By Kim J. Harmon

MARLBOROUGH, Massachusetts – Just two games into the New England Regional Tournament, the Newtown Babe Ruth Baseball 9-and-under All Star team suffered its first loss since the beginning of the summer and was teetering on the edge of an emotional meltdown.

Until …

“As soon as the game (an 8-6 loss to Marlborough) was over,” said head coach Bill Kneisel, “me and Dusty started talking about a cannonball contest and raising some Cain at the hotel pool and right away the kids stopping thinking about the game.”

The locals – who opened the tournament with a win over Pembroke, Massachusetts (11-1) – buckled down and defeated Danbury in the round robin portion before defeating Cranston, Rhode Island (8-4) in the semi-finals.

Which set the stage for a return engagement with Pembroke.

“We were a little concerned,” coach Kneisel admitted. “We scored 10 runs on them in one inning, but they went on to win three games and gave up only two runs in 23 innings. So we didn’t know what to expect.”

And neither did Pembroke.

Playing flawless defense, the Blaze blanked Pembroke, 5-0, to capture the Cal Ripken New England Championship.

“The buzz on us was no one had seen a nine-year-old team hit like ours,” said coach Kneisel, “but, at times, we were an average defensive team. But (in the final) the kids came up with a flawless game. There were 11 infield assists and not a single error. We absolutely played our best game of the year.”

Before reaching the championship game, the Blaze had to get by Cranston, Rhode Island – which was no easy feat. The locals had to manufacture some runs (not something they often needed to do) and then had to survive a rally by Cranston.

“That was a real scare for us,” said coach Kneisel. “It was unbelievable … so exciting. I thought some parents were going to have heart attacks.”

But the Blaze survived and moved on to face a Pembroke team that had shut out Messalonskee, Maine (undefeated in the round robin), 5-0.

With no score in the top of the second inning, with two outs and a runner on first, Jack Kneisel doubled down the right field line. Dominick Fedak followed with a swinging bunt that allowed him to get to first and the first run of the game to score.

“We looked at it later,” said coach Kneisel, “and figured (Fedak) hit the ball to the only spot on the field where no one could get to it.”

With one out and the bases loaded in the top of the fourth, William Arndt roped a rocket through the hole at first and second to score a pair of runs and put Newtown up 3-0. The hit came moments after the Pembroke catcher made a phenomenal catch on a Ryan Powers popup in foul territory.

With two outs in the top of the sixth, the Blaze tacked on a couple more runs. Colin Morris – working through a 10-pitch at bat – earned a walk and stole second. Sean Ross singled in the right field gap to score Morris and advanced to second on the throw home. Chris Tenney followed with a single (also in the right field gap) that scored Ross with the fifth run.

Ryan Tita pitched three gutsy innings, working his way through the third after having pitched four innings the day before. Fedak followed with three solid innings of relief pitching to nail down the victory for the Blaze.

“It was an exciting time,” said coach Kneisel. “The kids really deserved it. They worked hard and their families made a lot of sacrifices.”