The Travel A team completed a perfect 8-0 run through the New Britain Tournament outslugging the host team New Britain in the Championship game 13-12 in 8 innings.  It was Travel A's second tournament title this summer and the team now concludes its summer by heading to Cooperstown, New York for a weeklong national tournament.

Here are the scores and highlights from New Britain:

Travel A 4  Berlin 3

The All Stars opened the New Britain Tournament with an exciting, tense win over a strong Berlin team. James Levere pitched the first three innings and left the game in a 2-2 tie. Josh Singer (1-0) came on in relief in the 4th and finished the game to record his first win of the season. Sam Turner with 2 hits and 1 run scored along with P.J. Melly, 1 hit and 1 run, led the offense. Singer drove in the winning run with a sacrifice fly in the top of the 6th. Melly also made some important defensive plays at second to keep the All Stars close in this defensive game. Julian Waddell had a strong game at catcher.

Travel A 10 New Britain 0

Jon Zelinger (1-1-1) pitch 5 strong, innings (1 hit, 8K's) to get his first win of the travel season. The offense was powered by Jon Greenfield who had 3 hits, including 2 home runs, and 7 RBI's.  P.J. Melly and Josh Singer had strong defensive games at 2nd base.

Travel A  12  Travel B  0

Jake George (3-0-1) earned the win with 3 solid no hit innings. Sam Turner, Jon Greenfield and Julian Waddell led the offense with 3 RBI's each.  Greenfield hit his 8th and 9th home runs and Turner got his 6th home run of the travel season. Josh Singer and James Levere had good defensive games for the All Stars. Paul Cashman and Ian Henderson played well for the B Team.

Travel A  7   New Britain Little League  2

Jon Greenfield (4-0-1, 6 innings, 8 K's) pitched his second consectutive complete game win. The offense was led by Dylan Robison and Brendan Dakin with 2 hits each. Jake George hit his 6th home run of the travel season. P.J. Melly and Brian O'Shea had strong defensive games.

Travel  A  11  Newington 0

Travel A improved it's New Britain record to 5-0 (overall record-18-4-1) with this convincing win over Newington. Matt Luther (3-1) pitched 5 innings of no hit ball before the game ended in a mercy rule. The offense was led by Luther with 3 hits and 2 runs scored. Jake George had 2 hits, 2 runs scored and 1 RBI. Julian Waddell had a strong game at catcher and P.J. Melly was strong at second base.

Travel A 23  Glastonbury 0

James Levere (4-0) was the winning pitcher.  Matt Luther had 2 hits, both home runs, and 6 RBI's. Sam Turner had 3 hits, 3 runs scored and 4 RBI's.

Playoffs

Travel A 7  Glastonbury 2

Travel A (#1 seed) played Glastonbury (#4 seed) in the semifinals of the playoffs. Dylan Robinson (4-1) pitched all 6 innings for the complete game win. The offense was led by Matt Luther and Sam Turner.  Both had 2 runs scored and 2 hits. Jon Greenfield and Jake George drove in 2 runs each. Brendan Dakin had a good defensive game at catcher.

Travel A 13  New Britain 12 (8 Innings)

The Championship Game between the two top seeds was anything but a pitchers duel. The game was won in the 8th inning on a 1 out sacrifice fly by Jake George that scored Jon Greenfield who led off the bottom of the 8th with a single. Matt Luther (4-1) won the game by pitching the last 4 innings and shutting out New Britain. New Britain led off the game by scoring 6 runs in the top of the 1st inning. The All Stars never had the lead until the 13th run scored in the bottom of the 8th inning. Matt Luther and Jon Greenfield each had 3 hits and Sam Turner drove in 3 runs on 2 hits. P.J. Melly had 2 hits and 1 RBI in key situations. Josh Singer had a strong defensive game at 2nd base.  Travel A improved their overall record to 21-4-1 as they head to Cooperstown Dreams Park to play teams from across the country.

Congratulations to the Light Blue team who beat Green to win the Summer League Championship on Wednesday night.  Light Blue was managed by Chuck Bruttomesso.  The players on Light Blue were: Ryan DeLutrie, Tyler Correia, Daniel Fitzsimmons, William Jackson, Ebbett Couchman, Vaishwan Dave, Jacob Sharf, Alex Rosa, Tanner Bruttomesso, Angel Serrano, Alejandro Serrano, Ray Fagan, Samuel Prescott, and Mark Vazquez.

