Fairfield American 10-Year-Old All-Stars Win Opener In East Regionals

Matt Kubel tossed five scoreless innings, as the Fairfield American 10-year-old All-Stars defeated Scarborough, Maine, 3-0, in the opening game of the Eastern Region Invitational in Cranston, Rhode Island on Saturday afternoon.

The lanky lefthander was in complete control throughout, allowing only one hit - an infield single in the third, and that runner was quickly erased on a double play.  Kubel threw only 49 pitches - 38 strikes - in five innings.

Will Lucas tossed the sixth for Fairfield American, which was back in action on Sunday night against New Hamphire.

"(Kubel's size is a big benefit, but the biggest thing about him is that he throws the ball in the strike zone very consistently," Fairfield American manager Bill Meury told the Cranston Herald. "He's got a little more velocity than most kids in this age group, but he also rarely gets into a situation where he's giving up walks.

"At this level, runners are deadly. He keeps runners off base by just pounding the strike zone. He's a very good pitcher."

Fairfield American scored single runs in the first and second innings.

In the first, Ryan Meury led off with a single and came all the way around on three wild pitches. In the second, Drew McAvey walked, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Matt Landry and scored on an error.

Fairfield American closed out the scoring in the fifth, when Biagio Paoletta led off with an infield hit and eventually scored on Henrik de Jounge's RBI single.

Fairfield American improved to 15-1 in postseason play, with the town also winning sectional titles in the 11-year-old and 12-year-old divisions. The latter team clinched the state championship with an 11-1 win over Madison on Sunday afternoon.

"The town is having a hell of a run," Meury said.