By Kim J. Harmon

SOUTH MERIDEN – Joey DeVellis was off at the crack of the bat, scampering from his position in centerfield towards the gap in rightfield, probably not realizing that as the ball – just seconds before struck off the bat of a South Meriden player – seemed to be hanging in the air the game itself was hanging in the balance.

And, gosh, it was only the first inning.

After an infield hit, a fly out, a bloop single and a walk, South Meriden had the bags full with just one down in the bottom of the first inning of the second round Cal Ripken 11-year-old All Star State Tournament at Habershon Field in South Meriden. A sacrifice fly plated a run that tied the score at 1-1 and put runners on second and third.

That’s where DeVellis comes in. A South Meriden player lashed a hard hit to the gap between DeVellis in center and Tucker Kass in right. Although his coaches have become accustomed to seeing it, DeVellis still surprised ‘em all when he got himself to the gap and dove full out to snare a ball that, had it fallen, would have scored two runs and quite possibly led to more.

But South Meriden was denied that opportunity and those two runs (at least) that DeVellis saved made all the difference as Newtown defeated South Meriden 6-4 to advance to the next round of the double-elimination tournament.

Of course, there were other big plays. Oh, it was a day just filled with big plays – like third baseman Joe Bowen firing to Scott Suhoza to nail a runner at the plate; like Mike Tibbetts making a beautiful stretch at first base to nip a runner; like Brian Shimko making a nifty over-the-shoulder catch on a bomb to deep right.

Then there was the offense – a gutsy, risk-taking offense that dared South Meriden to make some big plays. Ryan McGrath’s two-run, second-inning single was, perhaps, the biggest hit but then there was also Suhoza drawing a bases-loaded, third-inning walk that scored Brian Cullinan with the eventual winning run. Of course, Stephen Marks’ fourth-inning bloop single sent McGrath (after a minor collision at the plate) home with an all-important insurance run.

It was a day of big plays.

A day of gutsy offense.

And it all goes back to DeVellis in the bottom of the first.

Newtown drew a bye in the seven-team state tournament, which started Saturday at the beautiful Habershon Field complex. The hosts had to win a first round game on Saturday in order to meet Newtown on Sunday.

It was clear, right away, that it would be a close one.

In the top of the first, Suhoza led off with a walk. After DeVellis popped out, Suhoza swiped second base and then moved to third on a bloop single by McGrath. On one of the next pitches to Shimko, McGrath cut out for second base but stopped midway and drew a throw to second. Suhoza waited for that throw and then took off for home, scoring and giving Newtown a 1-0 lead.

In the bottom of the frame, South Meriden tied the score 1-1 on the sacrifice fly and then was thwarted in its attempt to score more.

Newtown blew the game open – at least temporarily – in the top of the second inning. Kass popped out to lead off the inning, but Tibbetts drew a walk to put a runner on first. He was erased, however, on a fielder’s choice grounder by Bowen.

With two outs, then, Suhoza drew another walk and DeVellis singled sharply to centerfield. Bowen rounded third and chugged on home, somehow slipping around the catcher – who had gotten the relay from the outfield in plenty of time – to score. Suhoza moved on to third and DeVellis moved on to second with the throw. McGrath then roped a single to left, scoring Suhoza and DeVellis (who was aided by an overthrow at home).

Newtown led 4-1.

This is where the temporarily part comes in. South Meriden scored three runs in the bottom of the second to tie the score at 4-4. The big hit was a hard single to center that turned into a triple when a bad hop allowed the ball to scoot by DeVellis. A wild pitch also allowed a South Meriden run to score.

In the midst of that melee, Sean Ryan relieved Tibbetts, the starting pitcher, and performed admirably.

In the top of the third, Newtown would take a 5-4 lead when Suhoza drew a bases-loaded walk. The inning started with Marks drawing a walk and then getting erased on a fielder’s choice by Cullinan. Cullinan then took second on a passed ball and moved to third as Kass reached first on a bad-hop grounder to short. Kass stole second and Bowen, with two outs, walked to load the bags and give Suhoza a chance to earn an RBI.

The bottom of the third was highlighted by Shimko’s catch in rightfield, which came with two outs and a runner on first.

In the top of the fourth, Newtown would score the only other run it would need. McGrath legged out a grounder to short and then Shimko singled hard to right. Marks, a lefty, popped a single to left. McGrath had to hold up to see if the ball would be caught, but then took off. The relay throw beat him to the plate, but McGrath’s slide knocked the ball out of the catcher’s glove and gave Newtown an insurance run.

And so, for the final three innings, it was about Marks stepping onto the mound and shutting South Meriden down.

Newtown did threaten in the top of the fifth as Tibbetts made it as far as third base, but nothing materialized. The bottom of the fifth went by without much incident, save for Marks plunking a South Meriden player with a pitch.

It all came down to the bottom of the sixth. Marks walked the leadoff hitter who, with one out, stole second. A pitch in the dirt gave the runner third base, but Marks then whiffed the next batter for the second out.

The threat was then ended on a hard grounder to first.

Newtown was well aware of the ability of the South Meriden team. A couple weeks ago, the two teams tangled in the finals of the Al Leonard Bethel Invitation Tournament. South Meriden had to beat Newtown twice in the double-elimination tournament and actually won the first game, 6-3, before the local All-Stars won the tournament title with a 3-2 win.

With the state tournament win, though, the 11-year-old All Stars (who won the state championship as 10-year-olds in 1999) moved on to a Wednesday night contest against Hebron at Habershon Field. A win there would put the 11s into the finals for the second year in a row.