By Steve Bigham

A sweet start to the spring season for the Newtown High School softball team has suddenly turned a bit sour.

But the team expects a quick turnaround and, provided the ball bounces in their favor, things could get a lot sweeter in the coming weeks.

Since opening the season with a thrilling 1-0 non-league win over Brookfield back on April 5, the Nighthawks have since dropped three games . . . including an 11-4 drubbing this past Saturday against Bunnell.

The locals sported an 0-3 league record heading into Wednesday’s game at home against Stratford.

“We really need to turn things around. I know we can do it, as long as we can play the defense that we’re capable of. The bats are starting to come around,” said coach Paul LaFrancesca, who has seen his team give up 18 runs and commit eight errors in the past two games.

Against Bunnell, Newtown jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the third inning on a two-run double by freshman Trina Ramsdell and an RBI single by Amanda Marsilio. Then, after the Bulldogs picked up two runs of their own, Newtown added another in the fourth to take a 4-2 lead.

“When we went up 4-2, I thought it was ours,” LaFrancesca said.

But Bunnell, projected to be a .500 team at best, then got seven runs in the fifth inning to turn the game completely around. During the inning, Newtown pitcher Kristin Caposella gave up six hits and was hurt by two fielding errors.

“I don’t consider (Bunnell) a top team. I consider them a .500 team, so I’m disappointed we lost to them. They hit the ball where we weren’t every time,” LaFrancesca said. “Caposella, when she’s down with her pitches, is tough to hit, but she was up in the zone against Bunnell.”

On April 11, Brookfield exacted revenge on Newtown for its upset win a week earlier by thumping the locals 7-1. Bobcat pitcher Pam Mazzarella tossed a no-hitter. Jodi Minalgo did score for Newtown after walking, stealing second, going to third on a wild pitch and coming home on a Caposella sacrifice fly.

“We took our lumps and got out of town,” LaFrancesca explained.

This week, Newtown was without the services of junior third basemen Lauren Blomberg, who was on a class trip to Italy. Many of the NHS spring sports were decimated this week as students went out of town for spring break.