Legion Baseball Team Caps Summer Season

The Admirals, Newtown’s American Legion Baseball team, recently completed their summer season.

The Admirals split late-season double headers with Monroe and Naugatuck. Here are the highlights:

Monroe 11, Newtown 10: In the first game against Monroe, Newtown was edged in a see-saw battle that lasted nine innings. Tied at 10 after eight innings, the game was halted due to darkness and resumed a day later. Trailing 1-0 after a half inning, the Admirals answered with three first-inning runs. Jeff Davis reached on an error, Nick Urso hit an RBI double, Bob Manfreda hit an RBI single and Springfield College-bound Nick Saviano added an RBI single. Monroe answered with six runs in the second for a 7-3 lead and the back-and-forth play continued. Adam Shankman emerged from the junior roster to play a stellar third base. Davis, who is headed to McDaniel College in Maryland, Brendan Wiedow and Saviano all had three hits a piece for the Admirals.

Newtown 6, Monroe 4: In the second game, Post University-bound Sean Trafford took the hill for the Admirals and pitched 5 2/3 strong innings for the win, with Charlie Lobosco recording the final four outs for the save of a 6-4 Newtown win. Davis started things off for the Admirals in the first inning with a base hit, and Chris Carillo followed with an RBI triple. After Monroe tied the game, Newtown regained the lead in the bottom of the fourth. Jamie Viscio set the table with a base hit and Lobosco produced an RBI-double for a 2-1 lead and the Admirals were on their way to victory.

Naugatuck 3, Newtown 2: The Admirals scored first in the top of the third when Ken Bardelli belted a home run on an 0-2 pitch. Trailing 3-1 in the top of the seventh, the Admirals clawed to within a run but finished a run short. Saviano led off with a single, Ken Bardelli singled and Brendan Wiedow hit an RBI double scoring Saviano. The would-be tying run (Bardelli) was thrown out at the plate.

Newtown 9, Naugatuck 1: In the second game the Admirals finally broke through, beating Naugatuck for the first time in twelve consecutive tries, and did so convincingly. Urso and Manfreda both had RBIs and Viscio had a two-run hit in the opening frame. In the second inning, Davis singled and Urso launched a 415-foot two-run homer for a 6-0 cushion. Saviano pitched a gem, giving up only one run. Saviano earned the complete game victory, Urso was 3-for-3 and scored four runs, and Viscio had three hits and three runs batted in. 

Manfreda, a versatile player and the team’s cleanup hitter, had a solid .333 batting average. The Admirals’ triple crown winner, switch-hitting Urso, the team’s No. 3 hitter, produced numbers that don’t just put him at the top in the state of Connecticut, but put him among the top hitters in the nation. Urso produced a .514 batting average, .590 on base percentage, 40 hits, eight doubles, four triples, three home runs and 14 multi-hit games. Saviano not only can pitch, he also hit with a .330 batting average in 20 games. Lobosco had a .333 BA in 17 games, Davis had a .300 BA in 17 games, Kenny Bardelli produced a .344 BA in 12 games and Viscio hit .270 in 23 games.