Newtown Tropics Capture Bucks County Legion Prep Championship

NEWTOWN BOROUGH, Pa. — The Newtown Tropics 13-14 year old Legion Prep team defeated
the Northampton Bombers, 11 to 6, on July 21 to win the Bucks County Legion Prep Championship.

The game was played at Pickering Field in Newtown Borough before a packed crowd.

Entering into the playoffs, the Tropics were in second place in the standings with a 6-5-1 record, while Northampton had been dominant throughout the season with 10 wins and two losses under its belt.

The Newtown boys opened the series by defeating Yardley-Morrisville before going on to win over Northampton twice to capture the Bucks County Prep Title.

During its final game against Northampton, the Tropics led from the beginning and never looked back, although in the last inning Northampton’s big player hit a three run homer to lift Northampton to six.

“The kids were all excited. They got pretty amped up,” said Coach Jim Miller of the win,

Coach Miller credited the team’s pitching with the team’s three game sweep of the playoffs.

“The key to our winning was our pitching. Our pitching is really strong. And for every game we played our pitching was outstanding,” said Miller. “We also started to hit the ball and our fielding was good, too. We just put it all together for the playoffs.”

The team now advances to the state championship, which begins on Saturday at Devon Prep and continues through Wednesday.

Powered by its pitching, Miller said he’s optimistic about the team’s chances.

“We’re pretty excited for states. Their confidence level is way up. We have all our players ready to go,” said Miller.

The Newtown roster includes James Halikman, Chase Gillie, Jake Newman, Michael Hutchinson, Michael Godonis, Jude Hamilton, Colin Wallace, Jack Fitzgerald, Conner Schmidt, Will Cabo, Max Meehan, Owen Crowne, Lucas Poliseno, Ryan Pikul, Ryan Phillips and Nain Herrera.

The team is coached by Jim Miller, Vince Campellone and Erick Miller.