See below for scores and highlights from the Summer League playoffs:

Quarterfinals 

Dark Green (#8) Upset Blue (#1) - 14-13

Green (#7) Upset Yellow (#2) - 5-4

Yellow struck for 2 runs in the 1st on singles by John Wells and Jack Barry.  Green tied the game at 2-2 in the 4th on a double by Josh Wolmer.  Green pushed 3 runs across in the 5th to take the lead 5-2 on doubles from Dylan Rosenbaum and Charlie Murray along with a base hit by Will Stanwick and a SAC bunt from Ryan Cova.  Yellow pushed single runs across in the 5th and 6th to make for a tight finish but Green held on for a 5-4 victory.
 
Green was led at the plate by Rosenbaum and Murray with a double a piece and Stanwick and Wolmer with a hit each.  Rosenbaum went the distance on the mound for the win allowing 4 runs on 4 hits with 10 K's.  Offensively, Yellow was led by John Wells with 2 hits with Jack Barry and Tim Dickson with a hit a piece.  Josh Weisenberg started for Yellow on the mound pitching 3 innings, allowing 1 run on no hits with 7 K's.  Tim Dickson pitched the final 3 innings for Yellow allowing 4 runs on 4 hits with 3 K's.

Navy (#3) Beat Black (#6) - 7-4

Light Blue (#4) Beat Red (#5) - 9-7

Light Blue's offense was led by Vaishwan Dave (3-3, 2 RBI's),  Mark Vazquez (2-2), and Ray Fagan (2-3).  Light Blue held down Red's powerful offense with outstanding pitching efforts by Dan Fitzsimmons and Ebbett Couchman.  Red's offense was led by Alex Lim who went 3 for 3, Derek Berube and Nick Hartman who both went 2 for 3.  

Semi-Finals 

Light Blue (#4) Beat Dark Green (#8) - 13-12 

In this thrilling semi-final game, Light Blue outlasted Dark Green in 7 innings.  Light Blue's offense was led by Vaishwan Dave (5-5, 4 RBI's), Ebbett Couchman (2-4, 1 RBI), Jacob Sharf  (2-4, 1 RBI), Mark Vazquez (2-3), and Ray Fagan (2-4).  Light Blue also had outstanding defensive performances from Tanner Bruttomesso, Alex Rosa, and Will Jackson.  Light Blue awarded the game balls to Ryan DeLutrie for his pitching performance and Dave's offensive production and his game winning hit.  Dark Green was led offensively by Jack Woods (3-3 with 2 HR's and 5 RBI's), Sean O'Meara (2-3), Evan Exum (2-4).  Leon Babcock-McIntosh pitched four great innings for Dark Green.
 
Green (#7) Upset Navy (#3) - 21-13

After both teams scored twice in the 1st inning, Green exploded for 9 runs in the 2nd to take an 11-2 lead.  Navy would not be denied early and fought back with 6 runs of their own to make it an 11-8 game after 2 innings.  Green extended the lead out to 14-8 with 3 runs in the 3rd inning but Navy added 4 runs in the 4th to make it 14-12.  Green added 3 more runs in the 5th and 4 runs in 6th to extend the lead and hold on for a hard fought 21-13 win.
 
Offensively, Green broke out with an 18 hit attack at the plate.  Patrick Baron led Green at the plate with 5 hits including 2 doubles, 4 runs, and 3 RBI with Dylan Rosenbaum (3 hits, 4 runs, 5 RBI), Will Stanwick (3 hits, 2 Runs, 5 RBI) and Ryan Cova (3 hits, 1 Run, 2 RBI) all with big offensive nights at the plate.  Zach Hoffman, Charlie Murray, Nick Levere and Jimmy Shepard also had a hit a piece.  Hoffman pitched the first 5 innings for Green to pick up the win and Baron closed out the 6th.  Navy was led at the plate by Kyle Cabral (2 Doubles, 2 Triples, 4 Runs, 3 RBI), Jack Ryan (3 Hits, 1 Run, 1 RBI) and Andrew Ferrucci (3 Hits, 1 Run).  Max Main, Liam O'Shea, Ryan Orlowski and Nick Schuck had 2 hits each with Nick Gagliotti and Finn Cahill picking up a hit a piece.  Max Main started for Navy on the mound pitching 2 innings and Jack Ryan finished the last 4 innings. 

