The beautiful setting, with water just behind the field and all along the roads that lined the route could have settled Newington. Instead, it took two innings of play for Newington to get its sea legs. By then, it was already sunk.
Shelton scored an unearned run in the first, then got a key double from Tyler Tice that scored a run set up by an error before holding on for a 2-1 victory on Friday evening. The win puts Shelton one win from representing Connecticut in Bristol at the Little League Eastern Regional, and means Newington must win two straight to earn the same right.
"We just did not have it tonight," Newington manager Walt Gwisc said. "There's always one game where, for some reason, the kids just aren't there... It doesn't mean they don't want to win, it's just a funky attitude. The good thing about that is, I've never seen it happen two nights in a row."
If Newington began the series flat, Shelton came out firing. It also was fortunate from the game's first batter until the very end. Shelton's Matt Batten started the game by lining one to left, but Matt Ryan lost it in the sun and it fell in for a double. He later scored on an error, and Shelton led 1-0.
Shelton created another break with more hard hitting in the second, and did it all with two outs.
David Sanchez singled, and Batten walked. Tyler Tice then scorched one down the third base line that caromed off of Jeremy Weyman at third and went all the way to the fence in foul territory, allowing a run to score. Weyman stayed in the game, but Newington was teetering on the brink of being out of it. Sanchez was dominant early on the mound for Shelton, holding Newington to two hits in the first three innings.
But Newington made its stand in the fourth.
Matt Dean singled with one out, and Nicholas Briganti reached on a fielder's choice. Dean was safe after an error at second, and Newington was in business. Then came the game-changer. Jorge Premto laced one into center, but Nick Petrovich came up firing and nailed Dean at the plate to keep Newington off the board. Zachery Hedberg doubled in a run, but Newington never got that tying run home.
It wasn't because Shelton pulled away. Briganti was again brilliant for Newington, just as he was in the sectional final victory on Tuesday that got Newington here. After those first two rough innings, Briganti allowed no runs on two hits, with just one runner reaching scoring position.
The problem was that the damage was already done.
"Shelton has a good, sound, fundamental team. They play well," Gwisc said. "You can't make a lot of mistakes. That's the nature of any game. You can't make many mistakes and expect to win."
Newington has been in this spot before. After getting pounded by Ellington 10-0 in the sectional tournament, it came back to beat Ellington in the sectional final. This time, however, Newington will face a much hotter team. Shelton has won 13 straight since dropping the first game of its district tournament, and doesn't seem prone to the kind of mistakes that doomed Newington yesterday.
With its season on the line today, Newington will have to play a much steadier game if it wants to stay above water.