Blue Hawks Capture Another Championship

The Newtown Blue Hawks baseball team captured their second straight District 5 championship in the Major 70 division at Southbury on July 10.

The district opener was against a tough Woodbury team and Newtown pulled off a 4-0 win. The Hawks jumped out to a 2-0 lead when Bobby Archiere and Troy Frangione both singled, Colton Smith plated Archiere with an RBI single and Jim Parker got Frangione home. The game remained 2-0 until the fifth when Jim Parker added some insurance with a two-run homer that followed a second single by Smith. Woodbury’s hitting attack was silenced by Connor Roche’s four shutout innings in which he scattered two hits and struck out four. Virgil Procaccini and Darryl Silverlieb completed the shutout with an inning each. The defense was outstanding, highlighted by a game-ending double play.

In the second game of the tournament, the Hawks faced their archrival, Southbury and held on for an 8-7 lead. Newtown quickly jumped out to an 8-0 lead with three in the first on a Jim Parker two-run homer, plating Smith who singled, and followed by a solo home run by Procaccini. The onslaught continued in the second inning when Charlie Huegi and Frangione singled and Parker and Julian Dunn each doubled.  Newtown added what would be an important run in the fifth when Nick Lotrecchiano doubled, and scored on a Silverlieb single. Down by eight, Southbury did not give up and plated seven runs in the fifth inning. The stellar pitching of Bobby Archiere was the highlight of the win. Archiere pitched four shutout innings to start the game and returned to record the last out of the fifth on a bases loaded strikeout and then closed out the game with a one-two-three sixth inning to preserve the win.

The Championship game was against the same tough Southbury team, which managed to emerge from the loser’s bracket. Newtown won 6-4. This game figured to be a pitcher’s duel, with Southbury throwing their ace, Sam Rubinstein. But the Hawk bats stayed hot right out of the gates. In a replay of the previous game, Smith singled and Jim Parker launched his third home run in as many games. Newtown added a run in the second and two more in the third on back-to-back singles by Dunn and Roche and a walk by Lotrecchiano, along with some smart base running that got the two runs home. Frangione scored in the fifth after reaching base on a walk to extend the lead to 6-1. Roche went the distance in the win, allowing only four hits and striking out four. Another valiant comeback by Southbury fell short, as the Newtown defense came up big in the win.

Newtown’s post game celebration included a dip in the Pomperaug River adjacent to the field. Newtown will play in the State tournament in Woodbury starting on July 18. The team is managed by Rob “Coach” Frangione, Ken Roche and Pat Smith.