Final Round

Consolation Game - Dark Green Beat Navy - 15-5 

Championship Game - Light Blue Beat Green - 22-7

Light Blue got contributions from all team members throughout the season, but in the Championship Light Blue was led offensively by Vaishwan Dave (3-4 with 4 RBI's), Ebbett Couchman (3-4 with 4 RBI's), Jacob Sharf  (3-3 with 2 RBI's), Mark Vazquez (3-4 with 2 RBI's), Ray "Ricco" Fagan (2-3 with 2 RBI's), Sam Prescott (1-3 with 3 RBI's), and Ryan DeLutrie (2-4).  Green's offense was held at bay by three strong pitchers - Dan Fitzsimmons (2 innings), Tyler Correia (1 2/3 innings), and Couchman (2 1/3 innings).  Green was led offensively by Patrick Baron (2-4), Will Stanwick (2-3), and Joshua Wolmer.

West Hartford Youth Baseball League’s Travel C squad continued its summer season with a tournament title in the 8^th annual Kurt Lindquist Invitational Tournament held in Farmington.  West Hartford defeated Barkhamsted 16-3 in the final, avenging an earlier 3-0 loss to Barkhamsted in the tournament.  The team finished 9-1 in the tournament.  Highlights from the playoff round of the tournament were as follows:

West Hartford  9  Farmington A  4

In the quarterfinal round of the tournament, West Hartford beat a scrappy and well coached Farmington Travel A squad 9-4.  West Hartford jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the 1^st, with Caleb Ritter getting things started with a triple down the right field line.  With one out, Sam Newton singled home Ritter and then stole second.  Newton eventually scored on a passed ball to end the scoring in the 1^st.  Farmington stormed back with 3 runs in the 2^nd to take a 3-2 lead.  That lead did not last long, however, as West Hartford put up 5 runs in the 3^rd frame to take a 7-3 lead.  A single by Drew Hungerford started the inning, and Chase Jeter followed with a single.  A walk to Paul Wilson loaded the bases with no outs, and Caleb Ritter smashed a single to center to plate 2 runs.  Some nifty base running led to the 3^rd run as Wilson, who was on 3^rd, executed a perfect delayed steal to home.  Mike Verrengia and Kenny Andrews (2 for 3) drove home the final 3 runs of the inning, as they both singled to increase the lead.  Mike Mathews was the starting pitcher, with Ritter picking up the win in relief.  Ritter went 3 innings and allowed only 1 run on 2 hits.  Jeter came on for the save, striking out the order in the 6^th.

West Hartford  10   Berlin All Stars  3

In a game much closer than the final score indicated, West Hartford survived an intense battled with a Berlin team that played solid baseball.  Berlin starter Chris LaPierre baffled West Hartford’s bats early, recording 5 strikeouts of the first six batters of the game.  Meanwhile, Berlin jumped ahead of West Hartford through 2 innings 1-0.  Mike Mathews, West Hartford starter, gave a gusty performance himself to keep West Hartford within striking distance.  Mathews went 3 innings, allowing only 1 run on 3 hits.  West Hartford broke through with 3 runs in the 3^rd.  Jeter singled with one out.  Wilson then reached on an error.  Declan Flaherty then dropped a bunt single to load the bases.  Up stepped Ritter, who all season long has had a flair for the dramatic.  Ritter lined the 1^st pitch he saw to right center to score Jeter and Wilson.  Newton closed out the scoring with a base hit to right to score Ritter.  Berlin came back in the 4^th to knot the score at 3-3 with 2 runs on 3 hits on the 4^th.  In the bottom of the 4^th, West Hartford scored 2 runs to pull ahead 5-3, and then scored 5 in the 5^th to pull away.  A clutch 2 out single by Drew Hungerford scored Kenny Andrews, who had singled and advanced to 2^nd.    In the 5^th, West Hartford exploded with hits by Declan Flaherty (2 for 2), Nick LeConche, Andrews (2 for 3), Rich Hansen (2 for 3) and Hungerford, who capped the inning with a hard single to score Hansen and Andrews.  Chase Jeter earned the victory in relief of Mathews and LeConche.  Jeter faced the minimum in the final 2 innings, helped by a sterling double play turned in by Ritter.  With a runner on 1^st, Ritter dove to catch a foul tip by the batter and then sprung to his feet and rifled a throw to 2^nd to double up the runner. 

