Newtown High School Recaps

By Kim J. Harmon

Rebuilding? What rebuilding?

Coming off a 7-9 record in 2003, the Newtown High School girls’ lacrosse team certainly had no right to feel it would all of a sudden turn things completely around and vault to the top of the South-West Conference pack. But that is exactly what it did.

“We have a lot of underclassmen like Casey (Frobey) and Kerrie (Canavan) who have stepped up this year,” said co-captain Kate Fenton. “I love this. We’re doing so awesome. We have so much spirit this year and we want it a lot more than ever.”

The Lady Nighthawks are 10-1 overall, 7-0 in the SWC. A win over Masuk on Monday night meant the ‘Hawks had vanquished all the teams in the SWC – except that the Masuk win was a non-conference affair. The ‘Hawks hoped to repeat it on Thursday in Monroe.

Stories like that are what make a new sports season so exciting.

And stories like the undefeated girls’ track team finding a sterling new sprinter in Alex Konneker; the girls’ tennis team going on a nine-game winning streak after a season-opening loss to Joel Barlow; and the baseball team winning five of its first 11 games and then getting an opportunity to play at The Ballpark at Harbor Yard.

Girls Lacrosse –

If there were any doubters before, there are none now.

With wins over Brookfield, Masuk and Pomperaug, the Newtown High School girls’ lacrosse team – a sub-.500 team a year ago – extended its winning streak to nine games and placed the Lady Nighthawks squarely on top of the South-West Conference heap.

The impressive win over Masuk was, perhaps, the most important since it was the last of the top challengers for an SWC championship. New Milford was beaten back on April 29, Joel Barlow followed on May 4, and the trifecta was completed on Monday night at Blue & Gold Stadium.

With the win over Pomperaug on Tuesday, the ‘Hawks moved to 10-1.

There is a small problem, however: The game with Masuk on Monday was non-conference, so to secure the No. 1 spot in the SWC, the ‘Hawks would have had to beat the Pantherettes again on Thursday in Monroe.

But for a team that had thought it was rebuilding, the confidence is there,

“I could tell in indoor (season) it would be different,” said Fenton. “I could see how everyone was improving and I knew we could be good.”

Fenton, Karli Beitel and Meg Regnery scored two goals apiece while Kim Solheim, Heidi Ekstrom and Kelly Collier scored one goal apiece. Solheim added two assists while Jackie Darigo and Casey Frobey chipped in one assist apiece.

Canavan made 18 saves, quite a few of them rather impressive.

The ‘Hawks jumped out to a 5-0 lead on the Pantherettes before the visitors finally got on the board with 5:43 left to play. The ‘Hawks answered back off the stick of Fenton, but the Pantherettes scored the next four goals to creep within one, 6-5, with 46.6 seconds left in the first half. An apparent goal in the final seconds – the tying goal – was wiped off the board when Masuk was whistled for a crease violation.

Just 23 seconds into the second half, Regnery scored to put the ‘Hawks ahead, 7-5. Goals from Collier and Ekstrom stretched the lead to four goals and the ‘Hawks were able to hold off the charging Pantherettes in the final 8:21 of the second half.

Masuk scored twice, at 1:09 and 54.8, to make it a closer game.

In a 15-9 win over Brookfield last week, Regnery scored four goals while Fenton and Collier added three goals apiece. Beitel, Solheim, Ekstrom, Jess Budnick and Darigo all scored while Beitel, Ekstrom and Frobey assisted on two goals apiece. Solheim added a solo assists while Canavan and Jenny Urfer combined to make 11 saves in the cage.

In a 17-7 win over winless Pomperaug on Tuesday night, Beitel scored six goals and Regnery added five more while Fenton and Frobey chipped in with two goals apiece. Solheim and Collier also scored as Beitel, Regnery, Solheim and Moira Collier all provided assists.

The ‘Hawks will host Danbury on Tuesday at 7 pm, featuring their Senior Night activities. A home game with New Fairfield will follow on Thursday.

