LL Recap: Newtown 11, West Salisbury 1

	1	2	3	4	5	6	R	H	E
West Salisbury	0	0	0	1	X	X	1	2	0
Council Rock Newtown	2	0	4	5	X	X	11	15	1

WP: Longo LP: Scott

The Council Rock Newtown train kept on rolling Wednesday morning in Bristol. The Blue Dawgs piled up 15 hits, bringing their Mid-Atlantic total to 28, against a Maryland team that entered the winners bracket final also undefeated on their postseason.

Sav Longo quickly set the tone on the mound, striking out the first two he faced before giving up a pair of walks. He quickly recovered, striking out Rowan Cherrix. There was some concern, as Longo needed 28 pitches to get through the inning.

West Salisbury entered the game with their star player, Callen Senft, not at full strength, unable to pitch and in a limited capacity in the batting order. Gehrig Scott got the start on the mound for West Salisbury, and the Newtown offense greeted him as they have so many other pitchers this postseason–with a lot of hitting and power.

Dean Hamilton led off with a single, marking the 7th consecutive leadoff bat to reach for the Blue Dawgs in Bristol. He was followed by Tyler Neeld. Longo grounded out, but Hamilton had moved up on a wild pitch and scored from third base. Greyson Gage singled in Neeld to make it 2-0 after an inning.

After Maryland went in order in the second, Ryan Uhl tried to get a rally going with a double to left, but he was stranded there. Longo struck out the side in the third inning, bringing his total to seven and exiting the game with 50 pitches, ensuring he would be available for Friday’s Mid-Atlantic championship game.

From the 12 spot, Tyler Wexler led off the bottom of the third with a triple over the head of the right fielder and Hamilton brought him in on a ground out. Brayden Peiffer and Neeld singled and Peiffer was thrown out at third base on a great throw from center. Replay appeared to show he may have been safe, but it was not conclusive so the call stood. After a walk to Longo, the two out rally began. Greyson Gage knocked one into left, scoring two. Gavin Caudill then doubled home Gage.

Dean Hamilton took the mound in the fourth with a 6-0 lead. Luke Holder reached base on an error by Newtown and came around to score on an RBI single by Michael Baim. However, Hamilton picked himself up with two strikeouts later in the inning.

The bottom of the lineup came up big in the bottom of the inning, as Will Siveter cleared the bases on a triple to the fence in center. Wexler placed one in right to score Will and extend the lead to 9-1. Neeld provided the game-winning 2RBI triple, splitting the outfielders on a ball that rolled to the fence in the right-center gap. Wexler and Peiffer scored and the game concluded in the mercy rule.

On the day, Tyler Neeld was 3-3 with 2 runs and 2RBI. Greyson Gage was 2-2 with a run scored and 3RBI. Seven players all had at least one RBI and nine had at least one hit.

Manager Brad Hamilton was very impressed with the hitting by his team, especially from the bottom of the order: “I was telling Will in the cages I thought he was ready for a few barrels, and Tyler Wexler, too. I kind of had a feeling some of them would start popping off, which is good to see—and it’s not like pitching is getting easier.”

When asked if anything has surprised him thus far, he mentioned the consistency of his team. “Keeping two days of consistency. I don’t care who you play when you’re consistent hitting, pitching, fielding, you’re going to be tough to beat. Hopefully we can keep it going forward and keep the boys in a good headspace.”

Above all of it, however, coach Hamilton values the fans and all of those who have invested in the boys, as many came to Bristol to see them: “From Newville, our aunts were there, our head of umpiring was there. [There was] a lot of good flow from states. States prepared us, not just for baseball. It was people giving you that good will and driving 2.5-3 hours to see your team; [that] tells you that our boys have made a good impression which makes me more proud than the baseball stuff.”

Council Rock Newtown will next be in action on Friday at 3:00PM when they face an opponent to be determined for the Mid-Atlantic championship and a berth in the Little League World Series. West Salisbury faces Capitol Hill, Washington D.C. on Thursday at 3:00 to determine who will face the Blue Dawgs.