West Hartford  16   Barkhamsted  3

It was all West Hartford on this night, as the all stars mauled previously unbeaten Barkhamsted 16-3 to win the tournament and pushed its summer record to a sizzling 21-2.  West Hartford scored 5 runs apiece in the 2^nd, 4^th and 5^th innings en route to avenging an early season loss to Barkhamsted.   Again, West Hartford called on ace Mike Mathews to start the game and he did not disappoint.  Mathews went 4 solid innings, allowing only 2 unearned runs on 2 hits while striking out 5.  Jeter closed out the game by retiring the six batters he faced in order.  The scoring started in the 2^nd as Drew Hungerford (3 for 3) led off the inning with a single to center.  Chase Jeter (3 for 3) followed suit, and Paul Wilson (2 for 3) reached on an error that plated Hungerford.   Declan Flaherty (3 for 3) then singled, and Ritter (3 for 4, 5 RBI) drove home the final run of the inning with a sharp single to right.  In the 4^th, Hungerford again started things with a single, and Jeter, Wilson and Flaherty did their parts with base hits as well.  Ritter drove in 2 more runs with a single to right center, and West Hartford found itself up 11-2 after 4.  In the 5^th, Mathews provided the offense, slamming a 2 run triple to deep right, scoring Andrews and Hansen who had singled.  West Hartford had 18 hits on the evening.

It should be noted that West Hartford has competed the last 2 weeks without star shortstop and pitcher Torrie Green, who is lost for the season with a broken thumb.

West Hartford is competing in the New Britain tournament semi finals this week and makes a trip up to Massachusetts prior to ending its season this weekend.

Team members are as follows:  Caleb Ritter, Nick LeConche, Sam Newton, Mike Verrengia, Kenny Andrews, Michael Mathews, Richard Hansen, Torrie Green, Declan Flaherty, Drew Hungerford, Chase Jeter and Paul Wilson.

Thursday, July 30:
Quarterfinal - Avon (#8) beat Wethersfield National (#1) 6-5
Quarterfinal - Winsted (#2) beat West Hartford Little League

Saturday, August 1st:
Quarterfinal - Wethersfield American (#5) beat West Hartford Travel A (#4)

The All Stars were playing Wethersfield for the 2nd time in the tournament. The first match up was a tough loss for the All Stars who lost the game game in the 6th inning after having a 5-2 lead. This game was not as close. Wethersfield took a 5-1 lead in the 2nd inning and never looked back. Jon Greenfield led the offense with 2 of their 6 hits and scored a run. Jon Zelinger had 1 hit and scored the second run. Dylan Robinson had a strong game at shortstop.

Quarterfinal - West Hartford Travel 11 (#3) beat Travel B (#6)
 
Semifinal - Wethersfield American (#5) beat Avon (#8) 10-1
Semifinal - Winsted (#2) beat West Hartford Travel 11 (#3) 12-0

Sunday, August 2:
Consolation Game - Avon (#8) beat West Hartford Travel 11 (#3)
Championship - Winsted (#2) beat Wethersfield American (#5) 1-0

Travel A beat Winsted 4-0 in the Championship game of the Barhamsted Tournament Sunday.  The win capped a 7-0 run in the tournament.  See below for highlights from all of the games:

Final

Travel A 4  Winsted 0

The All Stars put their 6-0 record against the second place seed Winsted (4-1) on the line for the Barkhamsted Tournament Championship.  Jon Greenfield (3-0-1)  pitch a complete game shutout with 9 K's. He allowed only 2 hits and no walks in his strongest outing yet.  Brian O'Shea got the All Star's on the board with a 2 out single in the 3rd and was driven home by a single from Dylan Robinson. Greenfield walked in the 4th and later scored on a wild pitch. In the 5th, with 2 outs and Dylan Robinson on first, Matt Luther hit his 5th home run of the season to complete the scoring. P.J. Melly (2nd base) and Brendan Dakin (catcher) had strong defensive games for the All Stars.  The All Stars completed the tournament undefeated with a 7-0 record (13-3-1 overall) to win its first championship of the travel season.