Statistics –

 

Players                    G     A   PT

Meg Regnery           41      3     44

Karli Beitel            27      8     35

Kate Fenton           16      6     22

Heidi Ekstrom       11      9     20

Kelly Collier           19      0     19

Kimberly Solheim   9      6     15

Lindsay Coyle          6      5     11

Casey Frobey            4      4       8

Jackie Darigo           4      3       7

Moira Collier            4      1       5

Louisa Yemc             2      1       3

Rachel Maley            2      1       3

Jess Budnick            1      1       2

Rachel Eastman      0      1       1

Katie Sudbey            0      1       1

Totals                   146   50  196

Boys Lacrosse –

A modest three-game winning streak – one that lifted the Newtown High School boys’ lacrosse team from a dismal 1-4 record to a respectable 4-4 record – came to a crashing halt last Thursday against arch rival Joel Barlow.

The Nighthawks are defending South-West Conference champions and boasted a unblemished 4-0 conference record; but the Falcons were runners-up to the ‘Hawks last year, undefeated in the SWC this year, and still as strong as ever.

And they proved it.

The Falcons scored the first 10 goals of the game enroute to a 10-5 win. Adam Larienart and Mike Distler scored three goals apiece to help lift the 9-1 Falcons to the win. The ‘Hawks scored all five of their goals in the fourth period, with Grant Speer and Kyle Kirch scoring two goals apiece and Jeff Bell adding one.

John Oliver assisted on two of those goals while Kirch and Bell had one assist apiece.

The ‘Hawks recovered, though, for a thrilling 8-7 overtime win over Conard of West Hartford on Saturday night at Blue & Gold Stadium. Kirch – off a pass from Oliver (who had a team-high 20 assists this year) – scored the game winner with 2:46 left to play in the second overtime.

Kirch had a pair of goals, as did Oliver and Bell. While Oliver also chipped in four assists, Bell and Brendan O’Connor added one assist apiece. Goaltender Chris Body made 10 saves in the cage to preserve the win.

The ‘Hawks hosted Guilford on Thursday and will travel to Danbury on Saturday to take on SWC foe Immaculate. The ‘Hawks will visit Ridgefield on Tuesday and return home next Thursday to host Weston.

Statistics –

Players                     G     A   PT

John Oliver             15   20    35

Kyle Kirch               27      6    33

Grant Speer            10      3    13

Jeff Bell                     6      4    10

Brendan O’Connor   4      2      6

Tyler Law                  3      0      3

Dan Gindraux           1      0      1

Dave Kugieslky        0      1      1

Pat Keating               1      0      1

Jim Davis                  0      1      1

Totals                      68   40  108

Girls Track –

Sophomore Alex Konneker may have been bested for the first time this year in the 100- and 200-meter dash, but the Newtown High School girls’ track team remained undefeated with easy wins over New Milford, Stratford and Bethel last week.

The sophomore newcomer has been burning up the track, but met her match last Thursday when Katie Whitlock took the 100-meter dash by just hundredths of a second and the 200-meter dash by seven-tenths of a second.

But that didn’t stop the Lady Nighthawks from boosting their record to 9-0. A quad meet with Weston, New Fairfield and Immaculate was scheduled for Wednesday in New Fairfield and head coach Marsha Turek was fully aware that Weston was the only team to pin a loss on the ‘Hawks last year.

“We have so much depth this year,” said coach Turek, who guided her team to a 13-1-1 record in 2003. “And we have a lot of star runners. We had good depth last year, too, but not a lot of those star runners.”

While Konneker came back to take first in the 400 meters (the ‘Hawks swept the event, with Julie Landin coming in second and Tara Gaston coming in third), Sadie Ball captured first in the 1,600 meters, Kate Stickles took first in the 800 meters, Leah Herity took first in the pole vault, Quincey Blanchard captured first in the long jump, and Dana Taylor took first in the javelin.

The 4x100 relay of Herity, Landin, Caitlin Weber and Blanchard also took first while the 4x400 relay of Gaston, Ball, Ciara Simek and Konneker did the same. The 4x800 relay came in a distant second to New Milford.

