The Council Rock Newtown 9-11 Little League baseball team has just finished a season to remember.
The team recently returned from Beverly, Massachusetts, where it won the Mid-Atlantic 9-11 Little League championship and was the East Region runner-up.
“We call them the ‘Cardiac Kids’ because they’ve had to come from behind a lot this year,” said Eric Guise, the manager. “These kids eat, sleep and breathe baseball. They’ve had practice or a game every day for a couple of months and even on rainy days, they want to find a place to practice indoors.
“They’re true students of the game. They compete with each other, but that competition is what made this team. They’re all friends, they all get along, and everyone’s important. I’m proud of the whole group and it was such a fun season.”
The team went 3-2 at the East Regional, opening up with back-to-back wins over Washington, D.C., and Delaware before dropping a game against Maryland.
An 8-7 win over New York gave CR Newtown the Mid-Atlantic title.
The Blue Dawgs trailed after the first inning, 3-0, but pecked away with runs in the second and third before ultimately tying the game, 7-7, and forcing an extra inning.
Crew Torok’s RBI double in the bottom of the seventh provided the winning run for CR Newtown.
Torok and James Anderson each had a double and two RBIs, Beckett Piccarreta had two hits and one RBI, Wade Bailey, Jakob Stomer, Sullivan Herrity and Will Egan all had two hits, Ethan Hodgson doubled and stole a base, Teagan D’Andrea chipped in a hit and Beau Guise had an RBI for CR Newtown.
Hodgson pitched four innings in relief, surrendering four hits and three runs, striking out two and issuing one walk. Egan was the starter, giving up four runs on six hits, fanning two and walking one.
The victory gave the team a spot in the East Region final, where they fell to Massachusetts, 5-0.
Anderson gave up two hits and three runs, struck out five and walked three. Torok and Patrick Burger each had a base hit for the team.
“We lost our last game, but at that point we’d come so far, and I still feel like this whole season was a big success,” Beau Guise said. “The whole team had fun, and we got to travel to new places and play baseball all summer long. What could be better than that?
“When we won the Mid-Atlantic, that was very exciting. Everyone was so proud to bring that home and it’s something I think we’ll all always remember. When I look at the banners we got this year, I see all the success we had and how great we played as a team.
“My best memory is just being in the hotel and swimming in the pool with my teammates. Everyone just had so much fun this year.”
The Blue Dawgs won the District 30, Section 8 and state titles to reach the East Region tourney.
In district play, the team fell to Northampton, 5-1, before stringing five consecutive wins together, including back-to-back wins over Morrisville.
“That was incredible, to get in a hole and have to win five in a row to stay alive, but they did it,” Eric Guise said.
In the section tournament, CR Newtown went 3-0, defeating Media twice and Upper Providence to advance to the state tournament.
The state tournament, held in Selinsgrove, was quite a ride. CR Newtown opened up with a 12-0 win over Dubois, then squeaked by Hollidaysburg and West Point, both by identical 5-4 scores, to reach the finals.
The Blue Dawgs fell to West Point in the first game, 3-2, forcing a second game where they came from behind to win, 10-9.
In that critical second game, West Point jumped out to a 6-0 lead after just two innings. CR Newtown put up three runs in the top of the fourth, but West Point added single tallies in the fourth and fifth to retain the lead, 8-3.
In the top of the sixth, the Blue Dawgs tied it up, scoring five runs. Ethan Hodgson had two RBIs while Owen Rottkamp, Wade Bailey and Herrity had an RBI apiece to force the extra frame.
CR Newtown scored two runs in the top of the seventh. The first was on an RBI single by Torok. The second came when Will Egan reached first after a dropped third strike (wild pitch) and Herrity scored on the play.
The Blue Dawgs were able to hold West Point to just one run in the seventh to claim the state banner. Egan was the starting pitcher with Guise, Bailey and Herrity all appearing in relief. Bailey got the win.
“My favorite memory is winning the state championship,” D’Andrea said. “We were so happy. It was like a mini Field of Dreams.
“This summer was really great. It was non-stop baseball and we were always together. It was never one of us. It was all of us and that’s what it took to get us to where we wanted to go.
“It was hard to get this far. It took all 12 of us and I’m really proud of all of us. We’ll never forget this year.”
Torok led the team with three home runs, while Piccarreta led the Blue Dawgs in doubles with 10 while catching 128 innings and allowing just five passed balls. Burger had an ERA of 0.871 and a 73% strikeout percentage in 21 innings pitched, while Alexander led the team in hits and innings pitched (33) and D’Andrea was the squad’s season leader in assists and putouts.
The community welcomed the team home with a presentation at Chandler Field.
“That was really nice,” Beau Guise said. “It’s another good memory.”
Owen Rottkamp is also a team member and the assistant coaches are Brett D’Andrea and Mark Alexander.
MORE: Phillies celebrate 1,000 wins, countless memories at Citizens Bank Park
