Inferno Ripken Team Wins State Title

The Newtown Inferno Cal Ripken 12 year old 46/60 team won the Connecticut State tournament held last week in South Meriden. The Inferno, 23-1 this season, won five straight games out of the loser’s bracket in the double elimination tournament to take the title.

Newtown won the first game of the tournament on Saturday, July 7 defeating South Meriden 11-9 after having taken an 11-2 lead. All-Tourney Team member Harry Eppers led off the tournament with a sharp single to center which was followed by double by Henry Primavera as Newtown grabbed an early 2-0 lead. Patrick Godino shut down the big bats from South Meriden with four strikeouts in the final three frames to preserve the victory for Owen McInerney. Ethan Aug went 2-for-4 with a double and Eppers was 2-for-2.

The next day Newtown, undefeated on the season at 16-0 going into game two, ran into a roadblock and fell 9-3 to Shepaug Valley, sending the Inferno into the loser’s bracket. Faced with an uphill challenge in their bid to defend their 2011 New England Regional crown, Newtown needed to run the table with wins every day from Tuesday through Saturday.

Newtown started its trek through the loser’s bracket by defeating Oxford 13-3 in four innings, led by All-Tourney Team member Colby Olson who homered in the third and by All-Tourney Team member Adam Beckett who pitched four solid innings for the victory. Beckett went 3-for-3 in the game and knocked in four runs. Jacob Steinebrey and Owen McInerney had big hits in Newtown’s eight-run second inning.

Back up to South Meriden for game four on Wednesday, Newtown played district runner-up Middlebury and in a tight game prevailed, 6-4 as Godino nailed down his second save of the tournament. Eugene Citrano gave the Inferno a 4-1 lead in the top of the fourth inning with a double to left center. After Middlebury tied the game with a three-run double by Ryan Dunfee in the bottom of the fourth Evan Kohlsaat hit a two-out inside the park home run for a 6-4 lead which Godino preserved, allowing only one base runner the final two innings.

On Thursday, the Inferno bats exploded for 19 runs in a four-inning victory over District 5 champion West Hartford, 19-4. Jacob Steinebrey set the tone for the game with a 12-pitch lead off at-bat, fouling off six straight pitches before drawing a full-count walk.

That set the stage for a rematch with Shepaug on Friday. Beckett and CJ Shambelan only allowed one runner to reach third base in a 9-0, two-hit shutout. Beckett homered in the second inning for a 3-0 lead. Henry Primavera knocked in three runs with a pair of doubles.

Driving up to South Meriden for the fifth consecutive day this past Saturday, the Inferno was anxious to finish the comeback. In the second inning, Newtown scored four runs on a pair of two-run home runs. The first was by Beckett, scoring Kohlsaat who had singled to lead off, and the second home run of the inning was hit by Peter Debona, a mammoth drive to right center with two outs, scoring McInerney who had reached first on a fielder’s choice after Eppers had singled. Newtown took a 6-0 lead in the third on an RBI single by Beckett and a wild pitch.

In the top of the fourth inning a big 4-6-3 double play, converted by Primavera at shortstop and Steinebrey at second base, stopped a rallying Shepaug but not before two runs had scored in the inning, making it 6-2. Shepaug clawed back for three more runs to make it 6-5 going into the top of the sixth. Beckett relieved Shambelan with one out and the tying run on first and induced a force out at second on a come-backer but the relay to first was wild, allowing the runner to take second. With the tying run on second and two outs Patrick Godino, playing second base, dove to his right on a grounder up the middle to knock the ball down and then threw a strike from his knees to an outstretched Evan Kohlsaat at first base to nail the runner by half a step.

Newtown now goes on to the New England Regional Tournament in Burlington, Mass this Saturday, July 21.