Semi-Final

Travel A 16  N.E. Knights 0

Jake George (3 innings, 6 K's) and Josh Singer (1 innning, 1 K) combined to pitch a mercy rule shortened no hitter in the semi-finals of the playoffs. Matt Luther, Sam Turner, Brendan Dakin and Jon Zelinger all had 2 hits to power the offense.

Pool Play 

Travel A 18  New Hartford  5

Travel A got off to a strong start with a convincing 5 inning 18-5 win over New Hartford. The game was close through the first 3 innings. In the 4th inning, the A team put up 5 unanswered runs to take a 12-5 lead. Matt Luther pitched the first 3 innings and was credited with his second win of the travel season. The offense was led by Jake George with 2 hits and 5 RBI's and Jon Zelinger with 2 hits and 4 RBI's. Zelinger's second hit was a GRAND SLAM.  George also hit a 2 run home run in the 1st inning. Defense was led by P.J. Melly and Josh Singer at second base.

Travel A  3  Canaan  0

In their second game, Travel A ran into a very tough Canaan team who came from behind to beat West Hartford Travel B the night before. Both Travel A and Canaan were tied for first at 1-0 coming into this game.  The game remained 0-0 going into the 5th. Travel A's defense twice had come to their rescue up to this point. Brian O'Shea, in right field, made a diving catch to stop 2 runs from scoring in the 2nd inning. In the 3rd inning Jake George, playing center field, tracked down a rising line drive to make a great catch and throw out the runner at second before he retured to tag up.  Dylan Robinson pitched 4 strong innings to get the win as Travel A scored 3 runs in to top of the 5th. Robinson led off with a walk, Matt Luther hit a single and Robinson scored on a wild throw. Jake George then drove a ball just over the center field fence to bring in two more runs. This was George's second home run in as many days. In the 5th inning, with George on the mound in relief of Robinson, Canaan appeared to be making a comeback. George struck out the first batter, the second batter got on on an error. The 3rd batter walked and the fourth batter drew a walk and a wild pitch. It was at this moment that Travel A's defense sprung into action: Brendan Dakin, the catcher, got the ball to George covering home who got the runner at thrid in a run down and got him out. The runner at second was then caught too far off 2nd base and the A team got him out in a well played run down. Inning over, rally crushed. Jon Greenfield came in to pitch in the 6th and faced only 4 batters, struck out two and forced a ground out after giving up a lead off hit.  The A Team is now tied for first with Winsted in the Barkhamsted Tournament.

Travel A 14  Canton 6

The All Stars improved their Barkhamsted record to 3-0 (6-2-1 overall) with a strong offensive showing in their 9th game. Jame Levere (2-0) earned the win in relief and Jon Zelinger pitched the final 3 innings to earn the save. The offense was led by Dylan Robinson, Matt Luther and Jake George who all had 3 hits and scored 8 runs betwen them. George and Jon Greenfield also had home runs for the All Stars. The defense was led by Brendan Dakin at catcher and P.J. Melly at 2nd base.

Travel A 16  N.E. Knights 3

This game was the matchup between the two undefeated teams in the tournament. Travel A jumped out in front with 4 runs in the top ofthe 1st inning and never looked back. Jon Greenfield (2-0-1) earned his second win of the travel season with 3 strong innings. The offense was led by Dylan Robinson and Matt Luther who each had 4 hits and 4 runs scored. Luther also had two home runs and 5 RBI's. Sam Turner contributed 3 hits and an RBI.  James Levere had a strong game at catcher. Travel A now sits alone in first place in the tournament.

Travel A 12  Travel B 1

Travel A completed the Barkhamsted round robin with a perfect 5-0 record. Dylan Robinson (2-1) earned the win with 4 innings, 2 hit performance against WHYBL Travel B team. The offense was powered by Jake George who had 4 hits, including a 3 run home run and 5 RBI's and Sam Turner who had two hits which included a 2 run home run and 3 RBI's. The All Stars got solid defensive plays from P.J. Melly and Jon Zelinger. Ian Henderson, Henry Fracasso and Nathaniel Chin played well for the B Team.

