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Community Corner

Broken-Hearted: Blue Knights Lose Championship Bid in 10th Inning

Southington's hopes for a Class LL baseball championship fall one run short in a 10-inning marathon.

The Southington High baseball players swarmed out on the field from their dank dugout on Muzzy Field’s south side in jubilant celebration.

With one out in the bottom of the eighth inning, stalwart pitcher Sal Romano flipped an opposite-field double into the left field corner. Matt Spruill, perched at first, immediately went into a baserunning sprint. The multitude that filled Bristol’s grand old ballpark could see that the Newington defense would be unable to relay the ball to home plate in time to stop him.

The Class LL championship belonged to the seventh-seeded Blue Knights, or did it?

A crescendo rose from the Newington side that indicated that something was very wrong, and indeed it was. Newington pitcher Cole Bryant alertly noted that Spruill had missed home plate. Catcher Tyler Barrett retrieved the ball and appealed the play. Home plate umpire Dave Bindas concurred.

Two innings later, the Indians were celebrating, and theirs would be a lasting one. Bryant took third on an infield hit by Pat Meucci and subsequently scored the winning run on a throwing error by shortstop Ted Shaw late Saturday night to give No. 17 Newington its first state title with an improbable 3-2 victory before an estimated 2,600 mist-soaked fans.

The devastation of defeat snatched from the jaws of victory furrowed the face of Southington coach Charlie Lembo.

“I made sure [Spruill] touched third. He did,” said Lembo, who was coaching third. “There were too many guys around. We thought the game was over. The umpire told me he missed home. I don’t know. I didn’t see it.”

The play spoiled a brilliant outing by Romano. The fire balling right-hander, likely bound for the University of Tennessee despite getting selected by the Cincinnati Reds in the 23rd round of last week’s draft, allowed just eight hits and struck out 10 in a brilliant route-going effort. All three of Newington’s runs were unearned.

Bryant did him one better. The tall right-hander yielded just six hits and struck out 16. Only one of Southington’s runs was earned. His 176 pitches – 31 more than Romano – would make professional pitching coaches cringe.

But the play that all will remember was the huge emotional swing where celebration turned to sorrow in a matter of 55 minutes.

“I honestly don’t know who saw it,” said Newington coach Eric Frank, who guided the Indians to the ‘LL’ final in 2007 only to see his dream shattered by Amity, 2-1. “All of a sudden, everyone’s saying, ‘Go touch home. Go touch home.’ The guys that saw it said he missed it by about a foot.”

“I swear to God, my mom who died two years ago was looking down on us tonight.”

Barrett’s unassisted putout prompted his own spiritual reaction.

“Thank God. Our third baseman (Meucci), our coach and our pitcher, they were watching the whole thing,” said the Adelphi-bound receiver. “I was blocking the plate looking for a play even though there probably wasn’t.

“Our pitcher actually called it. The umpire kind of hinted towards it. He was walking towards Cole. Cole said, ‘He didn’t touch home. He didn’t touch home,’ and the ump wasn’t saying anything. He was getting in position to make a call, so I’m thinking to myself, ‘Wow, maybe he really didn’t touch home.’ It worked out perfect.”

What made the win all the more sweet for Barrett was that Southington (19-6) bested Newington (17-8) twice in their CCC West encounters earlier this season.

“It’s about time we handed it to them,” he said. “They’ve got a great program but we were due.”

Newington scored twice in the second inning thanks to three Southington miscues.

Josh Barnett reached on an error by Shaw and took second on a bunt single by Freddy Burgos. Jon Snyder lashed a line drive that Tyler Burns snared in center field, but his errant throw went between first base and home plate. Catcher Chris Lee’s throw to third sailed into left field and both runners scored.

After a 48-minute rain delay, Southington countered in the home half when Romano walked, took second on Alex Roger’s sacrifice bunt and scored on a single to center by Zach Niles.

Southington tied it in the seventh when Burgos took a circuitous route to a line drive toward the left field gap that Borgos failed to corral. Burns dropped down a bunt single to put runners at the corners and pinch-hitter Brian Thompson lifted a sacrifice fly to medium left.

Lembo gathered the Knights around him quickly after they were unable to counter in the home 10th. They loaded the bases on singles by Spruill and Romano followed by a fielder’s choice grounder by Niles, but Burns struck out looking at a payoff pitch.

“I told them to keep their heads up,” Lembo said. “That’s why I wanted them in there right away because I knew how upset they were. I brought them in there to cool down before they went back out.

“They had a great season, we played a good game and unfortunately we had a couple of unlucky breaks…my hat’s off to them. They outlasted us. They’re deserving of the championship.”

BOX SCORE
Class LL Baseball Championship
Newington 3, Southington 2 (10)
(At Muzzy Field, Bristol)

Newington                                 Southington
                              AB  R  H  BI                                      AB  R  H  BI
Snyder, CF           4    0   2   0       Lee, C                      4   0   0   0
Soler, SS                5    0   2   0      Spruill, DH             4   0   2   0
Barrett, C               5    0   1   0      Janetty, LF             0  0   0   0
Bryant, P               5    1    1  0       Nichols, 3B             5   0   0   0
   -Frutuso, PR      0   0   0  0          -Fusco, PR           0   0  0   0
Tinkham, 1B         2    0   0  0       Romano, P             3   1   2   0
   -Briganti, PR     0   0   0  0        Roger , RF              3   0  0   0
Meucci, 3B            5    0   1   0       Niles, 1B                  5   0   1   1
Callahan, RF         4    0  0   0           -Dibble, PR        0   1   0  0
Barnett, 2B            2    1   0  0       Burns, CF                4   0   1  0
   -Morander, PH  1   0   0  0        Butkiewicz, 2B       2   0   0  0
Burgos, LF             4    1   1   0           -Thompson, PH 0   0  0   1
                                                          Shaw ss                     3   0  0  0
Totals                     37   3   8  0      Totals                       33  2   6  2

Newington       020 000 000 1 – 3  8  2
Southington     010 000 100 0 – 2  6  4

E – Snyder, Soler, Lee, Burns, Shaw 2. LOB – Newington 10, Southington 11. 2B – Snyder, Barrett, Romano. S – Barnett, Spruill, Roger, Butkiewicz, Shaw. SF – Thompson. CS – Soler, Tinkham.

                             IP   H  R  ER  BB  K
Newington
Bryant, (W)       10    6   2   1     4    16

Southington
Romano (L)       10   8   3   0     2    10

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WP – Romano 2. HBP – by Romano (Tinkham) 2, by Romano (Callahan), by Bryant (Lee). T – 2:57 (48-minute delay). A—2,600 (est). Records – Newington 17-8; Southington 19-6.

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