8-9 year olds

Purple Crush 8, Blue Sharks 5: The Purple Crush opened an early lead but had to fight off a tenacious team. Luke Azzarito struck out 6 batters in the first 2 innings and Trevor Tyrrell struck out 6 in the last 2 innings. Dillon Robinson and Ben Pinto had two hits a piece. George Mohigal chipped in on offense with a hit of his own, as did Marina Altimari. Jacob Hinden and Jesse Kinsman drew walks which led them to score.

Blue Dragons 7, Grey Wolves 5: Jeff Gioiele hit the second of two long triples driving in two. Carter Tagliarini also had a single and two RBI in the win. The Dragons shut down the Wolves in the final three innings. Liam Murphy provided a scoreless forth, Tyler Fuori a scoreless fifth and sixth. The two combined for nine strikeouts. Not to be outdone, Kyle Conrad pitched a perfect fifth inning on nine straight strikes for a 1-2-3 frame. He provided another scoreless inning in the sixth with two more strikeouts to keep the Wolves within striking distance. Another notable performance came from Ryan Farrell who won a game ball for another strong outing in only his second appearance. The play of the game came from Joseph Pagett threw out a runner trying to steal third base. Sam Suckow applied the timely tag.

Reds 8, Wizards 6: A tight battle saw the Reds take a  led 3 -2, then score 2 runs in the fourth and 3 runs in the fifth to close out the Wizards. Offensively, the Reds were led Joey Rios who had 3 hits and 4 RBI’s. Shea Talbot hit a booming triple in the fourth inning to drive in a run and Jack Sullivan scored 4 runs. Jack Ketchum, Jack Sullivan, James Mok, Rios provided strong pitching performances, while Shea Talbot notched the save. For the Wizards, Charlie Eppers had a nice game with an RBI, a single, a run scored, and a solid inning of pitching. Defensively, the highlight of the game for the Wizards was Patrick Oberstadt making a perfect throw from center to Sam Eppers covering second to get a Reds runner trying to stretch a single into a double.

Grey Wolves 7, Reds 6: The Grey Wolves broke open a 2-1 battle with five runs with some clutch hitting to take a 7-1 lead. The Reds rallied back in the bottom of the fifth to score five runs of their own. Tight defense by both teams from that point on left the game at 7-6. Shea Talbot led the offense with a triple which knocked in 2 runs. James Mok and Ethan Goodman also drove in runs for the Reds. Jack Ketchum pitched well and had two hits. Reds pitchers, Ketchum, Stephen Dooley, James Mok, Joey Rios, and Shea Talbot combined to strike out 11 batters over six innings in the loss. For the Wolves, Joseph Pagett continued to thump the ball, notching two doubles. William Swifts was perfect, reaching base all in all four of his at bats. Pagett started the game with two scoreless innings, and was followed by co-game ball winner Rob Hetzer who allowed only one run in his rookie performance. James Tibolla also won a game ball for closing out the game with a scoreless sixth.

Purple Crush 14, Wizards 14: In a wild game, the Purple Crush spotted the Wizards a 9-0 lead, only to come storming back in the late innings, scoring five in the bottom of the sixth for an improbable tie game.  They scored 5 runs in the bottom of the 6th to earn the tie. Trevor Tyrrell, leading the charge back, had 3 hits and 4 RBI. Marina Altimari had two clutch hits, and Dillon Robinson, Luke Azzarito, George Mohigel, Ben Pinto, and Lyle Petrellese all had hits to bring the Crush back. The Wizards offense was led by Patrick Oberstadt and Ben Albee who had great days at the plate and Sam Eppers with 3 runs scored. Josh Taylor pitched 2 shutout innings for the Wizards.

Green Machine 7, Southbury Black 5: In a close battle with Southbury Black, Patrick Hurley and Tyler Stroili had two hits each, and Eric Franklin and Jordan Conrad also led the offense for the Green Machine. Thomas Tavar and Jackson Hebner pitched scoreless innings and Patrick Hurley pitched 2 no-hit innings to earn the save.

