WINCHESTER, Massachusetts – The dream is fast becoming a reality.

With three consecutive wins (three consecutive easy wins) in the New England Regionals, the Newtown Babe Ruth Baseball 10-year-old All Star team was just one win away Thursday (after press time) from reaching the Cal Ripken World Series in Indiana.

The Blaze defeated Vermont (8-2), Western Massachusetts (9-1) and New Hampshire (6-1) to reach the championship game(s) on Thursday. They awaited the winner of the Loser’s Bracket final between New Hampshire and Rhode Island.

“We’re pumped,” said manager Bill Kneisel, who began making preliminary preparations on Wednesday – as all Regional semifinalists were asked to – for the trip to Indiana. “Rhode Island is a good team and could beat us twice, no doubt, but we will have the advantage of being fresher.”

The game on Tuesday was, perhaps, the biggest game of the tournament. A loss would have sent them into the Loser’s Bracket, forcing them to win three straight games to claim the Regional title. Now all they have to win is one.

And the Blaze took care of business early on Tuesday, jumping out to a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first. New Hampshire tried to pitch around a couple of the big bats in the Newtown lineup, but the hits eventually came.

Pitcher Dominick Fedak fired five stellar innings to shut New Hampshire down.

For the Thursday finals, the Blaze have Ryan Tita available to pitch five innings and Fedak to pitch one. Should the second game become necessary, Fedak would be available for five innings and Tita for one.

The Blaze opened the tournament with a fairly uneventful 8-2 win over Vermont. Sean Burson and Sean Ross clubbed back-to-back doubles, Tita singled and Oliver Powers doubled … but all that accounted for was two runs. Nevertheless, the Blaze scored three times in the second and three times in the third to take an 8-0 lead.

Jack Kneisel, colin Morris and Will Arndt all contributed to the offense. Tita (1), Fedak (2), Austin Bonadio (2) and Arndt (1) all took turns on the mound.

The offenses were quiet early on in the second round contest against Western Massachusetts and after three the game remained a scoreless tie with only two runners (one each) reaching base and neither getting as far as second.

But in the fourth, Ross singled and advanced to second on a passed ball. Western Mass pitched around Tita, who drew a walk, but then Powers drilled a 2-0 pitch over the left centerfield fence to give Newtown a 3-0 lead.

The Blaze took that lead into the fifth, where they were able to string together a couple of hits and a couple of walks to expand that lead to 7-0. Then in the top of the sixth, Tita belted a 250-foot home run into the picnic tent area behind the leftfield fence to emphasize the win.

“I wish we had exploded earlier in the game,” said Kneisel, “but we really went at it and it was really fun to watch.”

Tita pitched four innings and Bonadio two to shut the opponents down.

Nines Win First

Two In States

Swarming bees, noisy chanting from other teams, watching an umpire get his teeth knocked out by an opposing player – it seemed nothing could distract the Newtown Babe Ruth Baseball 9-year-old All Star team from the task at hand.

That is, winning games in the state tournament.

“Losing the first game in the Leonard Tournament really forced these kids to learn to deal with adversity,” said manager Tim Braun. “They are relentless and never give up … despite some very long odds.”

After that loss in the Leonard Tournament, the locals reeled off five straight wins in the Loser’s Bracket to make it to the championship final against West Norwalk. Newtown won the first game, but lost in the winner-take-all game.

Now, that loss merely set the stage however for a much anticipated rematch with West Norwalk in the state tournament … but not before locals had to get past a very tough Danbury team in the first round.

In the opener, the Bombers climbed out of a 3-0 hole to capture a 7-5 victory on a muddy McNamara Field.

Newtown’s comeback began in the top of the third as they rallied for six runs against a new Danbury pitcher. David Gerics got things going with a leadoff walk and eventually came around to score on a single by Reid Schmidt. Successive singles by Dan Poeltl, Gary Braun, Andrew Kelly and Chad Magoulas plated five more runs and gave the Bombers a 6-3 lead.