All three WHYBL teams played well in the Hungerford Tournament.  Travel A and Travel 11 finished pool play with 5-1 records.  Travel B finished pool play with a 4-1 record.  Travel A lost in the quarterfinals of the playoffs to tournament runner-up Wethersfield American.  Travel 11 beat Travel B in the quarterfinals of the playoffs before losing to tournament champion Winsted in the semi-finals.   

Travel A (5-1)

Travel A 8, Avon 0
Travel A 14, Simsbury 9
Travel A 17, New Britain 2
Travel A 16, Rocky Hill 1
Wethersfield American 7, Travel A 5
Travel A 9, West Hartford Little League 2 

Travel B (4-1)

Travel B 8, South Windsor 5
West Hartford Little League 12, Travel B 2
Travel B 17, Wethersfield Warriors 2
Travel B 8, Travel 11 7
Travel B 16, Avon 7 

Travel 11 (5-1)

Travel 11 14, Wethersfield Warriors 2
Travel 11 9, Glastonbury 2
Travel 11 14, South Windsor 2
Travel 11 14, Rocky Hill 5
Travel 11 9, Avon 1
Travel B 8, Travel 11 7

Travel B 8  Farmington B 5

This game was a real “nail-biter” as the play-off round is single loss elimination and the Travel B squad came out cold.  Farmington B accumulated four runs over the first three innings to take a commanding 4-0 lead as the WH B bats remained silent.  In the fourth, the WH B team finally came alive and scored three runs on hits by Paul Cashman, Nathanial Chin, Matt Skwiot, Henry Fracasso, Ian Henderson and Aaron Renker.  Aggressive base running cost the WH B team additional runs as both Fracasso and Renker were tagged out during the inning.  In the fifth inning the rally continued, a key hit coming from PJ Elsner who tied the game and kept the momentum going by driving an outside pitch to the opposite field just over third base.  The hit scored Mark Ehnot who was on second from two earlier errors by Farmington.  Additional hits by Alex “AJ” Jensen, Parker Murray and then a towering home-run by Fracasso brought the score to 8-4 WH B.  Farmington added one run in the top-of the sixth and WH B narrowly escaped a first round elimination, 8-5.

Travel B 7  Burlington 6

In their first game of the Farmington tournament, Travel B trailed for most of the game, but rallied late for the win.  In the bottom of the 4th inning, trailing 6-3 with two runners on base and two outs, Sam Dobbins smashed the ball to deep centerfield and was robbed of a home run as the centerfielder knocked the ball back into play.  Dobbins converted the hit intwo a two run double with Nathaniel Chin and Paul Cashman scoring.  The next batter, Matt Covello, doubled up the middle to score Dobbins and tie the score.  With Covello on second, Aaron Renker connected on some "high cheese" drilling the ball against the left field fence to score Covello and give Travel B the lead.  Ian Henderson provided solid pitching and great defensive plays were made by Henry Fracasso and Parker Murray to stave off a final rally by Burlington.  Mark Ehnot also had two doubles and two runs scored in the game.

Travel B 16  West Hartford Little League 1

Travel B notched a 5 run inning hat trick and romped WH's Little League U12 squad (WHLL).  Five runs were scored in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th innings as the B squad won their second straight game in Farmington.  The game was marked by strong pitching performances from Matt Covello and Sam Dobbins, holding WHLL to just one run on one hit.  Matt Skwiot, Parker Murray and Nathaniel Chin led the offensive charge.  Skwiot had a double, single, and a walk and three runs scored.  Murry and Chin also both contributed with a double, single, two runs and two RBI's each.  Covello also scored two runs and seven other players scored one run each to highlight a well-rounded team performance.

Travel B 6  Berlin 2

On July 11, the West Hartford (WH) Travel B team defeated Berlin 6-2 with strong pitching performances by Alex Jensen “AJ”, “PJ” Elsner and Matt Skwiot.  Jensen contributed two gutsy innings holding Berlin to only two runs and Elsner and Skwiot combining for 7 K's holding Berlin scoreless over the last four innings.  In the top of the 1st inning, Travel B team jumped out to an early four-run lead with key hits by Ian Henderson, Jensen and Nathanial Chin.  Travel B scored again in the top of the 2nd as Aaron Renker singled up the middle driving in Sam Dobbins.  Berlin answered with two runs of their own in the bottom of the 2nd, but Elsner and Skwiot were “lights-out” and Berlin went quietly with three up and three down in the 4th, 5th and 6th innings.  In the 4th inning, Matt Covello socked a one-run single, scoring  Elsner who had reached second on a walk and a fielder’s choice.

