By Steve Bigham

MONROE – Jodi Minalgo needed a hit and the Newtown High School softball team needed a win.

On Tuesday, both got what they were looking for, in fine fashion.

Minalgo, the team’s junior designated hitter, mired in a season-long slump, blasted a game-breaking two-run homer down the left field line in the seventh inning to lead the Nighthawks over Masuk, 4-2.

After two straight heartbreaking losses, Newtown was about as due for a win as was Minalgo for a hit. Minalgo, a star catcher as a freshman, missed all of last year with an injury. Many expected her to be a force in the league this spring, but, still rusty, she had fallen well short . . . until Tuesday afternoon in Monroe.

Minalgo and her teammates can only hope it’s a sign of things to come, especially since Newtown sports just a 3-5 league mark (4-6 overall) at the midway point of the season.

“Usually that’s what it takes to break out – just one big hit,” said Minalgo, whose homer came off Masuk pitcher Leah Greggos. “She threw me a changeup and I was expecting it.”

Tied 2-2, NHS senior Kate Bouteiller opened the seventh inning with a single, then trotted home on Minalgo’s one-out blast. For Bouteiller, the team captain, the victory was sweet to the taste.

“I’m just glad we stayed together the whole game from start to finish. They tied us and then we came right back and got it,” Bouteiller said.

It was a different story last Friday at Jonathan Law in Milford as Newtown squandered a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the seventh, finally losing 4-3 on a double. Earlier in the inning, two Newtown errors allowed Law back into the game. It was a similar story April 25 at home against New Milford, a team Newtown had expected to beat. Leading 1-0 for much of the game, the Nighthawks gave up two runs in the seventh inning in a 2-1 loss. Once again, errors did them in.

Still, Newtown refused to throw in the towel this week and displayed an impressive resilience at Masuk (9-4, 7-3). The losses – as frustrating as they’ve been – are over and done with. It was time to move forward.

“I mean, it’s disappointing to lose like that, but we just needed to come back and put it behind us. There’s a long season ahead,” Bouteiller said.

Earlier in the game, Kristin Caposella ripped a triple to centerfield that drove in third baseman Lauren Blomberg. Cappy then slid in safely at home following an overthrow at third.

Caposella has been a machine this season, particularly on the mound. Newtown has played several long, close games and her pitching has been there every step of the way. Save for a few errors, Newtown could easily be 5-3 or 6-2.

Against Masuk, Caposella struck out 12 batters and yielded just two hits. Her efforts have not gone unnoticed. Head coach Paul LaFrancesca would have been proud Tuesday, but he was unable to attend the game due to a business trip. In his absence, assistants Jay Edwards and Lin Hertberg picked up the slack.

Against Law, Newtown held a two-run lead in the bottom of the seventh and had one out, nobody on and a 0-2 count on the batter. That’s when things unraveled.

“A base hit, error, error, base hit – ball game. That’s exactly how it happened,” Edwards said.

Caposella’s two-run triple highlighted the Newtown offense.

From here on out, Newtown will need to win the close ones if it is to have any chance at a berth in the eight-team conference postseason.

“I don’t think we have to run the table to make the playoffs, but we definitely can’t be giving away too many games. Our margin of error for every game is very slight and our margin of error for the rest of the season is very slight,” coach Edwards said.

The good news is Newtown’s bats appear to be coming alive. Senior Amanda Marsilio stroked two hits against Masuk.

Masuk tied the game on a homerun by Alena Andinozzi in the sixth and a triple from Heather Sweeney.

Freshman second baseman Trina Ramsdell, one of the team’s best overall players, was forced to leave the game early after re-aggravating a previous knee injury.