Norwalk 13s Roll To District One Babe Ruth Title

Regardless of the outcome of Thursday's game against Fairfield, the 13-year-old Norwalk Babe Ruth team knew that it would play in the New England Regionals as the host of the tournament.

It was still highly motivated to win the District One title and rolled to a 10-0 victory at Bunnell behind the  two-hit pitching of Dan Romanello.  The contest was called after 4 1/2 innings due to the 10-run mercy rule.

Norwalk actually lost the first game of the districts to Trumbull 6-4 in nine innings, but that defeat served as a wakeup call.

"That first game was a test for us," Norwalk coach Tom Cossuto said. "In a way, I'm glad we lost because it sent a message to us."

In the following four games, the team scored 62 runs, including a 22-2 victory over Fairfield on Wednesday that forced Thursday's winner-take-all contest.

"I challenged them and they responded," Cossuto said. "There's not too much they can't do on the field."

Norwalk will bypass the state tournament to prepare for the regionals, which get under way July 30 at McMahon High School.

As the runner-up, Fairfield will represent District One in the state tournanent even though it has lost its last two games by a combined margin of 32-2. The states begin July 15 in Ridgefield.

Norwalk also could have skipped the districts and still been entered into the New England Regionals.

"We're going to be ready for the regionals," Cossuto said. "We made a decision that we wanted to compete in the districts. We wanted the kids to experience what a tournament setting is like."

Matt Diurno, Christian Lengyel and Jessie Rodriguez each drove in two runs Thursday while Corey Hayes was the only Norwalk player with two hits.

Norwalk jumped on top 2-0 in the bottom of the first, scoring runs on a wild pitch and D.J. Iborrondo's infield single.

Norwalk broke it open with five runs in the second on just three hits. The big hit in the inning was Lengyel's two-run single with the bases loaded.

Diurno's groundout produced on a run in the fourth before Edwin Owolo's sacrifice made it 10-0 in the fourth.

Romanello was dominant on the mound, only allowing a double to Fairfield starting pitcher Brendan Beiser in the third and a bad-hop single to Emil Friis in the fifth. He struck out eight and walked three.

"When Dan's on, there aren't too many 13-year-olds that are going to be able to hit him," Cossuto said.

Thursday's win gave Norwalk two district titles in as many days. The 14s defeated Fairfield 3-2 on Wednesday and those players were in attendance on Thursday to support the 13-year-olds.

Cossuto promised that his team would not get rusty during the layoff before the regionals. It will continue to practice and play in another league. Norwalk already has played some games against U-14 clubs.

'We're going to host the regionals and get our kids ready to play in the regionals," Cossuto said.