A potential Danbury rally was foiled in the bottom of the third as the leadoff batter hit what looked to be a sure single between short and third. Third baseman Nick Barreto moved quickly to his left and deflected the ball to an alert Poeltl at shortstop, who then gunned out the runner by half a step. Schmidt, who also pitched a scoreless second, then retired two more batters to complete another scoreless inning.

Colton Sposta was brought in to keep Danbury in check in the bottom of the fourth despite getting stung twice by tenacious bees inhabiting the Newtown dugout. Sposta shook off the minor distraction and held Danbury scoreless for the third inning in a row.

The Bombers added an insurance run in the top of the fifth as Braun singled to leadoff the inning and was brought home on a fielder’s choice by Stephan Hennessy. Danbury attempted another rally in the bottom of the fifth and was able to squeeze home another run, but Hennessy, who made a nice catch on a ball hit to left center and Poeltl (relief pitcher) contributed to put out that fire. Poeltl also pitched a scoreless sixth to earn the save.

The Bomber’s reward for beating Danbury was to play archrival West Norwalk in a rematch of the Leonard Championship round. Led on by a raucous crowd and constant chanting, West Norwalk raced out to a 4-2 lead by the end of the second inning, which was delayed for nearly 15 minutes after a West Norwalk batter taking a warm-up swing struck the home plate umpire in the teeth.

The game finally resumed after an unsuccessful search for the teeth and a backup umpire. Dylan O’Connor made a nice catch on a long drive to left that would have scored another run to end the inning.

Newtown got on the board in the first inning after Schmidt led off with a bunt single and was brought home on a fielder’s choice by Poeltl. The Bombers added a run in the second on an RBI single by Barreto, scoring Kelly who had led off the inning with a walk. West Norwalk then erupted for five runs in the top of the third, building a seemingly insurmountable 9-2 lead with their ace pitcher on the mound.

Nice defensive plays by Barreto and Magoulas prevented more damage and proved to be decisive later on.

Not to be outdone by the enthusiastic West Norwalk crowd, the Newtown faithful, led by Angelo Sposta (deserved of the 10th man award) managed to wake up the Bombers’ bats in the bottom of the third. Schmidt led off the inning with a single, followed by Jonathan Hull who also singled. Schmidt was erased on a fielder’s choice, but two singles by Braun and Kelly scored one run and a walk to Magoulas set the stage for a dramatic clutch triple over the left fielder’s head by Gerics that drove in three more runs and cut the West Norwalk lead to 9-6.

Energized by the offensive explosion and the enthusiastic Newtown fans, Sposta shut down West Norwalk in the top of the fifth, striking out the final two batters after Schmidt threw out a runner attempting to steal after a leadoff walk.

The Bombers came to bat in the bottom of the fifth needing three runs to tie the game. Braun led off with a single and was driven in by Kelly who also singled. Kelly scored the second run of the inning on a wild pitch and Hennessy then singled, putting the tying run at first base. Dean Demers then drew a walk after a great at-bat, fouling off a series of tough pitches, and now represented the go-ahead run. Schmidt and Hull then drew two-out walks plating Hennessy, and Demers was brought home on a single by Poeltl. Braun singled again in his second at bat of the inning driving in two more runs and Newtown had come all the way back and now led 11-9 going into the final frame.

Poeltl got the call to close out the win and came through again, ending the game on a nice play on a hard comebacker for the final out.

The Bombers will resume play against Beth-Wood in the third round and if successful, would only need to win one more game to capture the state crown.

Fall Ball

Registration for 2004 Fall Ball is now in progress. Teams will be formed by mid August and late registrations will not be accepted.

Please visit the Newtown Babe Ruth web site at www.eteamz.com/newtownbaseball to get more information and download the Fall Ball registration form.

Or you can call your Division Director for additional information. A directory is available on the site.

The non-refundable player registration fee is $80. Please make checks payable to Newtown Babe Ruth League.

New players must include a copy of their birth certificate with the registration form. An original certificate with raised seal needs to be verified by a board member before a Babe Ruth ID card is issued. Players whose birth documents were verified in spring 2004 are exempt.

Mail to NBRL at PO Box 133 Newtown, CT 06470.

Contact league president Roy Muraskiewicz (270-9241) or league secretary Peter Cochrane (270-7661) for additional information.