Road to Bristol has Been a Magical One for Newton SouthEast

Editor’s Note: For complete coverage of the Newton SouthEast Little League team’s appearance in the New England regional tournament, check back with Newton Patch throughout the upcoming days. We’ll have a preview of the road ahead for the locals on the site Saturday morning.

The Newton SouthEast Little League team hasn’t made it easy on its fans. But the local nine sure has made it fun.

En route to becoming the first Newton Little League team to win the Massachusetts state title since 1998, SouthEast mounted a record of 14-2. But making this summer even more memorable on the diamond is the fact that the team is 11-0 in elimination games, and has come from behind in nine of those tilts.

That includes the state championship game when Newton scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, walking off with a 5-4 win over Hanover.

“Something I’ve pushed a lot was just never giving up. It’s about believing in yourselves and your teammates,” said manager John Taft. “With the kids believing in themselves and knowing that whether they’re up five or down five, there’s always the will to fight with this team. When we’re down, we know that if there’s any team that can do it, it’s us.”

Taft said from the first day of practices, he and his coaches knew they had something special on their hands.

But while there were high expectations for the locals, Taft also said the way they’ve reached the Bristol, Conn., tournament has been a surprise.

“Right out of the gate when we formed this team, we knew we had a strong team, and we talked about getting to this point. The first practice, you could just feel something special,” said Taft. “But to be honest, it was the opposite of what we thought would happen. We thought we had a huge offensive team, but for the most part of that we haven’t seen that side of them. We’ve won games with our pitching and defense.”

The New England regional tournament gets underway on Friday in Bristol, with Saco, Maine, taking on Lincoln, R.I., in the first game. Westport, Conn., battles South Burlington, Vt., in the nightcap.

Then on Saturday Newton hits the diamond for its first game. For a complete preview of the tournament, and for updates after each tilt, check back with Newton Patch on Saturday and throughout the upcoming days.

“Going into the state championship game, the kids understood that what we accomplished prior to that game was alone something very special,” said Taft. “To win the championship the way we did, it was a phenomenal accomplishment.”