Topoozian; LP – Ryan Tita; 2B – Ramon Myers (Clovis), Jordan Luplow 2 (Clovis), Matt Crick (Clovis); 3B – Kasey Witt (Clovis); PITCHERS – Clovis: Dominic Topoozian, Newtown: Ryan Tita, Austin Bonadio (2), William Arndt (2), Dominic Fedak (3).

Little Rock      1

Newtown          10

2B – Oliver Powers (Newtown); PITCHERS – Little Rock: Daniel Imbro, Patrick Gurley (2), Connor Gilmore (3), Matthew Morris (4); Newtown: Ryan Tita, Dominic Fedak (5), Curtis Droniak (6).

WORLD SERIES PARTICIPANTS – Newtown, Connecticut (New England); South Brunswick, New Jersey (Middle Atlantic); South Lexington, Kentucky (Ohio Valley); Jacksonville, Florida (Southeast); Baxter, Minnesota (Midwest Plains); Little Rock Arkansas (Southwest); Olympia, Washington (Pacific Northwest); Clovis, California (Pacific Southwest); Clay County, Indiana (State Regional Champ) and Vincennes, Indiana (host team).