Around The Horn — Baseball Highlights

15U/14U

Newtown All-Stars 11, Amity 3: John Lebinski and Eric Sutton combined on a two-hitter, and Newtown teammates Ben Stoller, Austin Raftery and Michael Newman slapped two hits each to help Newtown beat a strong Amity team in the summer travel season’s final game last week at Fairfield Hills Field. Lebinski threw three shutout innings and gave up two hits before Sutton entered with the bases loaded and none out in the fourth inning. Sutton walked his first batter, struck out the next two and got the third out when second baseman Brandon Cooper fielded a groundball and threw to first baseman Stoller. Sutton yielded two unearned runs in the fifth inning without giving up a hit and then struck out four of the game’s final seven batters to preserve the victory.

Stoller ripped a single to left field for Newtown’s first hit, stole second and moved to third on walks by John Hampford and Lebinski. But all three runners were stranded when Amity starter Justin Hill retired the next two batters. In the third inning, Newtown’s Raftery walked, Sutton was hit by a pitch and Cooper drilled an RBI single down the left field line. Amity replaced Hill with its top pitcher Mark Boland, but the move backfired. Stoller walked to load the bases and Hampford walked to drive in a run. It was Hampford’s ninth consecutive at-bat reaching base safely. Newman lofted a two-RBI single to left field to score Stoller and Cooper. Ryan Daignault was hit by a pitch and Raftery walked for the second time in the inning to drive in Hampford with another run. Sutton walked to knock in Newman and give Newtown a 6-0 lead. The local all-stars upped the lead to 7-0 in the fourth inning. Stoller ripped a single to right center, moved to second on a groundout, went to third on a wild pitch and scored when Boland misplayed Lebinski’s dribbler. Newtown scored its final four runs in the sixth inning. Lebinski walked and was forced out by Newman. Newman moved to second when Raftery drilled a single, and Sutton walked. All three scored on wild pitches. Anthony Maki then walked, stole second and dashed home when the catcher’s throw to second base went onto right center. Cooper followed with a walk, the third time he reached base in five at-bats, and Stoller walked, the fourth time he reached base safely in five at-bats. The game’s defensive gem came during Amity’s first at-bat. Amity lead-off hitter Brandon Sullivan slashed a sinking liner that curved toward the left-field foul line, but Hampford made a head-first diving catch.

Anthony Maki scored 33 runs in 27 games and led the Newtown Lightning with a .367 batting average, a .524 on-base percentage and 19 RBIs, according to the team’s final statistics for the 15U summer travel season. Maki ripped 22 hits in 60 at-bats, including two home runs, six triples and three doubles. Playing center field, he also threw out several runners at home plate and third base.

John Hampford finished second with a .316 batting average and a .491 on-base percentage. Other Lightning players with high on-base percentages were: Cole Baldino, .420; James Rebman, .413; Ben toller and Nicky Sajovic, each with .408; and Kyler Harmeling, .404.

With a .250 team batting average, the 13-14 Lightning struggled at the plate. Besides Maki and Hampford, five other players  hit above .250: Baldino, .292; Greg Frattaroli, .290; Ben Stoller, .276; James Rebman, .275; and Alex Saviano, .254.

Baldino was second in runs (21), hits (22) and extra-base hits (six doubles). Stoller was third in runs scored (17) and tied for fourth with Saviano in hits (16).

Ryan O’Keefe, who frequently came through with clutch RBIs, finished with the second-highest total (14).

Stoller and Frattaroli tied for third with 13 RBIs each, and Frattaroli was third in hits (18).

Saviano was the team’s top pitcher, compiling the lowest nine-inning earned run average (4.03) in a team-leading 18 games on the mound. He hurled the most innings (51.33), faced the most batters (257) and struck out the most batters (35). He also yielded only 20 walks.