Norwood’s Tom Baxter Tosses Complete-Game Four-Hitter in New England Babe Ruth Tournament-August 4, 1986

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George Hawley, manager of the Norwood Babe Ruth All-Stars, knew that any hopes of contending for the New England Babe Ruth championship hinged on strong pitching from ace righthander Tom Baxter. Having struggled to get past the third inning in several recent starts, Tom Baxter silenced those doubts by tossing a brilliant four-hitter, leading Norwood to a 2-1 victory over the representatives from Maine in the first round of double-elimination tournament play in Warwick, R.I. The win vaulted Norwood into the winner’s bracket for a matchup against a team from Manchester, N.H.—a contest originally rained out and rescheduled for the following morning.

The story of the ballgame was Tom Baxter, manager George Hawley praised afterward. It was great to see him get past the third inning. In fact, he got stronger after the third. I’m really happy for him. Mixing a blazing fastball with a sharp-breaking overhand curveball, Tom Baxter walked three and struck out seven, retiring the first seven batters before allowing a one-out infield single in the third. Norwood broke through against Maine righty Shane Slicer in the bottom of the third when Tim Coyle hit a two-out single, advanced on a walk to Todd Newman, and scored when Tom Baxter helped his own cause with an RBI single to left. After thwarting a Maine threat in the fourth by picking off Shane Slicer at first base, Norwood doubled its lead in the bottom half when Derek Grudinskas crushed a 400-foot double to left, pinch-runner Brian Adams advanced on a sacrifice by Tom Benson, and Mike Cronin drove him home with a center-field double.

Maine mounted a dangerous rally in the top of the sixth, putting runners on second and third with no outs. But Tom Baxter rose to the occasion, striking out cleanup hitter Rod Bartlett, conceding a sacrifice fly to Jason Douglass, and stranding the tying run by striking out Teddy Quinn on a called third strike. Tom Baxter punctuated his stellar performance by retiring the side in order in the seventh, striking out the final two batters looking.

Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger