DANBURY – It has almost become old hat . . . Newtown versus Bethel.

The Newtown Babe Ruth 9-year-old All Stars have accomplished quite a few things so far this summer and almost all of them at the expense of Bethel. Be it in the Leonard Memorial Championship, the District 4 Tournament, or the Babe Ruth State Tournament, the Newtown Nines have had to face Bethel time after time after time.

Always coming out on top.

Newtown used a tough, 6-4, win over Bethel to capture the District 4 championship on July 10 in Danbury.

Newtown banged out 14 hits and stole 10 bases. Daniel Lynch was 3-for-4 with five stolen bases, Brandon Rosenberger was 2-for-4 with a couple of doubles, Johnny Fracker was 2-for-2 with a pair of RBI, and Mikey Tobin was 2-for-3 with a pair of singles.

Alex Nordstome and Sean Kennedy also hit the ball hard while Ryan Schmidt made two key defensive plays at second base in the last inning (also going 2-for-3 at the plate with an RBI). Rosenberger was dominating on the mound with six strikeouts over three innings. Sean Maher pitched an effective first inning by striking out the side and Lynch closed out the win by shutting Bethel down over the last two innings.

“It is hard to single any particular players out because the kids are playing solid baseball as a team, with one player picking up the next,” said coach Michael Lynch. “Timely hitting and very solid fielding have led the way. We are very proud of the kids and the way they remain composed when others are falling apart around them.”

Newtown began its run at a District 4 championship with a 15-2 win over New Milford. Rosenberger (3-for-4, 3 doubles), Lynch (4-for-4, 8 steals), Fracker (2-for-2, 3 runs scored) and Schmidt (2-for-3, 3 RBIs) powered the offense.

RJ Roman, Tobin, Derek Krewson and Kennedy provided additional speed on the bases with seven steals and five runs scored between them. Rosenberger, Maher and Roman combined for eight strikeouts anchored the pitching duties for Newtown.

The Nines then rallied from a 5-1 deficit against – who else? – Bethel and captured a 9-5 win. Eric Hoffman (2-for-4, 2 RBIs), Lynch (2-for-4, double and triple), Roman (triple, 2 RBIs) and Tobin (double, 2 RBIs) led the offensive charge.

Bryan Czel also scored a key run after walking in a tough at-bat to help in the comeback bid.

A little rusty after a long layoff, the Nines nevertheless prevailed, 12-9, over Cheshire in the opening game of the State Tournament. Newtown scored nine of its runs early and then – thanks to some shaky defense – had to hold off Cheshire the rest of the way.

Cheshire scored four runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to tie the game at 9-9. But Newtown scored three runs in the top of the sixth to put the game away.

Czel, Alex Nordstrom and Kennedy all made catches in the outfield to save runs.  Rosenberger pitched three strong innings and Lynch threw two scoreless innings. Those two have carried the pitching through all the tournaments, with support from Czel, Maher, Roman and Fracker as needed.

The team also showed some aggressive base running, causing Cheshire to throw the ball around a little too much and leading to several overthrows and errors. Tobin came through with a big hit in the sixth inning, driving in Rosenberger and Roman with the go-ahead runs.

Hoffman drove in another run with a walk to make it a three-run margin.