Travel B  11  Farmington B 7

Travel B withstood a 5th inning surge by Farmington B for the win.  Matt Covello pitched four strong innings, keeping the Farmington hitters off balance and giving up only 1 hit.  West Hartford batters jumped on Farmington quickly, picking up 5 runs in the 1st, including a 3-run home run from Aaron Renker.  Travel B built the lead to 11-2 in the bottom of the 4th.  Farmington threatened in the 5th, cutting the lead to 11-7, but a perfect pick-off throw to 3rd base from catcher Mark Ehnot caught a Farmington base runner with an overly aggressive lead, and West Hartford regrouped defensively to hold off the rally.

Travel B  11  Farmington 2

On July 14, the West Hartford (WH) Travel B team played Farmington, jumping out to an early lead and never looking back.  The team scored five runs in the first inning most notably on a three run bomb by Ian Henderson.  In the second inning, a lead-off walk by Parker Murray and a single by Paul Cashman paid dividends as a passball/error and a hit by Aaron Renker brought both runners in.  The next batter, Matt Skwiot “took one for the team” as he was drilled in the back with a high fastball.  Henry Fracasso then had a hard single to the outfield, bringing home Renker and Skwiot for the third and fourth runs of the inning and then Henderson’s hot bat brought in Fracasso with a smash to right field.  In the third inning, WH added a run as Mark Ehnot reached base on an error and then was brought home by Sam Dobbin’s RBI.  Farmington quietly added two runs in the fourth inning as WH coasted to an 11-2 win.  Sam Dobbins and PJ Elsner pitched a solid game overall.  Dobbins throwing serious heat in the first 2 ½ innings and then Elsner providing “the junk” over the next 2 ½ innings kept the Farmington batters off-balance all game.  Alex “AJ” Jensen also came in throwing heat in the last inning to close out the game.

Travel B  4  Travel 11  1

In the top of the 1st inning the Travel 11 team got off to a quick 1-0 start as RJ Place had a single and then scored from a stolen base, a pass ball and then an error.  The rest of the game was marked by a strong pitching performance by Parker Murray (WH B) as he held the Travel 11 squad scoreless over the rest of the game.  Carson Reale of the Travel 11 team also pitched very well as he held the Travel B team scoreless over the first three innings.  In the 4th inning, the Travel B team finally struck back.  Paul Cashman and Henry Fracasso led the inning off with singles.  A double by Ian Henderson scored Cashman to tie the score and set the stage for Aaron Renker with runners on second and third.  Renker came through with a line drive single to left field that was just short of the incoming left fielder as both runners scored bringing the lead to Travel B, 3-1.  Renker scored, adding another insurance run, on a double by Matt Covello, and the Travel B team held on for the win 4-1.

Travel B  2  New Hartford 0

In the battle of unbeaten teams in the Farmington Tournament, the West Hartford Travel B team repaid New Hartford for a previous loss (in the Barkhamsted Tournament) by beating them in a close contest 2-0.  The game was highlighted by strong pitching and defense as Aaron Renker and Nathanial Chin combined for the shut-out behind solid defense performances from Alex “AJ” Jensen who made several great plays in the outfield and by Mark Ehnot and PJ Elsner who also were solid in the field.  WH’s scored one run in the third and added an insurance run in the last inning to get the “W”.  In the 3rd inning, Chin hit a sac fly to deep right field to score Matt Skwiot who had been walked earlier and was on third base after another walk and a fielder’s choice.  In the 6th inning, Ian Henderson had an RBI, hitting home Paul Cashman who had reached base previously on a fielder’s choice.  New Hartford made some noise in the bottom of the 6th as what appeared to be a one-run triple was turned into the last out when the scoring runner did not touch third base and was tagged out in an effort to get back to the base.  Instead of a 2-1 game with a runner on third, WH snatched the victory.  The victory gave the WH team an overall record of 7-0 in the Farmington tournament and the #1 seed going into the play-off round.

New Hartford 6  Travel 11 4

Travel 11 13  Berlin 3