The ‘Hawks will close out the regular season on Monday against Joel Barlow, Masuk and Lauralton Hall in Monroe. The South-West Conference championship meet will follow on Monday, May 24, also in Monroe.

Results:

TEAM SCORES: Newtown 116, New Milford 33; Newtown 133, Stratford 16; Newtown 100, Bethel 50.

 

Track events

4x800 relay – 1. New Milford (Winters, Martin, Herman, Fisher) 10:51. 2. Newtown 11:19. 3. Bethel 11:43; 4x100 relay – 1. Newtown (Herity, Landin, Weber, Blanchard) 53.6; 2. New Milford 54.3; 100 dash – 1. Whitlock (B) 12.5; 2. Konneker (N) 12.5; 3. Lucia (S) 13.8; 100 hurdles – 1. Whitlock (B) 15.7; 2. Golankiewiez (NM) 17.7; 3. Weber (N) 18.5; 400 meters – 1. Konneker (N) 60.9; 2. Landin (N) 63.4; 3. Gaston (N) 64.1; 1600 meters – 1. Ball (N) 5:44.9; 2. Stickles (N) 5:46.9; 3. Brennan 5:51.7; 300 hurdles – 1. Whitlock (B) 41.5; 2. Ness (N) 51.7; 3. McKenna (NM) 52.3; 800 meters – 1. Stickles (N) 2:31.4; 2. Ball (N) 2:34.6; 3. Trolhalin (B) 2:35.7; 200 dash – 1. Whitlock (B) 25.9; 2. Konneker (N) 26.6; 3. tie Logan (S) and Landon (N) 27.4; 3200 meters – 1. Fisher (NM) 12:37; 2. Brennan (N) 12:43; 3. Hernann (NM) 13:14; 4x400 relay – 1. Newtown (Gaston, Ball, Simek, Konneker) 4:17; 2. New Milford 4:48.

 

Field events

High jump – 1. Golankiewicz (NM) 5-0; 2. Gaston (N) 4-8; 3. Curran (N) 4-8; Triple jump – 1. Golankiewicz (NM) 32-4.5; 2. Simek (N) 30-9.25; 3. Curran (N) 30-5.5; Pole vault – 1. Herity (N) 8-0; 2. Barra (B) 7-0; 3. Blanchard (N) 6-6; Long jump – 1. Blanchard (N) 14-91/4 ; 2. Bufano (NM) 14-81/4 ; 3. Soldano (B) 14-23/4 . Discus – 1. Freidman (B) 102-6; 2. Graif (B) 96-5; 3. Cosgrove (N) 89-2; Shot put – 1. Freidman (B) 30-6; 2. James (S) 30-5; 3. Brandt (B) 28-4; Javelin – 1. Taylor (N) 92-9; 2. Chang (B) 76-3; 3. Trinklein (B) 72-2.

Boys Track –

It took a gutsy performance by Dan McIlrath and an even gutsier performance by Jon Larsen in the first event of the afternoon to set the stage for the Newtown High School boys’ track and field team to win two of three and improve to 8-3-1 on the year.

McIlrath came from behind in the third leg of the 4x800 relay and handed off to Larsen, who trailed at one point but slipped ahead in the final turn of the fourth leg and crossed the finish line in first place with slightly less than two seconds to spare.

That start certainly helped lead the Nighthawks, who crushed New Fairfield and Immaculate while dropping a 16-point decision to Weston. In a quad meet last Thursday, the ‘Hawks defeated Jonathan Law and Notre Dame while tying Foran.

On Tuesday, Tim Carlisle continued his domination in hurdles with first-place finishes in the 110 and 300 events. Pete Dittmar, Alistair Ratcliff and Charlie Baldour swept the 3,200 meters and all finished in a 21-second span.

Meanwhile, Joe Sgammato captured the long jump with a leap of 18-4 and finished second in the triple jump. Matt Miller took the pole vault with vault of 10-6. Dittmar (1,600 meters) and Edmund Breitling (discus) earned second-place finishes.