Green Goblins 2, Green Machine 1: After a 10-9 slugfest in their first meeting, the rematch produced one of the tighter defensive games of the year. Both pitching staffs came with their A-game. Patrick Hurley and Thomas Tavar pitched scoreless innings. Tyler Stroili, Kyle Reilly and Devin Johnson made key defensive plays to keep the game close. Patrick Hurley provided most of the offense for the Green Machine with two triples and a run scored. However, Todd Petersen and the rest of the Green Goblins provided outstanding defense and pitching.

Middlebury 12, Blue Dragons 7: The Blue Dragons’ five game winning streak came to an end with a slow start in Middlebury. The Middlebury Padres plated ten runs in the first three innings. The Blue Dragons Max Hubner went 3-for-3 and an RBI. Luke Galer, Liam Murphy, Matt Blanco, Tyler Fuori, and Trevor Merrick had solid hits. The game featured outstanding defensive plays. Max Hubner chased down a single in the gap, made a strong throw, and Tyler Fuori applied the sweep tag. Tyler Fuori also had an unassisted double play to get the Dragons out of a bases loaded jam in the fourth inning. Middlebury was not to be outdone landing three double plays, stopping any hopes of a Dragon comeback in the late innings.

10-11 Cal Ripken

Apprentice 10, Blue Devils 9: Jason Hebner pitched a perfect sixth inning for the save and doubled in a run. Jackson Dooley and Tim Davis hit well for the Apprentice. Josh Ketchum, Adam Beckett, and Will Huegi led a balanced attack for the Devils.

Classics 9, Blue Lightning 4: Sam Kapur had two hits and Brooks Petershack pitched well to lead the Classics. Cole Dermerjian and Robert Hutchins led the Lightning with great defense and hitting. Co Player of the week CJ Herde had two big hits for the Blue Lightning.

Blue Devils 8, Purple Ponyos 3: Two first place teams battled for bragging rights and the Devils came out on top. Fine pitching by Adam Beckett and the hitting of Josh Ketchum led the Devils, while Ben Harrison starred for the Ponyos.

Apprentice 6, Orange Flames 5: The apprentice fought its way back in the last two innings to squeak out the victory. Jason Hebner singled home the winning run and also picked up the victory. Nicky Venezia and Tess Davenport led the way for the flames

Geckos 8, Wizards 7: Liam Begany drove a ball deep to the outfield for a walk off victory. Adam Bergeron singled to tie the score and came around on Begany’s hit. Eugene Citrano and Joey Caruso played well in the tough loss for the Wizards

Classics 4, Hurricanes 4: RH Clark of the Hurricanes singled in the bottom of the sixth to tie the game and Ben Dieckman of the Classics made a fine defensive play to keep the score tie in one of the best played games of the season. Co player of the weekend Luke Kirby hit a monster double and scored for the Hurricanes and Ethan Brisson pitched well for the Classics.

U15

Newtown Blue 12, Bethel 0: Newtown used dominant pitching, sparkling defense, and an impressive offensive display to handle the Wildcats. Pat Pierce led the way on offense, going 3-for-3, including 2 doubles, four RBIs, and two runs scored. Jack Procaccini, Dan Harrison, and Holden Turk each went 2-for-3 and combined for six runs scored. Virgil Procaccini added a two-run double, and Jake Simonson and Brandon O’Sullivan each contributed singles in the win. Newtown also showed its prowess on defense by turning a double play in three consecutive innings, all of the non-standard variety. With one out and a man on second, Dan Harrison fielded a hard grounder at third base and fired the ball to Jake Simonson who recorded the out at first, then returned a throw back to Harrison at third, who tagged out the runner trying to advance from second. Virgil Procaccini got in on the action in the third inning.  With a Bethel runner on first, Procaccini snared a liner deep in the hole at shortstop. After recording the out, Procaccini alertly fired the ball nearly from the outfield grass, to nab the Bethel base runner as he tried to retreat to first. Nick Randle wasn’t to be outdone as he showed off his arm strength from behind the plate. After catching strike three for the second out in the fourth inning, Randle unleashed a throw down to second to catch the Bethel base runner before he could safely return to the base. The Newtown Blue pitching was equally impressive, holding Bethel to only three hits in the five inning affair. Jack Procaccini picked up his third straight win, going two innings and striking out two batters.  Will Swain and Pat Pierce pitched the next two innings, surrendering only one hit. Dan Harrison came on in the fifth inning and was lights out, as he retired the side in order, including two strike outs. 

