The summer keeps getting better and better. Whether it is in Hudson, Massachusetts, or Harrison, Maine, the Newtown Babe Ruth Baseball League is making a name for itself in New England.

The Newtown 9-year-old All Stars (the Bombers) won the first two games of their New England Regional Tournament last weekend and are one win away from a trip to the tournament finals. Meanwhile, the Newtown 11-year-old All Stars won the first two games of their New England Regional Tournament last weekend and are also one win away from a trip the tournament finals.

What a summer.

The Bombers opened the Regionals with a convincing 10-2 win over Darlington National, Rhode Island.

It was a bit of a sluggish beginning for the Bombers, who gave up a run in the first on a couple of long hits by Darlington. But they settled down after that, surviving a bases-loaded jam in the second inning, and began taking control of the game.

After relief pitcher Jon Hull set down Rhode Island in order in the top of the third, the Bombers were ready to make a move. Reid Schmidt bunted for a two-out base hit, stole second, and took third on a passed ball. Hull was walked, but ball four was in the dirt and after Schmidt scored Hull took advantage of two throwing errors to race all the way around the bases for a second Newtown run.

In the top of the fourth, Colton Sposta came on in relief and struck out the side. In the bottom of the fourth, Gary Braun and Andrew Kelly singled and then Dean Demers ripped a triple to score two and then Stephan Hennessey’s infield groundout sent Demers home to give the Bombers a 5-1 lead.

In the top of the fifth, Sposta struggled a little with his command, but struck out two. He also walked a pair and on the second free pass Darlington attempted to pull off a double steal (of second and home) but a great throw from infielder Dan Poeltl nailed the runner at home.

In the bottom of the frame, the Bombers extended their lead to 10-1. Schmidt had a base hit, stole second, and took third on a throwing error. Hull reached on an error (dropped pop up) and Poeltl lofted a sacrifice fly to score Schmidt. Braun then singled in Hull, took second on the throw home, and eventually scored on a passed ball. After the Bombers were issued two free passes, David Gerics lashed a double inside the third base bag to score the last two runs.

With that momentum, the Bombers went on to defeat a fine team from Foxboro, Massachusetts, 4-0. Strong pitching and a lot of defensive gems made the difference for the locals, setting them up for a game against Maine.

The two wins in Massachusetts makes it 10 in a row for the Bombers, who recently skated through the Babe Ruth State Tournament with four straight victories. The Bombers have not lost since the finals of the Leonard Tournament in Bethel on June 29.

The Bombers began the State Tournament with exciting come from behind wins against Danbury and West Norwalk and needed two more to capture the crown. But Bethwood and old rival West Norwalk now stood in the way, both foes having beaten the locals in the Leonard Tournament.

The game against Bethwood was played under threatening skies and there was considerable doubt as to whether the game would finish before the rains came. If the game were to be postponed, the team would have to travel to Cheshire the following day and complete the game before moving to the next round.

The Bombers would have none of that, however, and proceeded to play a near-perfect game, ending it after five innings by a score of 10-0 on a walk-off single by Gerics that plated Kelly with the 10th run, thereby invoking the mercy rule.

Poeltl, Sposta and Hull combined to pitch five scoreless innings and were backed up by stellar defense. Kelly made a great catch on a ball hit to the gap in right center and Poeltl made another one of his heads-up plays at shortstop, starting a double play in the second inning.

The Bombers got their offense rolling in the first inning, scoring two runs. Schmidt led off with a nice bunt single, but was erased after attempting to steal second. Hull then singled and eventually scored on another single by Poeltl. Kelly then brought in Poeltl with a clutch two-out single to make the score 2-0.

Newtown opened things up in the second, scoring six more runs to put the game out of reach. Chad Magoulas singled leading off and was moved to second on a walk to Gerics. Schmidt then singled driving in Magoulas. Hull walked to load the bases and Gerics came in to score on another walk to Poeltl. Braun then delivered the crushing blow with a hard hit double scoring Schmidt and Hull making the score 6-0. Kelly singled bringing home Poeltl and another single by Dylan O’Connor drove in Braun.

After leaving the bases loaded in the fourth, the Bombers got the last two runs before the rain started. Braun led off with a walk, moved to second on a walk to Kelly and eventually scored the ninth run on a wild pitch. Kelly, now at second base, was brought in with the 10th run as Gerics singled to end the game.

In the finals, the Bombers had to deal with West Norwalk again – but this time West Norwalk had to win twice to knock the Bombers out.

That wasn’t going to happen. The Bombers scored six runs in the bottom of the fifth en route to an 8-2 win. Strong pitching and stellar defense again carried the locals until the bats got going late in the game.

Poeltl started the game and completed a scoreless first with help from Schmidt, who made all three outs at first base. Magoulas got the call for the second and got all three outs via strikeouts, but not before walking the bases loaded, adding to the already high drama. Sposta pitched a perfect third, striking out all three batters he faced and showed rare emotion by pumping his fist after the last out, energizing the crowd.

Hull was near perfect in the next two innings, facing only one batter over the minimum and allowing no runs while striking out two. He was aided by Poeltl, who made a diving stop of a ball hit up the middle to get the runner at first to end the fifth.

Newtown got on the board in the first as Poeltl drew a walk and moved to second on a drive to right by Braun that was misplayed by the West Norwalk right fielder. Kelly then singled driving in Poeltl.

But the score remained 1-0 until the bottom of the fourth when the Bombers managed to push across another run. Kelly walked after fouling off countless pitches during a tough at-bat, stole second and was brought home on a clutch two-out single by Demers that gave Newtown some breathing room.

In the bottom of the fifth, Barreto led off with a single and Schmidt and Hull drew walks to load the bases with no outs. Poeltl doubled, scoring all three base runners. Braun then doubled to drive in Poeltl and eventually scored on a wild pitch, making the score 7-0.

O’Connor then walked and proceeded to score the eighth run on a combination of steals and wild pitches and the Newtown faithful could now smell another championship trophy.

West Norwalk made it interesting in the top of the sixth, scoring two runs loading the bases, but as Poeltl made a nice grab on a hard liner up the middle to end the game and bring the state championship home to Newtown.

Now, the Newtown 11-year-old All Star team – after a much longer ride to Harrison, Maine – opened the Regionals with a pair of wins. The locals defeated Dover, New Hampshire, 5-3 and then battered Marblehead, 11-0.

A victory over Nashua North would put the locals in the finals.

In the opener, Newtown worked through some opening inning jitters, giving up three runs to Dover on two walks, a hit batter, and one bloop hit over second base. But thereafter, the Newtown squad regrouped and pounded out 13 hits, led by Sean Kennedy, Mikey Tobin, Daniel Lynch, RJ Roman and Brian Reed.

Bryan Czel, Brandon Rosenberger and Johnny Fracker combined to hold Dover scoreless over the last five innings.

In the second game, Newtown unleashed its offense. Roman belted a pair of home runs while Brandon Rosenberger hit his 10th homer of the travel season. Ryan Schmidt also clubbed the first home run of his career.

Czel and Tobin added three hits each and Alex Nordstrom added a big hit in the sixth. Steven Braun made two fantastic catches in left field and Erik Hoffman stole home during a Newtown rally. Roman, Czel, Rosenberger and Fracker combined for the shutout, allowing only six hits.