HUDSON, Massachusetts – Dominating.

Leafing through the Webster New World Dictionary to find words to describe the Newtown Babe Ruth Baseball 9-year-old All Star team, that one word would serve as well as any other.

The Bombers rolled through the New England Regionals, winning four straight games while out-scoring their opponents by 31 runs. Pitching, defense, speed and timely hitting – it all came together, making this team unbeatable (14 straight wins) through the District, State and New England Regional tournaments.

Dominating, indeed.

“I think when you hear comments from opposing parents and coaches like, ‘We have never seen nine-year-olds play defense like that’ and ‘Who are these guys?’ you know you’ve accomplish something special,” said coach Ron Schmidt.

The Bombers opened the Regionals will a convincing 10-1 win over Darlington National, Rhode Island, and then moved on with a 4-0 win over Foxboro, Massachussetts, behind the efforts of Gary Braun and Andrew Kelly (who took home MVP awards for those two games).

The two wins earned the Bombers a day off on Monday. On Tuesday, they returned to the diamond to face the state champion from Maine … which had not lost a game in any tournament played this summer.

Until then, that is.

The Bombers crushed Maine, 12-2, in a game shortened by the mercy rule. The locals did fall behind, 2-0, in the top of the third but got the bats working in the bottom of the frame, scoring six runs to take the lead.

David Gerics started things off with a beautiful bunt single down the first base line, Colton Sposta walked and Jon Hull then reached on an infield hit. Dan Poeltl singled, driving in two runs. Gary Braun then doubled in two more runs and Andrew Kelly then singled, driving in the final two runs of the inning.

At the end of the inning, the Maine faithful were further silenced by a live radio feed from Indiana that was piped through the public address system, informing the crowd that the Newtown Babe Ruth Baseball 10-year-old All Stars had just defeated Arkansas in the Cal Ripken World Series.

“I think this prompted a few more comments from the Maine crowd about what we are feeding our kids in Newtown,” said coach Schmidt.

The Bombers added a run in the fourth as Reid Schmidt singled and used his speed to come all the way home on a combination of steals and wild pitches. Newtown then ended the day for Maine in the fifth by plating five more runs to invoke the mercy rule.

Chad Magoulas singled to lead off the frame and was moved to third on a single by Stephan Hennessy. Gerics then drew a walk to load the bases and was followed by Dean Demers, who drove in Magoulas on a fielder’s choice. Schmidt then singled to drive in another run, Hull drew a walk earning an RBI and Poeltl then hit a drive to the outfield that was caught, but an alert Demers tagged up at third and easily scored the fourth run. Braun ended the game with a double that scored Schmidt.

Sposta (who did not allow a run in seven innings of work over the course of the tournament) pitched two scoreless innings to start the game and was aided by a heads-up play by Gerics in the top of the first, who backed up a wild throw from the catcher and nailed a Maine runner at third attempting to advance. Hull pitched an effective third inning, with an assist to Poeltl, who made yet another great diving play at shortstop to end the frame. Poeltl also got the call to close the game out and pitched two scoreless innings, facing the minimum six batters and striking out three.

The win over Maine gave the Bombers another day off and they returned to Hudson on Thursday to again face the tough team from Foxboro.

With Sposta pitching two scoreless frames, the Bombers went to the plate in the bottom of the second ready to do some damage. Kelly led off with a single and was sent to third on a single by Magoulas (the finals MVP). Dylan O’Connor then drove in Kelly with a sacrifice fly, Gerics singled to score Magoulas, and Schmidt drove in the final run with an infield hit, giving the Bombers a 3-0 lead.

Hull pitched a scoreless top of the third and got the Newtown bats back in the game quickly. Poeltl led off the frame with a double and eventually scored on a wild pitch. Kelly then walked and Magoulas reached on an infield hit, with Kelly taking third. O’Connor then one-hopped a long, high drive off the center field fence scoring Kelly and Magoulas and making the score 6-0 in favor of the Bombers.

Foxboro scored a run in the top of the fourth, but was held in check by a great play at third by Demers on a slow roller.

Then the Bombers put the game away in the bottom of the fourth by scoring three more runs. Braun singled and moved to third on a double by Magoulas and successive walks to Hennessy, Gerics and Demers drove in the three runs. Foxboro attempted a rally in the top of the fifth, as they scored one run and in desperation, attempted to move another runner into scoring position by stealing second, but Schmidt gunned out the runner to end the inning.

Newtown added a run in the bottom of the fifth as Poeltl doubled and eventually came around to score on a single by Kelly. Poeltl then pitched an uneventful sixth, ending the game on a strikeout and winding up on the bottom of the ‘dog pile’ as catcher Schmidt tackled him … setting off the celebration for the young Bombers that included bottles of seltzer water in lieu of the customary champagne.