Coach John Selitto's team certainly wasted little time on Thursday in its quest to remain unbeaten -- sending 13 batters to the plate in a nine-run explosion that propelled the Braves to a 10-4 win over host Jefferson in a key Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference Freedom Division clash.
Newton (6-0, 5-0 division), ranked sixth in the Open Mike area, holds a 1 1/2-game lead over Wallkill Valley in the Freedom standings, with Jefferson (5-2, 3-2) falling two games back with the loss. The rest of the division plays Friday, as Wallkill Valley can pick up a half-game with a win over Lenape Valley at Sisco Field.
"We're off to a great start, and hopefully we can keep the run going," said talented junior center fielder Ben Cramer, who was 2-for-4, including a bases-clearing double in the Braves' huge first inning. "It feels great to be on top of the conference."
Newton tagged Jefferson starter Dom Alheidt (2-1) for seven runs on two hits, chasing him after just two-thirds of an inning. Reliever Joey Nadler gave up two runs on three hits in the first, but allowed just one more run in his 5 1/3 innings of relief. The Braves managed just five baserunners from the second inning on, as Nadler retired 10 in a row until issuing a two-out walk to Ryan Vasquez in the seventh.
"The kid [Nadler] did a nice job and gutted it out for them," Selitto said. "He kept them in the game.
Cramer, who batted .366 as a sophomore, was one of four Newton hitters to bat twice in the first. After striking out, Cramer came up again with the bases loaded and hammered a double to the base of the center-field fence -- one of his two doubles that nearly left the yard. The Braves loaded the bases six times in the first, chasing Alheidt after catcher Charlie Grotyohann, the No. 9 hitter, drew a walk for the inning's seventh run.
The opening frame started harmlessly enough for Alheidt, who after allowing a leadoff single to Justin Smith, got Joe Selitto to pop up to the catcher before fanning Cramer. But Alheidt walked two and hit two before issuing an RBI single to Jon Bernotas. Smith delivered his second single of the inning to plate a run and Selitto brought in another with a single to keep 'em loaded for Cramer.
With a 9-0 lead, Newton starter Casey Thomas retired six of the first eight batters before encountering trouble in the third. Cleanup hitter Kevin Silverstein got Jefferson on the board with a two-out single that scored Connor Labita, who led off with a single to right.
Newton got the run back in the fourth, as Cramer doubled deep to left and came around to score on Anthony Morro's single. With a 10-1 lead, it looked as if the Braves were on their way to invoking the mercy rule.
But the Falcons answered with three runs in their half of the fourth, as Jeremy Decotiis belted his second double to make it, 10-2. Catcher Matt Ajaj followed with a two-run bloop single to center.
"We respect them offensively and they kept swinging the bats," Selitto said. "Down 9-0 is a long way to go."
Thomas departed after the fourth in line for his third win in as many starts, leaving junior Luke Leifken to close it out in relief. The right-hander allowed a walk and struck out two in the fifth, but had to work out of bases-loaded jams in the sixth and seventh as Jefferson stranded a total of 11 runners on the day.
"We didn't think Casey had his good stuff today," Selitto said. "Leifken did a nice job. He's a first baseman and would start for a lot of other teams. We beat a quality team."
Newton has little time to relax. In addition to Freedom matchups against winless Kittatinny (Tuesday) and Hopatcong (Thursday), the Braves will host No. 4 Sparta next Friday in a big county showdown at Memory Park.
"We're not good enough to overlook anybody, and we're playing teams starving for wins," Selitto said. "Our guys are still learning, we didn't win too many games the last two years (nine total). This group has been together three years on the varsity and we started six sophomores two years ago. We targeted this year. Last year we thought we'd make a big jump, but we couldn't dig ourselves out [of a 2-5 hole start in a 6-17 season]."
NEWTON (ab-r-h-rbi) -- Smith lf 4-2-2-1, Selitto 2b 4-1-1-1, Cramer cf 4-1-2-3, Morro 1b 4-1-1-1, Branham 3b 3-1-1-0, Grant dh/Thomas p/Leifken p 3-1-0-1, Vasquez rf 2-1-0-1, Bernotas ss 4-1-1-1, Grotyohann c 2-0-0-1, Maker cr 0-1-0-0. Totals: 29-10-8-10.
JEFFERSON (ab-r-h-rbi) -- Decotiis cf 4-1-2-1, Ajaj c 4-0-2-2, Thompson ss 4-0-0-0, Silverstein rf 3-0-1-1, Wiegman 1b 3-0-0-0, Zarzecki ph 1-0-0-0, Muccia lf 2-0-0-0, Stallworth ph 1-0-1-0, Nadler 3b-p 4-0-1-0, Willard dh/Alheidt p 2-1-0-0, Montone 3b 2-0-2-0, Labita 2b 3-2-2-0. Totals: 33-4-11-4.
E -- Montone. LOB -- Newton 4, Jefferson 12. 2B -- Cramer 2; Decotiis 2. SB -- Smith.
Thomas, Leifken (5) and Grotyohann. Alheidt, Nadler (1), Sole (6) and Ajaj. W -- Thomas (3-0). L -- Alheidt (2-1). SO-BB -- Thomas 2-1, Leifken 3-2; Alheidt 1-3, Nadler 2-0, Sole 2-1. HBP -- Branham (by Alheidt), Vasquez (by Alheidt).
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