Last week, Carlisle was a double-winner against in the 110 and 300 hurdles while McIlrath (800 meters) and Dittmar (3,200 meters) were individual winners. The 4x800 relay of Chris DeRoo, Scott Nichols, McIlrath and Larsen captured first while the 4x400 relay of Ryan Davies, Adam Konneker, Evan Forstrom and McIlrath also captured first.

The ‘Hawks will conclude the regular season on Tuesday against Joel Barlow, Lauralton Hall and Masuk in Monroe. The South-West Conference championships will follow on Tuesday, May 25, at Jonathan Law in Milford.

Results –

TEAM SCORES: Weston 83, Newtown 67; Newtown 112½, New Fairfield 37½; Newtown 146, Immaculate 4.

 

Track Events

4x800 relay – 1. Newtown (Chris DeRoo, Scott Nichols, Dan McIlrath, Jon Larsen0 8:41; 2. Weston 8:42.6; 3. Immaculate 9:17; 4. New Fairfield 9:26; 4x100 relay – 1. Weston (Rohen, Gaffney, Bolea, Selman) 46.1; 110 hurdles – 1. Carlisle (N) 15.4; 2. Kershaw (W) 17.3; 3. Kostecki (N) 17.8; 100 dash – 1. Bolea (W) 11.5; 2. (tie) Cohen (W) and Davey (NF) 11.7; 1,600 meters – 1. Lane (W) 4:43; 2. Dittmar (N) 4:44; 3. Tobin (W) 4:55; 400 meters – 1. Chitester (NF) 53.2; 2. Gaffney (W) 53.5; 3. Larsen (N) 54.4; 300 intermediate hurdles – 1. Carlisle (N) 42.9; 2. Kershaw (W) 43.6; 3. Selman (W) 44.3; 200 dash – 1. Davey (NF) 23.9; 2. Bolea (W) 24.0; 3. Cohen (W) 24.2; 800 meters – 1. Ottulich (NF) 2:00; 2. Lane (W) 2:06; 3. McIlrath (N) 2:06; 3,200 meters – 1. Dittmar (N) 10:48; 2. Ratcliff (N) 10:56; 3. Baldour (N) 11:09; 4x400 relay – 1. Weston 3:38.8; 2. Newtown 3:43; 3. New Fairfield 3:43.8.

 

Field Events

Shot put – 1. Cupo (NF) 41-3; 2. Cash (N) 39-2; 3. Feiskhanov (NF) 37-9½; Javelin – 1. Morris (W) 156-5; 2. Silver (W) 149-3; 3. Peters (N) 126-3; Discus – 1. Batlein (W) 102-10; 2. Breitling (N) 101-11; 3. Silver (W) 101-11; High jump – 1. Chitester (NF) 5-8; 2. Papin (W) 5-8; 3. Kostecki (N) 5-6; Long jump – 1. Sgammato (N) 18-4; 2. Selman (W) 18-2½; 3. Forstrom (N) 18-0¾; Triple jump – 1. Papin (W) 41-0¾; 2. Sgammato (N) 37-7½; 3. Lipnick (N) 36-8; Pole vault – 1. Miller (N) 10-6; 2. Cohen (W) 10-0; 3. Murphy (W) 10-0.

Girls Tennis –

The Newtown High School girls’ tennis team has been on such a roll lately that even without the services of two players, it still had enough to keep its winning streak – now at nine games – intact.

The Lady Nighthawks were without No. 1 singles player Brittany Meier and No. 4 singles player Michelle Serock on Tuesday afternoon, but still overcame Jonathan Law, 5-2, to run their record to 9-1 overall.

“I thought I would be fine,” said head coach Jean Kunkel, “but Law has improved so much.”

Lauren Nemeth moved up a spot and defeated Amanda Mauer 6-0, 6-2 while Tara Ryan also moved up a spot and swept Becky Marus 6-0, 6-0. Sarah Salbu fell to Michelle Mathies 7-5, 6-2 at No. 3 singles while Kristene Salbu earned a tough 7-5, 5-7, 6-3 win over Danielle Ramirez at No. 4 singles.