Newtown Blue 13, Bethel 8: Newtown completed the sweep of the “home and home” weekend series against Bethel with a 13-8 win at Hunt Field. Jake Simonson got the start on the hill and picked up his first career win. Andrew Ross, Nick Randle, and Brandon O’Sullivan each recorded two strikeouts in their inning of work on the mound. Newtown used a different pitcher in all seven innings, with Sam Czel, Will Swain, and Eli Klorczyk rounding out the pitching duties. Jack Procaccini carried the load on offense for Newtown, going 3-for-3, with two doubles, three runs, and three stolen bases. Procaccini is leading the team with 18 stolen bases in 11 games and has yet to be caught. Pat Pierce continued his hot hitting, collecting a two run double and scoring two runs. Virgil Procaccini delivered a booming two-run triple and also scored two runs. Virgil is batting a mind boggling .750 thru 11 games. Eli Klorczyk had a double and three RBIs, and Will Swain and Dan Harrison rounded out the offensive effort with singles. With the win, the Newtown Blue improved to an impressive 10-1 on the season. After an early season loss in game three, the Blue is riding an eight game winning streak.

U18

Lightning 6 Danbury One 2: Austin Bonadio threw six shutout innings, and Wyatt Depuy knocked in two runs Monday night at Fairfield Hills Field. The win upped the Lightning’s record to 9-3 and guaranteed home-field advantage in every playoff game. Newtown opens the playoffs Saturday, October 22 at 2 pm at Fairfield Hills and will also play there at noon Sunday.

Against Danbury, comprised of several Abbott Tech varsity players, Bonadio yielded just three hits and struck out seven while Newtown built a 6-0 lead after six innings. He extricated himself from a first-inning jam by striking out two batters with runners on second and third. Newtown responded with two first-inning runs. Bonadio was hit by a pitch, and Kyle Wilcox walked. Chris Tenney crushed a groundball through the second baseman’s legs, scoring Bonadio. Depuy knocked in Wilcox with an RBI grounder to second. In the third inning center fielder Depuy made a spectacular catch to save a run and rob a hit away from Danbury slugger Alex Johnson. Depuy raced back in deep center, reached high to make the catch, tumbled over and held onto the ball. The Lightning struck for two more runs in the third inning. Tenney drilled an RBI single to center and stole second. Depuy clubbed an RBI single down the left field line, his team-leading 14th RBI. In the fifth inning, with two outs, Danbury’s third baseman fielded a grounder off Tenney’s bat and, forgetting the number of outs, threw home off line, allowing Bonadio to score. In the sixth inning, Brandon Cooper walked, Jon Hull drilled a single to left and Dean Demers moved them up with a beautiful sacrifice bunt. Hull intentionally strayed off second, drawing a wild pickoff throw from the catcher and scoring Cooper. Tenney pitched the final inning, yielding two unearned runs and striking out two batters.

Lightning 3 Danbury Two 1: Dean Demers hurled a masterful, three-hit complete game Sunday night at Fairfield Hills Field. Only two opposing runners reached third base during the game. Demers blanked Danbury for the first six innings and struck out six. Newtown scored two first-inning runs when Kyle Wilcox singled, Chris Tenney clouted a long triple to right center and Wyatt Depuy slashed an RBI single. The Lightning added one more run in the next inning when Demers reached on a error by the shortstop and the shortstop threw Garrison Buzzanca’s grounder wildly past first base. In the fifth inning, Newtown made a sensational defensive play. With a man on first, left fielder Troy Larsen retrieved a double deep down the left field line and threw to cutoff man Wilcox who turned and fired a strike to catcher Jon Hull, who tagged out the runner trying to score from first base.