By Kim J. Harmon

NEW FAIRFIELD – It had to happen . . . eventually. The Newtown High School baseball team had too much talent to be sitting at 2-6 as it headed into a South-West Conference battle with New Fairfield on Monday afternoon.

But everything clicked – the pitching and the offense – as the Nighthawks routed the Rebels, 12-2, in a game that was halted after five innings by the 10-run mercy rule.

Greg Burkhart did it again for the ‘Hawks, too, as he tossed a complete-game four hitter to raise his personal record to 2-1. Back on April 11, he threw six innings of one-hit ball in a 1-0 victory over Brookfield right when the ‘Hawks needed a win the most.

And the 12-2 win over New Fairfield helps the Nighthawks (now 3-6 overall, 3-2 in the SWC) keep their conference and CIAC state tournament playoff hopes in a positive light.

Burkhart whiffed two batters and struck out just one in the win as the ‘Hawks scored twice in the first inning and three times in the second, third and fourth innings before nailing the win down with a solo run in the top of the fifth inning.

Matt McCarthy belted a home run and drove in three runs to fuel the offense. Rob Weiss added a triple while Collin Anderson knocked in a pair of runs. Kevin Carolan, Nick Savino, Ron Isler, Dan Murphy and Dave Roodhuyzen all drove in runs as the ‘Hawks collected nine hits on the afternoon.

It was just what the ‘Hawks needed after dropping an 8-6 decision to Pomperaug to Friday.

The Panthers had jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the top of the first inning. It started with a hits batsmen and then escalated with an error, a single, another hit batsmen, two more singles and a triple.

But the ‘Hawks tied the score up in the bottom of the third with a five-run rally of their own. Burkhart started it off with a single (yet was later caught trying to steal third). Weiss walked and Savino singled. McCarthy tripled in a pair of runs and then scored on a single by Isler. Anderson capped the rally with a two-run homer.

Pomperaug responded with two runs in the top of the fourth and one more in the top of the fifth to open up an 8-5 lead. The ‘Hawks could only get one run closer, though, as Weiss tripled in the bottom of the seventh and scored on a single by Carolan.

Savino (a pair of singles) and Dave Roodhuyzen (double and a single) each went 2-for-3. McCarthy and Anderson drove in two runs apiece while Carolan and Isler had one RBI apiece.

That loss managed to dispel whatever good feelings the ‘Hawks had mustered after collecting 14 hits in an 8-4 win over Stratford last Wednesday.

Chris Arnold had the hot bat for the ‘Hawks, going 3-for-3 with a pair of singles, a double, and one RBI. John Pantan (two singles), Isler (single and a triple) and McCarthy (two singles) each went 2-for-3 while Carolan (two singles) went 2-for-4.

The Red Devils opened the game with a run in the top of the first, but Newtown took a 4-1 lead in the bottom of the third. Burkhart and Pantan both singled to lead off the frame and then Arnold followed with a run-scoring double. Carolan singled in both Pantan and Arnold and McCarthy followed with a one-out RBI-single.

Stratford tied the game in the top of the fourth with three runs of their own (on a three-run homer by Chris Kaplan), but the ‘Hawks put the game away with two runs in the bottom of the fifth and sixth innings.

In the fifth, Anderson had a fielder’s choice grounder with the bases loaded and Murphy singled to drive in the runs. In the sixth, Isler cracked a two-run triple.

After the ‘Hawks tried to make a winning streak out of their 12-2 win over New Fairfield in a battle with New Milford on Wednesday (after press time), they will play a two-game home-and-home series with Jonathan Law starting on Friday in Milford (the game on Monday is non-league). Next Wednesday, the ‘Hawks will travel to Fairfield to take on Notre Dame.