Newtown Legion Wins State Championship

The Newtown Legion baseball team earned the title of state champions Wednesday.

The team, made up of 14- and 15-year-olds, won the Pennsylvania Junior Legion baseball tournament in Homer City. 

“The Newtown Legion team ended their season last year as a runner up losing in the final game of the state tournament.  Coming into this season, Newtown felt they had something to prove to themselves, coaches and community,” Barry Shapiro, father of pitcher Brandon tells Patch

Newtown swept the competition in the regional tournament, ending with a 5-0 record and advancing to the state tournament held in Homer City, according to Shapiro.

Shapiro provided us with the following synopsis of the state tournament:

Game one had Newtown with a hard fought battle but came on top winning a very close game 5-4 in 10 innings as John Coppola knocked in Jared Schram for the winning run.  Xavier Lezynski pitched 6 great innings before handing the ball off to Seth Leuz who also was lights out in the final 4 innings and got the win.

Game two saw Newtown toss a shutout in a 4-0 victory behind Brandon Shapiro’s complete game after letting up 6 hits 1 walk and 5 strikeouts.  Cole Hofmann went 2 for 3 and Seth Leuz went 2 for 2 at the plate. 

Game three was a tough battle as it took all 7 innings to find a victor.  Matt Hand pitched 6 exhausting innings only allowing 1 earned run against a fundamentally sound Upper Perkiomen team with John Coppola getting the win recording the final out.  James Clossers’s dramatic RBI double plated Matt Hand with the winning run as this see-saw game finally came to an end. 

Game four had a stellar performance by Nick Roda on the mound and also saw Nick go 2 for 2 at the plate with 2 walks.  This game was a complete team effort offensively as they combined for 14 hits.  This is the game that allowed Newtown to enter championship Wednesday as the only undefeated team left to face the same Upper Perkiomen team. 

Needing only one win to clinch the title, Brandon Shapiro began the game with only 3 innings allowed and was able to hold Upper Perk to 1 run and 3 hits as he handed the ball over to Matt Hand to finish the final 4 innings. With the score 1-1 after the 5th inning, Newtown started the offensive rally that has been their trademark all year.  Jared Schram scored what would become the winning run in the 6thinning.  Newtown added an additional 3 runs in the top of the 7th putting the game out of reach and a final score of 5-1 Newtown rushed the field finally recognizing their goal and dream of a state championship.  The smiles could be seen back here in Newtown from over 4 hours away.  The coaching staff really molded the boys into a team and they played as a solid unit all year.           

After the game was over, Brandon Shapiro was awarded the Most Outstanding Pitching award throwing 10 innings, 1 earned run, 9 hits, 2 walks and 8 strikeouts.  Matt Hand was awarded the MVP award after pitching 10 innings also with 1 earned run but also played a flawless defensive tournament at shortstop and the final award went to John Coppola for the Top Offensive Player going 8 for 16 and 3 RBI over the 5 games.  He also received a bat as a gift.  Each player on the team was given a beautiful plaque for their efforts and will have their picture on the Legion pledge book next season. 

Here’s the roster:

Coaches:

Ben Battiste

Matt Schram

Kevin Hacker

Kevin Makely

Ryan Henritzy

Michael Festa

Players:

Brandon Shapiro

Matt Hand

James Closser

John Coppola

Seth Leuz

Jared Schram

Tyler Nowmos

Cole Hofmann

Nick Roda

Xavier Lezynski

Joe Rutkowski

Matt Cabo

Jay Miller

Jackson Parker

Brandon Mcilwain