Newtown Into New England Championships

In the bottom of a long 4^th inning, Lucas O’Brien, of Newtown, was on the mound and trying to stay positive amid a pressure-packed situation at the New Milford Farms Fields Wednesday night.

The 11-year-old ace pitcher for the Thunder had let a three-run lead slip away from him. With the score 7-all, and runners on first and third bases with a third New Canaan player at the plate, O’Brien was feeling the weight of the moment. He was feeling so many emotions that it was hard to describe what was running through his mind at that point.

“Not good things,” O’Brien would say later.

But then the swing of the bat came, and a sure single into right center field was quickly fielded and thrown to second base for the forced out, allowing the Thunder to get out of the inning without further damage.

A walk, sacrifice single, balk on the part of the New Canaan pitcher and deft base-running led the Thunder to re-take the lead in the 5^th inning after Will Huegi stole home plate on a wild pitch.

That would turn out to be the final run of another nail-biter between the Newtown Thunder and New Canaan All-Stars. The Thunder, now the only undefeated team left in the New England Cal Ripken 50/70 tournament, is assured a spot in the regional championships to be held Friday.

Newtown is no stranger to pressure packed games, particularly against a strong New Canaan team, with all three games between the two New England powerhouses decided by a one-run differential, most recently at the .

Teamwork was again crucial in this latest win, because while the Thunder scored early, the All-Stars capitalized on a few key blunders to go on a scoring run.

“Our defense let them in this game,” Newtown Coach Tom Harrison said, adding the Thunder accrued three errors, which was more than typical for the team.

O’Brien also was shaky on the mound at times, particularly as New Canaan’s top of the order came to bat, Harrison said. The All-Stars top five batters are good hitters, and with some loss of command, O’Brien struggled.

“But he battled back,” Harrison said of the pitcher.

O’Brien also received help from teammates who rallied around him offering their emotional support as well as converting key fielding opportunities into outs especially late in the game.

In the bottom of the fifth inning, Dylan Champagne, a pint-size player, fielded a ball a New Canaan batter ripped deep into right field, belting it to first base in time to get the runner out.

In 6^th inning, after the Thunder left a runner stranded on third base, Newtown returned to the field with its closer Ben Dieckman on the mound. Unlike O’Brien who wears his emotions on his face, Dieckman rarely varied his expression.

“It’s the same look every time,” assistant coach Chris O’Brien said.

Dieckman, known as a hard worker who stays focused, didn’t let the pressure get to him. The crowd roared as Dieckman struck out the last batter.

"He's been clutch all year," O'Brien said of the closer.

With this latest win, Newtown pulls ahead of New Canaan, and even if they meet again in the finals, New Canaan must beat them in two consecutive games in order to capture the title of the double-elimination tournament.

“I feel pretty confident,” Adam Bergeron said after the game.

New Canaan now plays against Exeter, N.H. Thursday to decide who will take on Newtown in Friday's final.

Most of the players on the Thunder were part of last year’s team, which not only won the state and regional titles but . The Cal Ripken League doesn’t offer a world series for the 11-year-old division, so for the Thunder, Friday’s game will be the last one of the season.