Newtown High School’s baseball team, the No. 27 seed in the Class LL State Tournament bracket, traveled to No. 6 Bristol Central and posted a 4-2 upset win at Muzzy Field in the first round on May 28. With the win, the Nighthawks earn another long trip and upset bid as they head to No. 11 South Windsor for second round battle on Wednesday, May 29, at 3:30 pm.

First baseman Kieran Garrity broke a 2-2 tie with a clutch two-run single in the top of the seventh inning to make the difference. Garrity drove in all four Nighthawk runs, driving in the first on a single to cap an 11-pitch at bat to knot the score in the third and walking with the bases loaded to force in a run for a 2-1 lead in the fifth.

Bristol Central tied the game in the bottom of the fifth. Newtown starting pitcher Dhilan Amin allowed two runs, just one earned, on three hits. He walked four and struck out four in six innings of work. Danny Leyva pitched a perfect inning to save the game.

Hayden Conklin doubled and scored a run; Evan Nikolis had two hits, a walk, and scored; Jonathan Moseman had a hit and run scored; and Finn Geissler had a base hit. Amin walked and scored one of the Hawk runs.

Newtown overcame some early-season injuries with different players stepping up and contributing on given days, and that trend has continued with a variety of team members coming through. The Hawks closed out the regular season with five straight wins. NHS, as the No. 7 seed in the South-West Conference Tournament, won their sixth consecutive game with a 2-0 upset victory at No. 2 New Fairfield before being eliminated by top seed Joel Barlow of Redding in the semifinals, then bouncing back at Bristol Central.

“They’ve been picking each other up,” Newtown Coach Ian Thoesen said.

Sports Editor Andy Hutchison can be reached at andyh@thebee.com.