At the 13th annual Cal Ripken World Series (CRWS) at the Ripken Academy in Aberdeen, Md. elite 11 and 12-year-old youth baseball players from around the world faced off. Newtown, playing as the New England team, played on Saturday and Sunday, and won both games. The team will not be playing today.
Here are the game highlights:
Saturday:
New England 8, Southwest 5,
New England (Newtown, Conn.) outlasted Southwest (Little Rock, Ark.) on Saturday after five lead changes, scoring an 8-5 win at Fenway Park. New England pulled out the win thanks to a strong fourth inning, where they scored on a two-run single by Lucas O’Brien off Noah Fowler, scoring Sam Grossano and Ryan Kost. Adam Bergeron led New England’s offensive threat, getting on base three times in the game and doubling in the fifth inning. Connor Cline racked up three RBIs on three hits for Southwest. He also singled in the first and third inning and doubled in the fourth inning. New England never surrendered the lead after the fourth inning.
“I feel great about our team’s performance. We played well in all aspects of the game – we had a lot of good hits, played great defense and [Jason] Hebner pitched the entire game. We also had no errors, which ended up making a big difference in the game. Our number two and three batters came through in big spots to give us a great first win in the tournament.
Tom Harrison, Head Coach, New England region – Newtown, Conn.
Sunday:
New England 11, Pacific Southwest 8
In what now seems to be New England’s (Newtown, CT) MO, the teams trailed through the early portions of the game, but were able to rally and fend off a talented Pacific Southwest (Mililani, HI) team to remain undefeated in the CRWS.
Pacific SW got off to a strong start and took a 2-0 lead after the first inning. New England was able to respond in the top of the second with a run of their own, however Pacific SW was able to match them to keep the lead at two. In the top of the third, New England’s Lucas O’Brien hit his team’s first homerun of the tournament to bring his team within one run.
New England was able to rally in the fourth with six runs as they hit through the entire order. In the bottom of the inning, Pacific SW was able to double up their runs, yet they now trailed by two. Pacific Southwest continued to fight back, but a two-run homerun in the top of the sixth by O’Brien sealed the victory for New England. In a sign of sportsmanship and showing this experience is more than just about baseball, the Pacific Southwest team gave all of the New England players and coaches goodie bags with gifts from Hawaii.
“They [Pacific Southwest] are a strong, sound team and it says a lot about our team’s ability. I am impressed by our team’s ability to keep fighting and hitting throughout the game. We had three players put together a good performance and continued to put pressure on them knowing one team would crack.”
Tom Harrison
Head Coach
New England – Newtown, CT
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Fans can follow the tournament through the tournament’s official social media pages including Twitter (@CRWSAberdeen), and at Facebook.com/CRWSAberdeen. In addition, the complete schedule and CRWS information is located on the tournament website, http://CRWS.RipkenBaseball.com.
All tournament games are FREE to the public. Free tickets are available online atWorldSeries.RipkenBaseball.com/Free-Tickets.
All tournament games will air on the internet radio station, SFMsports.net and simulcast through live Web cameras on worldseries.ripkenbaseball.com powered by WatchMeSports.com for the second year in a row. Real-time stats and score updates are also available at www.GameChanger.io.
Photos can be made by request to Katy Fincham at Katy@MaroonPR.com or Marlene Alvarez at Marlene@MaroonPR.com.
