The Tewksbury 10U baseball team won the Conway tournament last weekend, making a dramatic run in the playoffs as the fifth seed.
Tewksbury went only 1-3 in pool play at the event, but went 3-0 in the playoffs.
Tewksbury started the postseason with a 10-2 win over fourth-seeded Haverhill, then earned a 7-3 victory over the top seed from Hudson, NH.
In the final, Tewksbury defeated North Reading, the No. 2 seed, by an 8-3 score.
The Redmen won the championship in dramatic fashion.
North Reading, the home squad in the title game, led 1-0 after one inning and then reclaimed the lead with a run in the fourth and another in the fifth to make it 3-2.
Tewksbury then erupted for six runs in the top of the sixth inning.
Kareem Fahfouhi pitched a scoreless sixth inning to earn the victory on the mound.
After a leadoff walk, Fahfouhi struck out the next batter. The Redmen recorded the second out when catcher Zack Cheslofska threw to shortstop Zachary Taylor to catch a base stealer and Fahfouhi fanned the final batter to end the game.
Barrett Rametta started for the Redmen and threw five effective innings, striking out 10 and walking none.
Tewksbury’s big sixth inning started when Drew Goldstein drew a one-out walk, stole second and scored on a double by Cheslofska to tie the game.
Rametta walked with two outs and Fahfouhi was hit by a pitch to load the bases.
Connor Wright then singled and all three Redmen runners would score on the play after an errant throw by North Reading.
Up 6-3, the Redmen kept going.
After Taylor walked, Wright raced home after a passed ball and AJ McAuley made it 8-3 with an RBI single to plate Taylor.
Down 1-0, the Redmen scored twice in the third inning to push ahead.
With two outs, George Thompson was Tewksbury’s first baserunner when he drew a walk and singles by Scarlett Quinlan and Goldstein would load the bases.
Cheslofska then smacked a two-run single to make it 2-1.
Tewksbury also trailed early in its semifinal win over Hudson as the top seed scored in the bottom of the first inning, but the Redmen answered with two runs in the second, two more in the third and three in the fourth.
Rametta and Fahfouhi once again combined for the win on the mound with Rametta throwing five innings and striking out seven before Fahfouhi came in and struck out the side with just 10 pitches in the sixth to put the game away in style.
Tewksbury took a 2-1 lead in the second with a two-out rally.
After Taylor’s one-out single, Scott Capaldo cracked an RBI triple to tie the game with two outs.
Capaldo then scored on a wild pitch.
In the third, Cheslofska singled, Billy Banderas walked and Rametta walked to load the bases with nobody out.
Cheslofska stole home for the third Redmen run and Fahfouhi scored Banderas with a single to make it 4-1.
Tewksbury broke it open in the fourth.
McAuley singled and Capaldo doubled and Quinlan drove in a run with a base hit.
Cheslofska then added a two-run single to make the lead, 7-1.
In its 10-2 thumping of Haverhill, Tewksbury pulled away late.
The game was actually tied 2-2 until the Redmen plated five runs in the fifth and three in the sixth to create a deceiving final score.
Fahfouhi and Rametta split the mound duties again, but reversed roles as Fahfouhi threw the first 3.1 frames, not allowing a hit but walking four and striking out eight. Rametta finished up with 2.2 innings, striking out four and yielding only two hits and walking none.
In three playoff appearances, Rametta had 21 strikeouts and no walks — an impressive line at any level.
Fahfouhi’s numbers were also solid with 13 Ks and five walks in his time on the hill.
Tewksbury’s huge fifth inning started with a one-out single by Capaldo before Thompson walked.
After Goldstein walked to load the bases, Capaldo scored on a wild pitch.
Cheslofska then scored two more with a double.
Banderas then walked and Rametta drove in two more teammates with a single to make it 7-2.
Rametta set down Haverhill 1-2-3 in the bottom of the fifth and the Redmen piled on in their final at-bat.
Wright singled to lead off and Taylor walked. After a passed ball advanced both runners, Wright scored on another passed ball.
Capaldo walked and Taylor would steal home and score to make it 9-2. A wild pitch scored Capaldo for the final Tewksbury run.
Haverhill pitching helped the Redmen cause as Haverhill issued 12 free passes with Cheslofska, Quinlan, Thompson and Goldstein all drawing two walks apiece.
Tewksbury’s memorable playoff run saw the Redmen beat two teams they lost to in pool play, North Reading and Hudson, NH.