NEWPORT- In a shortened game because of an event being held at the field later in the night, the Newport River Dogs were able to squeak out a come-from-behind victory over Ludlow, 11-10 in five innings to wrap up the regular season.
Trailing 10-9 in the top of the fifth with two outs and a runner on second, Newport’s Josh Sharron made a nice snag in right field that erupted the home crowd and kept the game close going to the bottom-half.
In the bottom of the fifth, Newport started out hot, bringing Bryce Willey to the plate with the bases loaded and no outs. Willey saw a pitch he liked and slapped a hard ground ball past the shortstop, scoring two runs on the play and giving the River Dogs the dramatic walk-off.
“It’s always great to end a game on a walk-off,” said Newport assistant coach Tyler Maheu. “It was nice to see it come from Willey who has done so much for the team this year.”
When asked about the regular season, where the River Dogs posted a 6-7-1 record, Newport head coach Spencer Coronis said, “The regular season was fun. At the start of the season, we had 17 kids. At first we didn’t know what we wanted to do. We thought, ‘Let’s keep 17 kids… the younger kids can play and we’ll mix them in with the older group and get them experience.’ I’d say the last 14 games have been really fun. The games have been really fun and energetic for myself and it brings the younger side out of me a little bit which is nice.”
With the win, Newport clinched the No. 4 seed in the Fall Mountain Babe Ruth League playoffs, and will host Bellows Falls in the first round on Monday.
“Since we won, we host instead of having to go to Bellows Falls, which is good,” said coach Coronis. “People come and show support for the kids… it’s fun to see and hear the crowd. It’s definitely good to be home and have them surrounding us for support.”
“Hopefully this year we can avenge ourselves,” said Coronis. “Last year we had Chester here and won and then went to Walpole and lost. So I’m hoping we can get a win against Bellows Falls and then move on to Walpole and avenge ourselves. That would be really nice.”
The FMBRL has a single-elimination playoff bracket, with the first round Monday, semifinal on Wednesday, and the championship game on Friday, which will be played at Bellows Falls Union High School.
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