Baseball League Holds Preseason Tourney

The first Preseason Tournament for Newtown’s 10-year-old (AAA) baseball league took place at Sandy Hook Field this past weekend.

The tourney began with games on Saturday and concluded with semifinal and championship games on Sunday. Here are the highlights:

Gamers 7, Sal e Pepe 1: Joey Santella led the offense with an inside-the-park home run, single and 2 RBI to help his team win in Saturday’s tournament. Luke Rustici hit a single and pitched flawlessly. Pitchers Luke Rustici, Ethan Carpenter, Mason Melillo and Michael Doyle held the Sal e Pepe team to one run. Tony Leonardi and James Leuci scored the final two runs. Austin Huffman and Devin Peterson played well in the field. For Sal e Pepe, Nathan Fitzgerald made a stellar play at shortstop and added a hit. CJ Dunn and Jake Courchene-Roy contributed hits and James Accousti pitched a shutout inning.

Gamers 10, Studio Green 0: Ethan Carpenter ripped two triples, a double and had 5 RBI and scored two runs to help the Gamers. Patrick Briscoe and Joey Santella each had two singles and pitchers Mason Melillo, Luke Rustici and Ethan Carpenter combined for the shutout. Zach Weiland played well in the field. Studio Green’s Glen Damota pitched a solid last inning and Gustovo Porto played well in the field.

Rich’s Keys and Locks 5, Dina 0: Tim Vanderhave had a key hit and scored a run in the win. Jack Procaccini and Steven Brittin led the hitting. Liam Palilla,Vanderhave and Procaccini combined for the shoutout. For Dina, Curtis Williamson pitched a scoreless inning. Russell Jacobs made a great play at second base. Sydney Dimartino and Jared Pearson played well in the field. Pat Berger threw out a player at third base from the catcher’s position.

Sal e Pepe 3, Turner Construction 2: Jared Brady had a two out bases loaded single to drive in the tying and winning runs. Tim Krapf singled and Aiden Petershack scored a run. Austin Martinez closed out the game by striking out two in the last inning.

Studio Green 7, Turner Construction 0:  Joe Duero, Andrew Craigin and Michael Parker combined to pitch a shutout. Dillon Palumbo led the offense with two hits and two runs scored. Jaret DeVellis and Geln DaMota got key hits and Daniel Humula stole a base and scored a run.

Dina 10, Emmitt and Glander’s 1: Matt Elias went 2-for-3 with a double and a singleand knocked in 4 runs. Curtis Williamson has two singles to lead the attack. Russell Jacobs, David Anderson and Matt Hess added singles. Williamson, Elias, Alex Klang and Patrick Berger all pitched well for Dina. For Emmitt and Glander, Chris Calo singled, doubled and scored a run. Matt Maturo, Keaton McCleary and Griffin Davis each had base hits. Rob McCabe caught two batters looking and struck out three in the first inning.

Pat McGinnis 8, Emmitt and Glander’s 2: Sam Czel homered with two men on, Holden Turk hit a two-run single and Alex Diagnault and Kyle McGrath pitched scoreless innings. Chris Calo singled and scored twice, Erik Street had two hits and Keaton McCleary and Griffin Davis each singled. Matt Maturo and Andrew Ross both pitched well and struck out three batters each.

Rich’s Keys and Locks 5, Pat McGinnis 3: Alex Diagnault and Kyle McGrath pitched scoreless innings. Jacob Nevetsky and Devin Luzietti pitched well. Pat McGinnis nearly came back. Kyle McGrath walked, stole second and third then scored on fielder’s choice. Holden Turk singled and stole second. Tyler Fiorella walked and stole second. Devin Luzietti was hit by a pitch and both runners scored on Sam Czel’s base hit. Alex Diagnault singled, sending Sam Czel to third. He was the tying run in scoring position after stealing second. Tim Vanderhave then stuck out the next three batters to seal the win.

Semifinals

Gamers 5, Rich’s Keys and Locks 3: James Leuci, Patrick Briscoe and Mason Melillo got key hits in the win. Ethan Carpenter continued his hitting streak with a triple and a single and Luke Rustici, Joe Santella and Michael Doyle combined for three hits and four runs scored. Devin Peterson played strong defense during the entire tournament. Patrick Briscoe reached base during all of his plate appearances.

Dina 3, Sal e Pepe 2: Dina opened the game with three runs. Patrick Berger walked and Matt Elias hit a single putting Berger on third and Elias On second. Curtis Williamson then knocked in two runs and Matt Hess drove in the third. Dina was led by Williamson, Elias, and Alex Klang who pitched well. Sydney Dimartino played solidly in the field for Dina. Sal e Pepe was lead by  Tim Kraft who had two hits. Matthew Marini had a hit that drove in two runs in the last inning. C.J Dunn and Jared Brady were strong defensively and Peter Kohlsaat had a great all-around game.

Championship

Dina 8, Gamers 3: Dina exploded for five runs in the first inning. Russell Jacobs, Curtis Williamson all had Alex Klang key hits in  the inning. Matthew Hess hit a triple to knock in two more runs in the second. David Anderson added a single in the inning. Dina was led in the field by Brian Kiley and Jared Pearson. Matt Elias , Williamson, Klang and Jacobs led the Dina pitching efforts. For the Gamers, James Leuci, Joe Santella and Michael Doyle had singles and scored runs. Tony Leonardi played good defense and Mason Melillo pitched well.