The Newtown “Wolf Pack” 11A Travel Team completed an exciting weekend of baseball this Memorial Day weekend at The Rock Memorial Day Classic in Chester, NY. Competition included teams from New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Though suffering a pre-tournament setback of an injury to the big-hitting David Kohler that kept him out of the lineup, The Wolf Pack made a strong showing by coming in 2nd place with their only loss coming in the championship game.
The weekend started off with a nice 7 – 2 victory over the Rockies. The offense was led by Kyle Roche who hit a 3-run home run deep over the left field fence in the 3rd inning that put Newtown ahead for good. The Rockies offense was stymied by strong pitching and by outstanding defense from Shane Demers who was responsible for 6 assists and 2 putouts.
The next game was against a tough Hudson Valley Bulldogs team who fought the Wolf Pack to 6 - 6 tie. The offense stayed strong for the Wolf Pack with a two-run-two-hit performance by Luke Kirby and a clutch RBI by Jack Miller. The Bulldogs were kept in check by strong pitching by Robert Murray (5K’s), Miller, and Cole Demirjian who gave up 4 combined hits and by a game saving catch by Jamey Hobar.
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Sunday started off with a playoff rematch against the Bulldogs that resulted in a 4 – 2 Wolf Pack victory. The Bulldogs got off to an early 2 – 1 lead and looked to be cruising to victory despite a 5-strikeout pitching performance by Roche. But, their hopes were crushed by a go ahead 3-run home run in the 5th inning by Robert DiSibio that easily cleared the center field fence. The victory was sealed by Ben Terry who got the save by pitching two scoreless innings and picking off a runner attempting to score on a suicide squeeze bunt.
The Wolf Pack met the NY Avalance in the championship game. The tone of the game was quickly set by a tremendous grab by Aaron Kirby at third base who fielded a hard grounder to his left and threw out the runner for the first out of the game. This was followed by a very nice catch of a deep fly ball to right field by Easton Ricks. The intensity continued in the 2nd inning with a home run by Roche and heads-up base running by Murray. The Avalanche tried to counter by trying to steal home, but they were caught by the always alert Demirjian who snagged a low pitch off the turf and quickly applied the tag. Unfortunately, the Avalanche was able to score 3 runs in the 5th to take a 5 – 2 lead. Though the Wolf Pack fought back and brought the tying run to the plate in the 6th, they came up short and had to settle for 2nd place. But, the Wolf Pack played hard all weekend despite the heat and humidity and came away from the tournament with a great experience and a great start to the travel baseball season.
