After back-to-back whitewashings, including a no-hit performance by Sara Kennedy, Newtown High School's softball team pulled out consecutive wins in back-and-forth, down-to-the wire contests to close out the regular season.

Newtown, which went 17-3 overall (12-1 in the South-West Conference), shares the same conference mark as Pomperaug of Southbury but will be the conference tournament's second seed when the playoffs begin this weekend due to a head-to-head tiebreaker. Newtown will host a quarterfinal round contest against an opponent and at a time to be determined.

The Nighthawks carry a four-game winning streak into the playoffs.

"In sports you always try to peak at the right time," Newtown Coach Bob Guererra said after a regular-season ending 9-7 win over visiting Masuk of Monroe, at Treadwell Park, on May 17. "We're peaking at the right time."

Against Masuk, Newtown fell behind 2-0 in the second inning, then claimed a 3-2 lead on Katie Laaksonen's three-run home run in the third. The Panthers went ahead 6-3 with a four-run top of the fourth, but the Nighthawks answered with a five-spot in the bottom half of the frame to take the lead for good.

Mackenzie Macchiarulo led off the big inning with a double and later scored on Emily Bell's bloop single to right field. Haley Ryan's infield single produced another run to trim the Masuk lead to a run at 6-5. Kennedy blasted a double to center to plate a pair of runs and give Newtown a 7-6 edge. Laaksonen added a sacrifice fly for an 8-6 lead. Mali Klorczyk and Kamdynn Moroney both reached with two-out singles but were left stranded as the Hawks batted around in the inning.

In the last of the fifth, the Nighthawks tacked on their ninth run as Tess Mubarek led off with a walk, Bell singled to center, Jill Lasorsa's fly out moved both runners up a base, and Mubarek scored on Ryan's groundout for a 9-6 advantage. Masuk scored and brought the potential tying run to the plate in the seventh before Kennedy finished things off.

Ryan had two hits; Klorczyk had a pair of hits, including a triple; Macchiarulo delivered three hits, including double; and Lasorsa doubled and drove in a run.

"We wouldn't quit. We kept coming back - we showed grit," said Guererra, adding that Kennedy, battled to overcome a talented Masuk team. "Sara turned into a bulldog."

Guererra was thrilled with the win given the level of competition his squad was up against.

"It's a great win. It's a good win against a good quality team," he said. "I'm very pleased."

Against New Milford the day before, on Senior Night, the Nighthawks and Green Wave played a see-saw game at Treadwell Park. Down 5-4 in the fourth inning, Newtown took the lead for good on Laaksonen's three-run home run.

Moroney added a two-RBI double in the sixth; she finished with three hits, including a triple, and drove in three runs; Macchiarulo had a trio of hits, including a double, and knocked in two runs; Kennedy doubled and tripled; and Lasorsa went 3-for-3. Pitcher Lauren Wilcox struck out ten batters.

These competitive games followed a pair of blowouts the week before.

In a 16-0 win over host Notre Dame on May 11, Wilcox allowed four hits, walked four, and struck out five batters. Laaksonen went 3-for-4, including a double and triple, and drove in three runs; Moroney was 4-for-4 with a double and two runs batted in; Bell went 3-for-4, smacking a double and triple, and driving in four. Wilcox and Lasorsa each added two hits and Lasorsa drove in a pair of runs.

Kennedy struck out ten and walked one in a run-rule, six-inning, no-hit effort against New Fairfield on May 12.

"Everybody did their job. It was good," Kennedy said of the performance in the circle.

Ryan was 3-for-4, and Kennedy and Laaksonen were both 2-for-5 - each of the three hitters knocked in two runs. Klorczyk went 2-for-3, with a double, and drove in a run; Mubarek went 2-for-4 with two runs scored; and Bell had two hits and drove in a pair.

Now the defending conference champion Hawks begin the conference tourney with repeat on their minds.

"I'm very excited," Kennedy said of the upcoming playoffs.