Lightning Rally To Capture Senior League Title

Led by the booming bats and speed of Kyle Wilcox, Ben Stoller and Austin Bonadio, the Newtown Lightning erased a 4-2 deficit Saturday at Newtown High School and hammered Ridgefield 11-6 to win the fall championship of the Connecticut Senior Baseball League.

The 18U Lightning team had to shake off the cobwebs early in the game after a week of inactivity, following an unseasonal snowstorm, a week-long power outage, and two postponements of the championship game.

Ridgefield scored first in the first inning against Bonadio, Newtown’s starting pitcher. Sean Phelan walked, Kevin Ash singled and both runners advanced on a passed ball. After T.J. Ranney walked to load the bases, Bonadio picked Phelan off third base, but third baseman Wilcox threw wildly to home, and Phelan scored. Bonadio got out of the jam and prevented further damage by striking out the next two batters and stranding runners on second and third.

Newtown’s Jon Hull led off the bottom of the inning by laying down a perfect bunt and beating the throw to first. Wilcox slashed a long double over the left fielder’s head, and Bonadio knocked in Hull with an RBI grounder to shortstop. Wyatt Depuy followed with another RBI grounder to shortstop to score Wilcox and give Newtown a 2-1 lead.

Ridgefield bounced back with three second-inning runs to take a 4-2 lead. Ridgefield loaded the bases on a walk, an error, and a bunt single. One run scored when Wilcox threw to first baseman Stoller to retire Rob Depalma on a grounder. Phelan drilled a two-RBI single to right field before being cut down trying to take second base after the throw to the plate. The catcher, Hull, fired a strike to shortstop Dean Demers to nail Phelan.

In the bottom of the second inning, Newtown threatened when Garrison Buzzanca and Nick Heron reached on errors. But Ridgefield’s starting pitcher, lefty Tim Johnson, got out of trouble by striking out Hull and retiring Wilcox on a long fly ball to center.

Bonadio settled down in the wood-bat battle, retiring eight consecutive hitters in the third, fourth, and fifth innings. Meanwhile, the Lightning struck.

In the third inning against Ridgefield relief pitcher Jack Brewster, Bonadio lined a single, stole second and moved to third when Brandon Cooper lined a single up the middle. Cooper was thrown out stealing second, but Stoller belted a clutch two-out, two-strike RBI double over the left fielder’s head, narrowing Ridgefield’s lead to 4-3. Stoller stole third, but Demers popped to second for the final out.

Newtown pulled ahead in the fourth inning after two outs. Hull reached on a shortstop’s error, stole second and moved to third on a wild pitch. Wilcox drilled a long RBI double to left and stole third. Bonadio cracked a hanging curve ball for an RBI double to left center, giving Newtown a 5-4 lead and sending Brewster to the showers. Lefty Christian Peterson relieved and retired Depuy on a grounder. 

The Lightning’s base running unnerved Peterson and Ranney, another Ridgefield reliever, in the fifth inning, when Newtown exploded for six runs. Cooper reached on a two-base throwing error by the shortstop and scored on two wild pitches. Stoller walked and stole second, and Demers walked. With Eric Pisani intentionally taking the first pitch by Ranney, Newtown engineered a double steal. Stoller got a big jump on Ranney, slid safely into third and the catcher’s hurried throw went into left field. Stoller raced home, and Demers took third. Pisani walked, and Heron ripped an RBI single to left field. Hull dropped a perfect two-strike sacrifice bunt, moving up the runners. Wilcox slashed a two-RBI triple to right center, beating the throw with a head-first dive. He scored on a passed ball, giving Newtown an 11-4 lead.

Ridgefield scored two seventh-inning runs on three singles. But Bonadio, who struck out eight batters during the game, was determined to finish with a complete-game victory. With a runner on first and two outs, Ridgefield’s Ryan Debarry lofted a fly ball to right field, and Newtown’s Troy Larsen made the catch for the final out. The Lightning, finishing the regular season and playoffs with a 12-3 record, were champions.