Class LL State Tournament
Baseball Championship
No. 17 Newington 3, No. 7 Southington 2
FINAL
Newington 020 000 000 1 - 3 7 3
Southington 010 000 000 0 - 2 7 4
WP: Cole Bryant. LP: Sal Romano.
Cole Bryant struck out Tyler Burns on a 3-2 count with the bases loaded and two outs to clinch Newington's first ever state baseball championship with a thrilling 3-2 victory over Southington Saturday night at Muzzy Field in Bristol. Newington, the No. 17 seed, won as the higher seed in each game it played in the Class LL State Tournament.
Underdog no more, the Indians are the best team in Class LL and, perhaps, the entire state.
Bryant and Southington's Sal Romano battled for over four hours, including a 48-minute rain delay, matching zeroes for seven straight innings, from the third to the 10th, before Newington scratched a run across on an error in the final frame for the victory.
But it should have never gotten to the 10th inning. With Matt Spruill on first, Romano doubled down the right field line. Spruill came all the way home to score the game-winning run and send the Blue Knights into celebration mode on the field. But Spruill missed home plate, and after an appeal by Newington, the umpires called the runner out. It was the correct call.
After a walk, Bryant struck out Zach Niles to end the inning and send the game to the ninth.
In the top of the 10th inning, Bryant led off with a single and Sam Tinkham followed with a walk. Pat Meucci grounded out to third, but the throw to first was wide, and Bryant scored from second to give Newington the go-ahead run. Romano escaped further damage.
In the bottom of the 10th, Spruill led off with a single. After an out, Romano singled to put runners on first and second with one out. Bryant struck out Alex Roger, then Zach Niles grounded out to short, but Romano reached second after the toss from short was dropped. That loaded the bases with two outs. Burns came up and worked the count to 3-2 but Bryant got the final strike and won the game and the championship for Newington.
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Bottom 10th: Tyler Burns strikes out on a 3-2 count. ... Bases loaded with two outs for Southington. ... Zach Niles grounds out to short, but Sal Romano is safe at second on the dropped toss. He might have been safe either way. ... Alex Roger strikes out. ... Sal Romano singles, first and second with one out. ... Shane Fusco is pinch running for Zach Nichols at first. ... Zach Nichols pops it up to short, but the ball drops again, missed by Armando Soler, but Newington still gets Spruill out at second for the force. Spruill was holding on first because of the pop up. ... Matt Spruill leads off with an infield hit. ... Cole Bryant is still on the mound for Newington. This is the last inning he can pitch, due to CIAC rules. ...
Top 10th: Ryan Callahan strikes out. ... Callahan couldn't get the suicide squeeze bunt down and Tinkham is tagged out going back to third. ... Newington takes the lead. Pat Meucci grounds out, but an error on the third baseman on a wide throw to first scores Cole Bryant. Sam Tinkham advances to third base. ... Sam Tinkham walks. ... Cole Bryant singles. ... Tyler Barrett grounds out. ... Sal Romano still on the mound for Southington. This is the last inning he can pitch, due to CIAC rules. ...
Bottom 9th: Chris Lee strikes out. ... Ed Shaw flies out to left. ... Connor Butkiewicz sacrifice bunts Burns to second. ... Tyler Burns walks. ... Cole Bryant still on the mound for Newington. ...
Top 9th: Armando Soler grounds out to second. ... Jonathan Snyder walks. ... Freddy Burgos strikes out. ... Bryant Morander strikes out pinch hitting. ... Sal Romano still on the mound for Southington. ... Somehow, we are still playing this Class LL championship game, Newington 2, Southington 2 after eight innings. ...
Bottom 8th: Zach Niles strikes out swinging. ... Alex Roger walks, first and second with two outs. ... Sal Romano doubles down the left field line and Spruill comes around to score the game-winning run. BUT, he misses home plate and the umpires call him out as Southington was mobbing the field, celebrating what the players thought was a state championship. He clearly missed home. Unbelievable. ... Zach Nichols pops out to third on the bunt attempt. ... Matt Spruill pops it up to second, but Armando Soler drops the ball coming over from shortstop. ... Southington has its 2-3-4 hitters coming to the plate. ... Cole Bryant still on the mound for Newington. ...
Top 8th: Ryan Callahan strikes out. ... Pat Meucci strikes out looking. ... Sam Tinkham is hit by a pitch. ... Cole Bryant grounds out to the pitcher. ... Sal Romano still on the mound for Southington. ...
Bottom 7th: Chris Lee ends the inning, we're going to extra innings. ... Ed Shaw advances the runner to second on a ground out. ... Brian Thompson ties the game on a sacrifice fly. ... Southington has runners on first and third with nobody out. ... Tyler Burns reaches first on a bunt single. ... Zach Niles leads off with a double; Newington's Freddy Burgos had the ball hit off his glove. They are calling it an error on Burgos, no double. ... Newington needs three outs to claim its first-ever baseball state championship. ...
