Baseball: Maker finds mark as Newton tops Kittatinny

When you're going good, the breaks seem to go your way -- even when they go against you.

Newton's baseball team wasn't at its collective best on Tuesday, but the Braves did what good teams do as they found a way to earn a 5-3 victory over a gritty Kittatinny club in a Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference Freedom Division showdown in Hampton.

"I saw this coming the last few days in practice -- with our approach in pitching and this was our worst defensive game," said Newton coach John Selitto, whose team overcame four errors in the field to improve to 7-0 overall and 6-0 in the division. "Maybe we learned a lesson today. We're a young team that's learning how to win. This was a good test today."

Kittatinny (0-6, 0-5) can't seem to buy a break, as coach Brian Bosworth's team battled but came up short in its fifth loss by two runs or fewer. The Cougars led 3-2 after four innings, but starter Dave Moyer seemed to run out of steam after three solid innings.

"We've played well in every game we've played in," said Bosworth, now in his second season in charge of the Cougars. "We're young and it part of the growing process. I don't want to say we haven't gotten any breaks, we need to create our own breaks. We're not getting timely hits."

Newton overcame a 3-2 deficit with two runs in the top of the sixth. Joe Maker, who led off with a walk, came around on Anthony Morro's double down the left-field line. No. 7 hitter Adam Vasquez followed with another rope down down the line in left to put the Braves ahead for good.

Maker's RBI single in the seventh gave the Braves an insurance run, as lefty Nick Grant tossd a 1-2-3 bottom half for the save. Maker, a third baseman, finished 3-for-3 with a walk, three runs scored, three stolen bases and an RBI.

"He had a really good game today," said Selitto, whose team stole six bases in all.

Maker and his teammates are starting to feel the pinch of a 7-0 record -- the program's best start since the 2001 Newton team won its first 19 en route to a 25-3 mark, the North 1, Group 2 title and an appearance in the Group 2 final.

"This was a really big game, we knew [Kittatinny] was going to come right after us," Maker said. "Moyer is one of the most respected pitchers [in the county]. You try not to look at the undefeated record, come out and hit the ball and play hard."

Kittatinny jumped out in front with two runs in the fourth, thanks to pair of Newton errors. Branham's throwing error plated one, before another error by second baseman Joe Selitto allowed Kittatinny shortstop Cowan Sikora to reach. He scored when Casey McArdle singled to center.

Branham settled down after that, retiring the final six batters he faced, as he combined with Grant to retire the final 10 Kittatinny hitters in order. The right-hander went six innings for his second win, allowing four hits and three runs (one earned) with one walk and five strikeouts. He also had some help from the defense, as Bernotas made a nifty one-handed stop up the middle and flipped to Selitto to start a 6-4-3 double play in the second.

"He didn't have his good stuff, but he gutted it out," John Selitto said. "He was at the 83-pitch mark, and there are days when you grind it out and find a way to keep us in games."

Newton evened things at 1 on a wild pitch by Moyer in the top of the fourth. Morro led off with a double to the right-field wall and Maker singled -- one of his three hits -- to put runners on first and third with none out. After Grant walked to load the bases, Moyer struck outVasquez and made a nice play on Bernotas' comebacker for the force at home. But his errant pitch during catcher Charlie Grotyohann's at-bat allowed Grant to score with the go-ahead run.

Moyer (0-3) finished with seven strikeouts against three walks. The Cougars' offense managed just four hits in the loss. After the fourth inning, Kittatinny went down in order over the last three frames.

NEWTON (ab-r-h-rbi) -- Smith lf 4-0-0-0, Selitto 2b 4-0-1-0, Cramer cf 4-1-1-0, Morro 1b 4-0-1-0, Maker 3b 3-3-3-1, Grant dh/Branham p 3-1-2-2, Vasquez rf 2-0-1-1, Bernotas ss 3-0-0-0, Grotyohann c 3-0-0-0, Castle cr 0-0-0-0. Totals: 30-5-9-4.

KITTATINNY (ab-r-h-rbi) -- McArdle 1b-p 3-1-1-2, Dispoto lf 4-0-1-0, Moyer p-1b 2-0-1-1, Repasy 3b 3-0-0-0, Potten rf 3-0-0-0, Pastor Poe 2b 3-1-1-0, Goriscak dh/ LaFiura c 3-0-0-0, Sikora ss 3-1-0-0, Moszsynski cf 3-0-0-0. Totals: 33-4-11-4.

E -- Bernotas, Branham, Selitto; Pastor Poe, Sikora. DP Newton 1 (Bernotas-Selitto-Morro); Kittatinny 1 (Repasy-Moyer). LOB -- Newton 7, Kittatinny 5. 2B -- Morro, Grant. SB -- Maker 3, Selitto, Cramer, Vasquez.

Branham, Grant (7) and Grotyohann. Moyer, McArdle (7) and LaFiura. W -- Branham (2-0). L -- Moyer (0-3). SO-BB -- Branham 5-1, Grant 1-0; Moyer 7-3, McArdle 0-0. WP -- Moyer. HBP -- Moyer (by Branham).