Pomperaug Surges Past Newtown in Baseball Quarterfinal

Despite yielding seven unanswered runs, including five that came in the seventh inning, Pomperaug was able to rally back and beat Newtown 13-12 during Saturday's quarterfinal of the Connecticut High School Boys Baseball State Championship.  

Heading into the game at Waterbury Municipal Stadium, the Panthers had beaten the Nighthawks in both regular season meetings, though this time it initially looked as if Newtown had the upper hand.

Trailing 12-10 in the bottom of the eighth inning, the Panthers were down to their final three outs, and on the brink of elimination.  

Pomperaug's Adam Cherry started the inning by drawing a leadoff walk against Newtown pitcher R.J. Roman. Following a Kevin Maxen fly out, John Sullivan and Dan Fein, Pomerpaug's pitcher, then hit back-to-back singles to load the bases for Matt Paola.

Roman cooled off the Panthers rally by striking out Paola, bringing Pomperaug down to its final out, still down two runs.

With the bases loaded, and the Panthers season on the line, centerfielder Kevin Foley worked a walk, scoring Cherry and bringing the Panthers within one run.

Again Roman looked like he was battling back, but with two strikes on Brent Pelella he threw a pitch in the dirt, which got passed catcher Brandon Rosenberger, and allowed Sullivan to score, knotting the score at 12-12.

Roman eventually retired Pelella to keep the scored tied, but the momentum had clearly shifted to the Panthers.

Fein pitched a scoreless ninth inning for Pomperaug, allowing just one hit, giving the Panthers another opportunity. This time Pomperaug would close it out.

Following a ground out by Brian Fay, Andrew Clements singled to centerfield, and then moved to second after a ground out by Cherry.

With two outs, Roman hit the next batter, Maxen, with a pitch. Then with Sullivan at the plate, Roman threw a wild pitch, allowing Maxen and Clements to advance to second and third.

On a 2-1 count, Roman's pitch bounced in the dirt, passing Rosenberger and allowing Clements to cross the plate with the games winning run.

 "This win means a lot," Clements said. "It says a lot about the guys we have on this team. If we can prevail through this, we can get through anything."

Although it was a tough loss for the Nighthawks, Coach Matt Memoli was proud of the way his players fought back.

"Down five runs heading into the seventh, it's easy to give up," Memoli said. "(Before the inning) I told my seniors to remember what they went through to get to this point. All the hard work they put into the season."

Led by the seniors, the Nighthawks opened the seventh inning on fire against Fay. Second baseman Colby Brown started the rally by singling to third, then advancing to third base on a throwing error -- one of seven committed by the Panthers on the day.

Evan Noonan walked, and then Andy Lapple hit a jam shot between third base and short stop, driving in Brown and advancing Noonan to second.

Still with no outs in the inning, Bryan Czel hit a sharp ground ball to the Panthers short stop, Paola, who cleanly fielded the ball, but his throw was off line and bounced passed the first baseman. Both Lapple and Noonan scored, and Czel advanced to second.

A ground out by Rosenberger moved Czel to third base with just one out. 

With George Zaruba at the plate, Fay threw a wild pitch, scoring Czel and cutting the Panthers lead to 10-9.

Later in his at-bat, Zaruba hit a hard ground ball to Paola, who bobbled the ball and didn't get it to first base in time, giving the Nighthawks the tying run on first. 

Memoli sent in Ryan Tita to pitch run for Zaruba, which proved to be a good move.

On Fay's second pitch to Kyle Kromberg, Tita stole second base. Then, on a 1-1 count, Kromberg hit a deep line drive just out of the reach of the centerfielders outstretched arms, scoring Tita and tying the game at 10-10.

The Nighthawks went on to score two runs in the eighth inning, but ultimately couldn't hold off the Panthers' late surge.

"It just didn't turn out our way today," Memoli said. "But it shows that if you put in the hard work, which we did, and really commit yourself toward a certain thing, you will have a great shot at being successful."