It was an unusual moment for the Newtown Middle School baseball team.
It was an unusual moment for the Newtown Middle School baseball team.
With runners in scoring position in the sixth and seventh innings last week, the Lions were strangely unable to push across any runs and thus they dropped a tough 5-3 decision to Bethel Middle School.
It was the first loss of the year for the Lions. The locals put together wins over Woodbury (7-0), Bethel (9-2), Rochambeau (2-1) and Memorial (4-1) before running into a little trouble at the plate.
In the win over Woodbury, Ryan McGrath and Jesse Furphy combined on a one-hitter with five strikeouts in a rain-shortened game. McGrath banged out a pair of hits while Alex Magoulas, Brian Cullinan, Mike Tibbetts, Seth Hull, Tucker Kass, Joe Greenfield, Stefan Toi, Joey DeVellis, Jeff Peterson and Brian Pennarola all had one hit.
In the win over Bethel, McGrath and Tibbetts combined on a two-hitter while walking three and striking out 11. McGrath also powered a 16-hit attack with three hits while Cullinan, Tibbets, Hull and Kass banged out two hits apiece.
In the win over Rochambeau, McGrath tripled in Cullinan with the winning run. But Hull and Dan Murdoch combined on the mound for the win (with Murdoch fanning the final three batters of the game) and the defense (keyed by a Magoulas to Tibbetts to Kass double play) played well to lead the way.
In the win over Memorial, DeVellis and Greenfield banged out three hits apiece while Sean Ryan and Peterson collected one hit apiece to lead the offense. McGrath picked up the win on the mound, whiffing 10 batters. Three solid pickoff plays sparked the defense and eliminated scoring threats.
In the loss to Bethel, Tibbetts and Hull pitched well but were victimized by four unearned runs. DeVellis and Hull each went 2-for-3 while Cullinan, McGrath, and Pennarola chipped in with one hit apiece.
Through the first five games of the season, Magoulas is batting .625 (5-for-8) while DeVellis and Hull were each batting .533 (8-for-15). Greenfield (.500), Cullinan (.461) and McGrath (.461) are all stinging the ball for the Lions.