Kim Allen and Jill Tanner defeated Caitlin Cianciolo and Heath Firn 6-4, 6-1 at No. 1 doubles while Emily Fields and Ashley Gabor slipped past Kelly Chavet and Michaela Eisenhandler 6-3, 6-2 at No. 2 doubles. Only Jenna Moser and Stephanie Corleto were bested, losing 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 to Colleen Swan and Katie Pinto.

That win followed similarly easy wins over Masuk (5-2) and Immaculate (6-1) last week.

“The girls really believe in themselves,” said coach Kunkel. “They know they can beat almost anybody.”

In the win over Immaculate, Nemeth worked out a 3-6, 7-5, 6-1 win over Kaity Fuller at No. 2 singles.

“It was a good match,” said coach Kunkel. “She lost the first set, but came right back and set (Fuller) on her heels. Lauren has been in so many close matches and it was nice to see one go her way.”

Meier was stopped 6-0, 6-2 by Lauren Mackay at No. 1 singles, the only match the ‘Hawks dropped. Ryan and Serock had straight set wins at No. 3 and 4 singles while the duos of Allen/Tanner, Fields/Gabor and Sarah Salbu/Christina Elsenhans had straight set wins in doubles.

Their success was similar against Masuk. Meier was stopped 7-6 (8-6), 6-2 by Amanda Benson at No. 1 singles and Serock was edged 5-7, 6-3, 6-1 by Julianne Fenn at No. 4 singles for the only losses. Nemeth and Ryan had easy straight set wins at No. 2 and 3 singles, while Allen/Tanner, Fields/Gabor and Salbu/Elsenhans had straight set wins in doubles.

“I’m thrilled with how well we’re doing,” said coach Kunkel. “Everyone is getting a lot of experience this year, which should help in the future.”

The ‘Hawks hosted two tough opponents this week – New Milford on Wednesday and Pomperaug on Thursday. They will be home next week for matches against Lauralton Hall on Monday and Brookfield on Wednesday.

Boys Tennis –

With six wins in a row that boosted its record to 9-2, the Newtown High School boys’ tennis team has been living high on the hog. But head coach Marty Margulies knows that is about to end after his Nighthawks defeated Masuk (4-3), Jonathan Law (5-2) and Immaculate (7-0).

“Our next three matches, all of them away, are against competitive schools,” he said. “We have New Milford on (Wednesday), Pomperaug on (Thursday), and Brookfield on May 19. We shall probably have to win at least two of them to reach the South-West Conference team playoffs, and one of them in order to place the maximum number of players in the individual playoffs.”

In the win over Masuk, Matt McFadden, Jason Gabarino and Drew Adamek all earned straight set wins in the top three singles slots. Chris Martin, however, was stopped 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 by Ken Benedict at No. 4 singles.

With Masuk taking the No. 1 and No. 3 doubles matches (Chris Meier and Max Margulies at No. 1, Jim Wilkins and Wes Boisvert at No. 3), it fell to Bruno Moura and Tyler Hull at No. 2 doubles to secure the match with a 6-0, 1-6, 6-3 win over Jeff Crawford and Ray Donofrio.

In the win over Law, McFadden, Adamek and Martin boasted straight set wins while Garbarino suffered a tight 6-3, 6-4 loss to Matt Cook at No. 2 singles. In the toughest match of the afternoon, Meier and Margulies fell 7-6 (9-7), 5-7, 7-6 (7-4) at No. 1 doubles to Tim Cook and Jason Betz. But Moura and Hull came up with a straight set win at No. 2 doubles and the ‘Hawks earned the win at No. 3 doubles by virtue of a forfeit.

Against Immaculate, Martin moved up to No. 1 singles and earned an 8-6 pro set win over Joshua Hecht to start the ball rolling. Garbarino and Adamek won easily at No. 2 and 3 singles while the ‘Hawks earned a forfeit win at No. 4 singles. The duos of Meier/Margulies and Hull/Moura won easily at No. 1 and 2 doubles with another forfeit win following at No. 3 doubles.

