By Kim J. Harmon

SALEM – Okay, the Newtown Babe Ruth 12-year-old stars did not exactly WALTZ through the District 4 Tournament like some people expected. But it seems as if their two close wins against Bethel – the second of which earned Newtown a trip to the state tournament – may have gotten the team in the right frame of mind.

Newtown battered New Canaan, 10-2, in the opening round of the state tournament on Saturday and then blanked arch-rival South Meriden (the team Newtown had to vanquish last year to capture the 11-year-old state championship), 3-0.

Those two wins put Newtown into the semi-finals – where it crushed Danbury, 12-1, in a game shortened to five innings because of the mercy rule.

The low, in-the-huddle chant before these games has been, “Three-peat, three-peat, three-peat,” and the All Stars will have the chance to make that chant a reality on Thursday, when they face either South Meriden or Danbury (either team would have to beat Newtown twice).

A Long, Long Drive

The opening round of the state tournament started off somewhat inauspiciously for Newtown. The ride to Salem is a good 90 minutes in itself, but last Saturday a bad traffic tie-up on I-84 tacked about another 30 minutes onto the ride.

But were the All Stars sluggish?

Well, maybe a little.

Steve Marks was a bit off in the top of the first inning, allowing a single to the first batter (who was pegged out by Scott Suhoza while trying to steal second), and a single to the second batter (who reached second on a passed ball). But he settled down and whiffed the next two batters to get out of the jam.

And then in the bottom of the first, Newtown went down meekly with a pair of strikeouts and a popopout.

Whatever cobwebs had gathered during the two-hour trip to Salem, however, were pretty much cleared up by the second inning. Marks was sharp in the top of the frame and then led off the bottom of the frame with a double that kick-started a five-run rally.

The floodgates had opened.

After Marks doubled to left, Brian Cullinan singled and took second on a throw home that kept Marks at third. After Mike Tibbets was caught looking, Kevin Cahalane lofted a fly ball to right field that was misplayed, allowing Marks to score and once again putting runners on second and third. Suhoza then singled in a run and Brian Shimko walked to load the bases.

New Canaan was starting to get rattled. A wild pitch allowed Cahalane to score. Joey Devellis was walked to load the bases again and Tucker Kass followed with a bloop single to right. Devellis would later score on a wild pitch.

After all that, Newtown led, 5-0.

New Canaan came back with a run in the top of the third, however, and – facing Brian Conroy – took advantage of a walk, two wild pitches, and a throwing error. Marks made a brilliant defensive play at first, though, scrambling to pick up a bad throw and peg out a runner at home.

After that threat was averted, Newtown notched two more runs in the bottom of the frame – and did so with the benefit of just one hit. Cullinan singled to lead off and then took second on an overthrow. After Tibbets grounded out (putting Cullinan on third), Conroy was walked. Conroy then stole second and Cullinan scored on the throw. Suhoza grounded out, putting Conroy on third, where he soon scored on a wild pitch.

Newtown led, 7-1. The All Stars did load the bases again following all of that (a single by Devellis and walks to Shimko and Kass), but New Canaan avoided any further damage.

Sean Ryan took the ball in the fourth inning and all he did was strike out the side. After Newtown went quietly in the bottom of the frame, New Canaan made a little noise in the top of the fourth and put another run across the plate on a two-out infield single. Shimko made the play of the game, though, when he scooped a hard smash to right field and pegged the runner at first base.

The locals scored the last three runs of the game – for the 10-2 final – in the bottom of the fifth on a bases-loaded single by Tommy Gaboriault, a bad throw home, and an infield grounder by Joe Rahtelli.

Tibbetts came on in the top of the sixth and induced groundouts to Rahtelli and Cahalane before striking out the final batter.

The win gave Newtown an opportunity to square off against a familiar foe . . . South Meriden.

And once again – like the 2000 state tournament that was in South Meriden – it was all about strong defense and pitching. For the first two innings, the two teams battled through a scoreless draw before Suhoza opened up the third with a walk. Devellis followed with a single, putting Suhoza on third and allowing Devellis to then steal second. Ryan McGrath then beat out an infield hit deep in the hole at shortstop, allowing Suhoza to score. Devellis took third and then went home on a passed ball to give Newtown a 3-0 lead.

Marks was strong on the mound for the first three innings, allowing no hits while whiffing three batters.

But the game was still close and Tibbetts did what he could to make it a little less close when he belted a home run to centerfield in the top of the fourth. Tibbetts then followed up that homer with two solid innings on the mound.

Shimko had to help Tibbetts out of a jam in the fourth, though, by once again turning a single to right into an out at first base. That play seemed to deflate South Meriden and Newtown later closed out the game in the sixth inning with a strike ‘em out, throw ‘em out double play. Marks earned the strikeout and Suhoza earned the peg out at third (with the help of an excellent block and tag by Cullinan).

By then, Newtown was on a roll.

And on Tuesday, rolled right over Danbury.

Devellis (4-for-4, 5 RBI on the night) started Newtown off in the top of the first inning by roping a double to the left centerfield fence. McGrath chopped an infield single and an overthrow allowed Devellis to scored the first run. In the second, Kass singled, Suhoza walked, and Devellis banged another double to score two more runs. Shimko then singled in Devellis to give Newtown a 4-0 lead.

There was no stopping the All Stars now.

In the third, Marks (2-for-4, 2 HR, 2 RBI) blasted a home run to centerfield and he was followed by a single off the bat of Tibbetts (2-for-3 on the night), a walk to Suhoza, and an RBI single by Bowen. In the fifth, Newtown sent 10 men to the plate – led off by Marks and his second solo HR of the night. Tibbetts singled, Gaboriault doubled, Cahalane singled, Conroy walked, and Devellis cracked a three-run homer to centerfield.

Newtown was up, 12-1.

Spencer came on in the bottom of the frame, faced only three batters, and closed out the game. McGrath had started and pitched two innings of hitless ball. In fact, Newtown pitchers – with Conroy and Ryan (striking out the side in the fourth) pitching the middle innings – allowed just one hit all night.

And now it’s on to the finals.