Nor’easters Outlast Eagles at Dunkin’

Following six innings of back-and-forth action, Newington baseball defeated Wethersfield 9-8 at Dunkin’ Park on May 22.  

Because of a two and a half hour time limit at the venue, the game was called after a wild six inning in which the teams combined for five runs. 

It wasn’t the way either team wanted to end the game, yet the home of the Yard Goats in Hartford was hosting a double-header — featuring Ellington and Enfield in the night cap —- forcing the early game to wrap up an inning short. 

Newington head coach Ben Alaimo called the abrupt ending to the game a “very unusual situation.” 

“A couple of years ago we played a two and a half hour game and it ended an inning short, so we knew the time limit ahead of time, but I had no idea what time it was,” added Alaimo “I had no thought that the game was ending until the ump came over and said it was over.”

Prior to the confusing conclusion, the rival schools put on fireworks show at the plate for the local fans that traveled to the capital city.

Newington, the away team for the neutral site game, scored four runs in the top of the first inning.

Leadoff hitter Josiah Ross singled off Wethersfield pitcher Christian Morales to start the game before stealing second and eventually reaching home after a wild pitch.

Alaimo referred to Ross as the team’s “spark plug”, adding that his senior center fielder is the ultimate “five-tool” player.

On May 11, Newington had lost to Windsor at Dunkin’ Park and Ross said it was important to get early runs in their return.    

“We definitely wanted to be aggressive and set the tone,” stated Ross. “It was good to get going early because we tend to play a little slow here and to get one early was big for us.”

With two outs, Tony Suarez tripled, sending home a pair of runs. Suarez then scored following a single from Chase Leonard to complete the productive inning. 

Wethersfield got one back in the bottom of the first when Morales scored following a single by Jackson Kelly. 

The Eagles then scored three in the bottom of the second to tie the game. Zachary Melillo ignited the second inning scoring with a double on a deep shot towards the wall in center field before Ethan Lemos also doubled, sending home Melillo.

Junior Cam Righi then ripped a shot to left, doubling and scoring both Lemos and Nick Farrelly.   

Righi, a University of Connecticut baseball commit, finished 4-4 with a pair of doubles and a triple. 
Alaimo joked that he’ll just have to walk Righi in future games. 

“We just couldn’t get him out. We threw every pitch at him and he hit all of them,” added Alaimo. “He almost single handedly brought them back late.”

The team continued to trade haymakers for the next couple of innings before Newington’s J.D. Nazario drove in a run and later scored following a shot to the gap from Gavin Gray.

Nazario finished 2-2 with a pair of doubles, driving in two runs. The run by Gray, who also earned the save on the mound, ultimately proved to be the difference.

A triple from Righi scored Farrelly and Morales, and a sacrifice fly from Justin Bagdasarian scored Righi before Gray ended the inning and sealed the win with a strikeout. 

“Wethersfield is always tough. Coach [Mark] Bagdasarian is always good with his group,” stated Alaimo, who added this type of game can be used as a teaching tool for the tourney. “These tight games can prepare you and the more often you are in them the easier it will be to handle mentally and emotionally.” 

The win over Wethersfield was the Nor’easters 15th of the season. They closed the regular season with two more wins, beating Simsbury 10-9 and Vinal Tech 17-3.

In the win over Simsbury, Suarez won it with a walk-off hit in the ninth innings to drive home Ross for one of his three runs. 

“We take these last games as a pre-tournament run so to have these final games be tough like this is great preparation for the tournament,” Ross said following the win over Wethersfield. “We have a lot of guys that can step up and make plays; it’s just about playing together and coming up in big spots.”

​Newington 17-3 record was the best in Class LL, earning them the top-seed in the state tourney.