Golf –

The scores may have been getting pretty low lately, but the Redding Country Club took care of that on Tuesday afternoon.

After turning in cumulative scores of 161 (in a win over Bunnell) and 162 (in a loss to Brookfield), the Newtown High School golf team fell to 4-3 overall with a 178-196 loss to Joel Barlow on Tuesday. The low man for the Nighthawks was Ben Moore, who carded an 8-over 44.

JP McDade followed with a 10-over 46 and Andrew Fiscella contributed a 13-over 49. The Falcons were not spectacular on their home course, but played well enough to win as Chris Kim earned medallist honors with a 6-over 42. Bernie DeLucia finished with a solid 8-over 44.

Last week, the ‘Hawks captured their fourth match in a row with a 161-167 win over Bunnell at the Newtown Country Club. Moore shot a blistering 2-over 36 to earn medallist honors while Ron Shimko and Joe DeFeo added rounds of 7-over 41. Fiscella finished with a 43.

And in a 159-162 loss to Brookfield at Sunset Hills, superb rounds by Moore (38) and Shimko (39) went by the boards as Bruce Voutus captured medallist honors with a 1-over 36. Dan Bozek, Ryan Smith and Brian Heckman finished with rounds of 6-over 41 to enable to Bobcats to overcome a 7-over 42 by Dave McLaughlin and 8-over 43 by McDade of Newtown.

The ‘Hawks hosted Masuk at the Heritage Village Country Club in Southbury on Thursday and will visit Immaculate, Bethel and Stratford next week.

Baseball –

Head coach Carl Strait doesn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

It wasn’t too long ago – just 10 days or so – that the Newtown High School baseball team was sitting at 5-6 and looking forward to a week which featured games against New Fairfield (no wins at the time), Stratford (just one win at the time) and Brookfield (who the Nighthawks had already beaten).

Clinching a CIAC state tournament spot seemed more than possible.

But with problems at the plate and problems in the field (nearly as many hits as errors), the ‘Hawks dropped all three of those games (4-1 to New Fairfield, 7-0 to Stratford, and 10-3 to Brookfield) and then added a 4-1 loss to New Milford on Monday to fall to 5-10 overall, 1-8 in the South-West Conference.

It all served to put a little damper on a fine Friday night event at The Ballpark at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport.

Just a little damper.

Newtown challenged Brookfield last Friday at Harbor Yard, the Atlantic League home of the independent Bridgeport Bluefish. A glorious spring night, an immaculately groomed field, and lots of people in the stands made for a very nice evening.

“It was a great time, a great night and the bottom line is,” said coach Strait, “we’re still having fun.”

Even though the ‘Hawks lost the game, there were some fine highlights – a slashing double by Nick Magoulas in the bottom of the second inning, a long triple by Pete Oggeri that immediately followed, a double by Mike Tibbetts to deep centerfield in the bottom of the third, a triple by transfer Brennan Coakley in the bottom of the sixth inning, and a first-pitch lashing single by Kyle Lyddy in the bottom of the seventh.

The ‘Hawks collected nine hits on the night, the most in a single game in a long, long time.

“Yeah, we started to hit the ball,” said coach Strait, “but we weren’t getting the hits when we needed them.”

While the woeful batting slump was troubling, the problems the ‘Hawks had in the field were even more troubling.

In the loss to New Fairfield last week, none of the four runs the Rebels scored were earned. In the loss to Stratford, the ‘Hawks committed seven errors and then five more in the loss to Brookfield. And in the loss to New Milford on Monday, Matt Myslewski (1-5) was pitching shutout baseball until the roof caved in in the bottom of the sixth inning, with three errors leading to four unearned runs.

The ‘Hawks had seven hits in the game.