Top 7th: Tyler Barrett flies out to center. ... Armando Soler flies out to center. ... Jonathan Snyder singles. ... Freddy Burgos flies out to right. ...
Bottom 6th: Newington's Cole Bryant has 11 strikeouts. He is having little trouble with the Southington hitters so far. ... Alex Roger strikes out. ... Sal Romano intentionally walked. ... Zach Nichols strikes out. ... Matt Spruill bunts Lee to second base, one out. ... Chris Lee is hit by a pitch. ...
Top 6th: Southington's Sal Romano has five strikeouts. ... Josh Barnett strikes out. ... Ryan Callahan strikes out. ... Patrick Meucci grounds out. ...
Bottom 5th: Newington's Cole Bryant has nine strikeouts. He has retired seven straight batters. ... Ed Shaw strikes out to end the inning. ... Connor Butkiewicz strikes out. ... Tyler Burns grounds out for the first out of the inning. ...
Top 5th: Southington's Sal Romano gets out of the jam, striking out Sam Tinkham to end the inning. ... Wild pitch has pinch runner advancing to second base. ... Romano strikes out Cole Bryant, but a wild pitch allows Bryant to reach first with two out. ... Tyler Barrett files out to right. ... Southington's Chris Lee throws out Soler trying to steal second. ... Armando Soler leads off with a single. ...
Bottom 4th: Zach Niles grounds out to short and first baseman Sam Tinkham makes a great stretch for the put-out. ... Alex Roger strikes out looking. ... Sal Romano strikes out looking. ...
Top 4th: Southington's Sal Romano gets Jonathan Snyder to fly out to end the inning. ... Romano throws out Ryan Callahan at third on a bunt by Freddy Burgos . ... Callahan is sacrificed to second on a bunt by Josh Barnett. ... Callahan is hit by a pitch. ...
Bottom 3rd: Ben Nichols strikes out. Newington pitcher Cole Byrant has five strikeouts. ... Matt Spruill singles with two out. ... Chris Lee strikes out. ... Ed Shaw grounds out to open the third. ...
Top 3rd: Southington's Sal Romano gets the next three batters out after a leadoff double. Cole Bryant flied out for the first out and two ground outs ended the Newington threat. ... Tyler Barrett leads off the inning with a double for Newington. ...
Bottom 2nd: Connor Butkiewicz strikes out to end the inning. ... Newington's Cole Bryant strikes out Tyler Burns, two out. ... Zach Niles gets a run-scoring single for Southington, 2-1. ... Alex Roger bunts Sal Romano to second, one out. ... 48-minute delay, teams are back on the field. ... Game is being delayed by rain. ... Southington's Sal Romano leads off the bottom of the second with a walk. ...
Top 2nd: Newington gets on the board first, scoring two runs on two errors on the same play, in the top of the second. ... Infield single by Freddy Burgos put runners on first and second with one out for Newington. They both came around to score on two throwing errors, one by the centerfielder and the other by the catcher. ... Newington gets a runner on first after an error by Ed Shaw with one out in the second. ... Southington's Sal Romano strikes out the first batter. ...
1st: There's no score after one full inning. ... Newington had the bases loaded with two outs in the top of the first inning, but Southington pitcher Sal Romano gets out of the inning unscathed. ... Jonathan Snyder had a double and Armando Soler singled for Newington. ...
NOTES: No. 20 Montville won the Class M baseball championship at Muzzy Field, beating No. 22 Seymour 1-0 earlier today. No. 2 East Hampton won the Class S baseball championship at Muzzy Field in the middle game today, beating No. 1 East Catholic 6-2. No. 15 Notre Dame-West Haven won the Class L baseball championship last night at Muzzy Field, beating No. 16 Farmington 2-1. ... Sal Romano is the starting pitcher for Southington, and can pitch a max of 10 innings tonight. Cole Bryant is pitching for Newington, and can pitch a max of 10 innings tonight. ... Vote on the winner of tonight's game on the top left side of the website. ... No. 17 Newington is 16-8 on the season and defeated No. 16 Windsor, 2-1, in the first round, No. 1 Glastonbury, 6-4, in the second round, No. 8 Danbury, 4-0, in the quarterfinals and No. 4 Amity, 6-5 in 10 innings, in the semifinals. ... No. 7 Southington is 19-5 on the year and defeated No. 26 Ridgefield, 2-1, in the first round, No. 23 Simsbury, 4-3 in eight innings, in the second round, No. 2 Pomperaug, 4-2 in 11 innings, in the quarterfinals and No. 6 New Britain, 6-3, in the semifinals. ... The game is being played at Muzzy Field in Bristol. ... Need more info on the Class LL championship game between Newington and Southington? We break it down on the latest episode of Sports Page Online, at the top of the website. The finale of SPO: Operation Epic is also in this latest episode.
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