By Steve Bigham

A trip to the state tournament for the Newtown Babe Ruth 11-year-old All Stars was put on hold after Tuesday’s District 4 championship game was called due to darkness . . . in the 12th inning.

Newtown found itself deadlocked with Danbury, 1-1, in a game that featured one outstanding defensive play after another.

The game was scheduled to resume in the top of the 12th inning Wednesday afternoon (after press time). A win would send Newtown on to the state tournament. A loss would require a second game to be played directly after the first.

Newtown entered Tuesday night’s game undefeated in the double-elimination tournament played at Glander Field in Newtown. It opened play Saturday with a 6-2 win over New Milford, then put itself in the driver’s seat on Sunday with a 2-0 victory over Danbury.

“These kids are playing very good baseball. There has been very solid defensive play from both sides,” noted coach Bob Lapple.

And how did he intend to get his kids up for Wednesday’s exciting matchup? That shouldn’t be a problem with these kids. They love to play, he said. Just in case. Lapple said he would probably promise them ice cream after the game.

“I think these kids are ready to play all the time and it’s just a matter of getting them focused for the beginning or the end of this game because that’s where it’s going to be won or lost,” he said.

Newtown scored its only run Tuesday on key at bats by PJ Cochrane, Tony Gallucci and Alex Magoulas to drive in Tyler Tarantino. But it was the pitching and defense that highlighted the game. Lapple and his assistants – Pete Cochrane and Brian Rodden – relied on five different pitchers over 11 innings. Joe Greenfield pitched the first inning, Gallucci pitched the second, Danny Smith was on the mound in the third and fourth, Greenfield fired strikes in the fifth and sixth and Greg Rodden took care of the seventh, eighth, ninth, 10th and 11th innings.

Second baseman Magoulas made several fine catches along the right field line. The best play of the game came in the second inning when Danbury – with the bases loaded – came up with a blooper that landed in shallow right field. Without hesitation, Tarantino picked up the ball and fired home, where catcher Stefan Toi caught the ball with his foot on the plate to record the force out. Later in the game, PJ Cochrane came in to catch and threw out three would-be base stealers.

The one disappointment for Newtown was its inability to drive home runners in scoring position, something it was hoping to do Wednesday night.

Newtown beat New Milford as Greenfield pitched three scoreless innings, striking out seven. Newtown struck for two runs in the first inning, three in the third and one in the fifth.

Cochrane led the winners with three hits and three runs. Magoulas added two hits and two RBI, while Gallucci doubled in two runs. Kurtis Liska chipped in with a late sacrifice fly.

In Sunday’s win over Danbury, Greenfield, Gallucci and Smith combined on a one hitter, striking out six. Offensive highlights for Newtown were Toi’s double, Magoulas’ triple and a clutch RBI single by Gallucci.