VINCENNES, Indiana – They did not come back as conquering heroes, but they came back as heroes nevertheless.

The Newtown Babe Ruth Baseball 10-year-old All Stars saw their magical summer come to an end last Thursday with a 9-4 loss to Fort Caroline, Florida, in the Cal Ripken World Series in Vincennes, Indiana.

“We’re a little bummed it’s all over and a little excited it’s all over,” said manager Bill Kneisel. “It was a blast, an amazing run.”

Fort Caroline – the Southeast Regional champion out of Jacksonville – went on to defeat Clovis (California) in the Loser’s Bracket final and then South Lexington (Kentucky) twice to capture the World Series championship.

The Blaze had opened the World Series with a punishing loss to Clovis (the worst loss they had suffered in two summers), but they rebounded with a 10-1 win over Little Rock, Arkansas, and an 11-8 win over Olympia, Washington, in the Loser’s Bracket.

Fort Caroline, meanwhile, had lost a nail biter to Clovis in second-round action and smashed South Brunswick, New Jersey, in its first game in the Loser’s Bracket to set up the August 12 meeting with Newtown.

The Blaze had the opportunity to play Fort Caroline after slugging it out with Olympia, the Pacific Northwest Regional champ.

Sean Burson, Ryan Tita and Oliver Powers all singled in the top of the first inning, with Burson scoring the first run on a wild throw. Ryan Powers then banged out a run-scoring single to give Newtown a 2-0 lead.

Olympia got one of those runs back in the bottom of the frame on a triple by Brad Wallace and a subsequent passed ball.

In the top of the second, Newtown extended its lead to 3-1 when Chris Tenney belted a leadoff double and Will Arndt followed with an RBI single. But in the bottom of the frame, Olympia took the lead on singles by Trevor Houser and David Carlson and a double by Anthony Rock. Another passed ball also helped the Washington team plate a run.

The Blaze got a pair of runners on base in the third inning (a single by Ryan Powers and an error on a ball hit by Dominic Fedak), but failed to score. That would not be the case in the top of the fourth, as the Blaze erupted for five runs to take an 8-4 lead on some timely hitting by Arndt, Oliver Powers, Ryan Powers, Fedak and Tita (two-run single).

In the bottom of the fifth, Olympia put together a rally that cut the Newtown lead to just one run. A triple by Hinson and an RBI single by Riston Andrews were the key blows in the frame. But in the top of the sixth, the Blaze put three more runs on the board to put the game out of reach and set up a meeting with Fort Caroline.

And things got off to a bad start for Newtown. It began with a leadoff single by Burson and a two-out double by Oliver Powers that failed to plate a run in the top of the first and continued in the bottom of the frame when Fort Caroline scored seven times.

“We made a couple of goofs in that first inning,” said Kneisel, “and then played well the rest of the way.”

The Jacksonville, Florida, team banged out nine singles in the inning (two by Jacob Turner) to take the big lead.

The Blaze did not get on the board until the top of the third when Austin Bonadio doubled and Tita followed with an RBI double. But Fort Caroline got that run right back in the bottom of the frame when Cory Hyatt scored on an error, preserving a seven-run lead. That lead increased to eight in the bottom of the fourth when Chris Ford tripled and scored on a sacrifice fly.

The odds were long, but the Blaze kept hacking away at the plate. In the top of the fifth, Colin Morris earned a walk and Tita later belted a two-run RBI double (his second double of the game). The Blaze would score three runs in the frame to trim the Fort Caroline lead to 9-4.

That’s where it would end. Josh Howard tripled in the bottom of the fifth, but Bonadio – who entered the game in the second inning in relief of Tita – stranded him at third.

On A Roll

Coming out of the Loser’s Bracket is always a tough proposition, but Fort Caroline was not daunted by the task.

After defeating Newtown and Clovis, Fort Caroline reached the Cal Ripken finals and proceeded to beat South Lexington, the Ohio Valley Regional champ, in two straight games to capture the World Series championship.

In three previous games in the tournament, South Lexington had scored an amazing 57 runs (20 against Clay County, Indiana, in the opening round and then 14 against South Brunswick, 13 against Olympia, and 10 more against Clovis) but was stymied by Fort Caroline, 5-1 and 5-3.

In the opener, Chris Ford and Tyler Martin of Fort Caroline limited South Lexington to just four hits.

It was Martin and Ford in the follow-up, as well, scattering seven hits along the way to bring the Cal Ripken World Series championship to Jacksonville.

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).

                    123     456     R   H    E

Newtown    210     503   11  15    0

Olympia      130     031     8  12    3

WP – Dominic Fedak; LP – Cameron Frost. 2B – Chris Tenney (N), Anthony Rock (O), Charlie Hinson (O), Sean Ross (N). 3B – Brad Wallace (O), Charlie Hinson (O). PITCHING: Olympia – DJ Wilson, Riston Andrews (3), Brad Wallace (4), Cameron Frost (5); Newtown – Ryan Tita, Dominic Fedak (3).

                    123     456     R   H    E

Newtown    001     030     4    6    2

Ft Caroline  701     10x     9  13    0

WP – Chris Ford; LP – Ryan Tita. 2B – Oliver Powers (N), Ryan Sweeney (FC), Austin Bonadio (N), Ryan Tita 2 (N), Dominic Fedak (N). 3B – Chris Ford (FC). PITCHING: Newtown – Ryan Tita, Austin Bonadio (2); Fort Caroline – Chris Ford, Walker Lockett (4), Chris Ford (5), Tyler Martin (6).