Norwalk 13's Eliminated From Babe Ruth New England Regionals

A lack of offense doomed the 13-year-old Norwalk Babe Ruth team in its first game against Central Maine and it was the same story on Wednesday.

Norwalk managed only two hits over the first six innings and suffered a 6-3 loss at McMahon High School that eliminated the team from the New England Regionals.

In the earlier game, Norwalk managed only one hit in a 3-2 setback to Central Maine, which will play Cranston, R.I., for the title on Thursday at McMahon at 4 p.m.

"Our hitting wasn't what we needed it to be," Norwalk coach Tom Cossuto said. "I'd like to tip our cap to the other pitchers because all those guys were throwing with good velocity and good breaking stuff. It's something that 13-year-olds don't see very often. It's hard to coach them on curveballs because we don't thrown them that often."

Trailing 6-2, Norwalk did load the bases in the seventh on hits by Chris Winthrop, Jessie Rodriguez and Edwin Owolo, but J.T  Nutting allowed only a sacrifice fly to Matt Parlanti before finishing off the complete game. Nutting struck out 10 and walked two.

After falling behind 4-0, Norwalk scored its first run in the fourth on Parlanti's triple and Christian Lengyel's RBI double.

In the fifth, Nutting issued his only two walks to start the inning, which allowed Norwalk to push a run across without the benefit on a hit. Winthrop scored on a balk.

Norwalk had its one big chance in the fourth, getting runners on second and third with two outs, meaning a hit could have tied the game. But Nutting escaped the threat by getting Matt DiUrno to ground out to end the inning.

Central Maine got back the run in the bottom half as Dan Porter tripled with two outs and scored when shortstop Owolo, who made a number of solid plays in the field, dropped the relay throw from the outfield.  Noah Caret's RBI single made it it 6-2 in the sixth.

"We let the other team take the lead and we kind of played catch-up," Cossuto said. "We weren't able to make a few plays in the field that we normally make and that was the difference in the game."

In the second inning, Central Maine "small-balled" Norwalk to death, jumping out to a 3-0 lead. Nick Mayo led off with a double, moved up on an error and scored on Nick Bryand's RBI single.

The next two runs crossed after Central Maine runners took the extra base after outs were recorded. Trevor Getting raced home from third after Branden Hallee grounded out and Bryand scored after Caret was thrown out on a safety squeeze.

Central Maine made it 4-0 in the third when Jared Cunningham led off with a double and scored on an error.

Norwalk starter Kyle Pisacrita surrendered four runs - only two earned - and hits over three-plus innings. Lengyel tossed the final 3 2/3 innings, giving up two runs - one earned -- and three hits.

The grind of having to play so many elimination games may have finally caught up to Norwalk.

"At 13 years old, it's kind of hard to go perfect through the loser's bracket without making a few mental mistakes," Cossuto said. "(Coming through the loser's bracket) is definitely a mental grind. You're waking up and you got to go to work. I'm tired and I'm not even playing."

Still, Norwalk can take some satisfaction in that it won three games, including a 10-0 win over Connecticut state champion New Milford on Tuesday, to reach the loser's bracket final.

"This has become an every-day grind and these kids responded three times," Cossuto said. " In most regional tournaments, it's very easy to get that first loss and pack it in."