                                    R     H    E

Brookfield             10    10     2

Newtown                 3      9     5

Batteries: Brookfield – Jay Howley, Chris Val (5), Billy Thompson (6) and Mike Palo. Newtown – Alex Dolan, Steve Marks (3) and Pete Oggeri. WP: Howley. LP: Dolan. SO: Brookfield – Howley, Thompson, Val; Newtown – Dolan 3, Marks 3. BB: Brookfield – Howley; Newtown – Dolan 2, Marks 2. Extra bases: Newtown – Magoulas (2B), Tibbetts (2B), Oggeri (3B), Coakley (3B); Brookfield – Smenyak (2 2B), Palo (2B), Val (HR).

Softball –

A throw to first hits the runner in the helmet, a throw to third is a microsecond too late – and just like that the stage is set for a two-run single that ultimately sends the Newtown High School softball team on to a 3-0 defeat.

A paucity of base hits (just six in the last three games) may have head coach Jay Edwards scratching his noggin, but problems just getting a bunt down in the loss to New Milford on Tuesday had him scratching even harder.

The Lady Nighthawks – who lost 1-0 to Stratford last week and edged Brookfield 1-0 on Friday night – dropped to 9-5.

On Tuesday, all the damage was done in the first inning. Lisa Morgan whiffed the first batter she faced, but then walked the next. A stolen bases preceded a throwing error and a fielder’s choice on a ball hit back to the mound (Morgan attempted to catch the runner off third, but was too late) loaded the bases and gave New Milford’s Sara Wilson an opportunity to drive in two runs with a hard single up the middle.

In the top of the second, Erin Murdoch singled, stole second and reached third on a passed ball but was stranded their by back-to-back strikeouts. And in the top of the third, Jaclyn Van Waalwijk reached on an error and stole second base and then watched as Stacy Gordon was walked. But a failed bunt attempt, a fielder’s choice grounder, and a lineout snuffed out the threat.

The ‘Hawks collected just three hits in the game. The last was a one-out single by Morgan in the top of the seventh inning.

Besides the two-run single by Wilson, the play of the game came in the bottom of the second inning when Newtown second baseman Christina Wolf dove to her right to snare a line drive just inches off the dirt for an out.

The ‘Hawks had just one hit on Friday night, but it was enough to slip past Brookfield, 1-0, in eight innings. Gordon scored from third on a sacrifice fly by Ashley Ferris and had to slide hard into New Milford catcher Caitlin Smith in order to pop the ball loose and score the run.

Van Waalwijk tripled in the fifth inning for the Nighthawks’ only hit of the game. The ‘Hawks scored the decisive run after Gordon was struck with a pitch, Meg LaFlamme reached on a fielder’s choice, and Wolf was walked to load the bases.

Two nights before, the ‘Hawks mustered just two hits against Stratford’s Jessica Dempsey, who fanned 15 batters. Morgan did not pitch so poorly herself, allowing the undefeated Red Devils just three base hits on the night.

The ‘Hawks hosted Jonathan Law on Wednesday and will be in Redding on Friday to take on Joel Barlow. On Monday, the girls will travel to Stratford to take on Bunnell before returning home on Wednesday, May 19, to host Bethel (which will also be Senior Night).

Statistics –

Player    AVG  AB    R     H  BI

Legros    1.000     3     1      3    4

Blewett    .500   10     5      5    2

Ramsdell .426   47   14    20    5

Wolf          .385   39   13    15  15

Grills        .375     8     0      3    3

LaFlamme .373 51   16    19  12

V. Waalwijk .333 33   8    11    2

Morgan    .311   45     9    14    9

Murdoch  .286   35     7    10  11

Gordon     .278   26   11    10  10

Renna      .200     5     1      1    0

Ferris       .225   40   10      9  10

Ciaccia     .188   32     7      6    2

Brunton   .000     2     0      0    0

Totals      .318 396 103  126  86

 

2B – Ramsdell (3), Wolf (3), Murdoch (3), LaFlamme, Ferris, Van Waalwijk, Grills, Legros.3B – Gordon (2), Ferris, Murdoch, Van Waalwijk. HR – Wolf.

 

Player ERA      IP    H  BB SO

Morgan  0.98  92.2   39   37 133