By Kim J. Harmon

On a lazy fly ball to right field, one of the most thrilling high school softball games in recent memory ended.

It was the bottom of the ninth of a 0-0 CIAC Class LL quarterfinal game – on the second day of competition – and Masuk had loaded the bases, without recording an out, against Newtown sophomore pitcher Jenna Legros. And it was the fourth batter of the inning, Caitlin Viccari, who lofted a fly ball to Melissa Fracker in right field.

As the ball rose to its full apex, the implication to all those waiting outside the lines with a breath caught in their throats, was clear. Masuk’s Alyssa Pagano hovered at third, her foot on the bag, poised. Fracker made the catch and fired a pea to catcher Ashley Kuligowski, but it was a half-second too late and Pagano slid across the plate with the winning run.

It was their third meeting with Masuk and sophomore pitcher Rachele Fico and the ‘Hawks had their best opportunity to not only beat the most dominating pitcher they have ever faced, but also advance to the state semi-finals for the first time since 1989 (when the team reached the Class L final, only to lose to Lyman Hall).

But it was not to be.

“All we can do is come back and try it again next year,” said Fracker, who made the catch on another dramatic play in the seventh inning (see below). “Jenna pitched great and I’m so proud of my teammates for playing so hard.”

The ‘Hawks had a chance to plate a run in the top of the ninth on Saturday – the first inning that play resumed after being halted on Friday due to rain. With one out, Kate Schmidt roped a hard single on a 3-1 pitch to centerfield and then moved to third when Fico issued walks to Joanna Barry and Nora Lynn Shimko.

But, by then, there were two outs and Fico simply reared back and struck out Caitlin Cosgrove to quell the threat.

In the bottom of the frame, a single and overthrow put Pagano on second base. An intentional walk then put runners on first and second. Fico stepped into the box and laid down a sacrifice bunt towards first, but Kelly Tenney’s throw to third was a heartbeat too late to catch Pagano.

And then came the sacrifice fly.

“All I’m thinking about was catching the ball,” said Fracker, “and throwing it with all my might to hope it gets there.”

It got there, all right, and Kuligowski caught it just before Pagano slid across the plate.

It was a dramatic finish to an often dramatic game as the ‘Hawks hit Fico pretty well and had four legitimate opportunities to score that elusive run (the locals failed to score against Masuk in 27 innings this year, striking out 58 times in the process).

“We didn’t get that one hit that we needed,” said head coach Bob Guerrera. “That was the bottom line. And give credit to (Fico) – she got the strikeout when she needed it.”

The first opportunity came in the top of the fourth, when Kate Bowen singled to left field and reached second when Sam Ciaccia laid down a sacrifice.

In the top of the fifth, Tenney was sent to first after getting drilled in the right forearm by a Fico pitch and after enduring a lightning delay of better than 45 minutes, Shimko drilled a double on a 2-2 pitch to put two runners in scoring position. But Cosgrove laid down a sacrifice that was fielded cleanly at first and sent back to home to catch Rachel Ruiz, who was in running for Tenney. A pair of strikeouts then ended the threat.

In the top of the sixth, Bowen collected her second single of the day, was sacrificed over to second – again – by Ciaccia before stealing third. But Fico recorded two strikeouts to end that threat.

The Panthers nearly ended the game in the regulation seven innings, on the first day of competition. A single, stolen base, and intentional walk put runners on first and second. On a fly ball to right field, Fracker made the catch and fired to third to try and catch the advancing runner. The ball escaped the gasp of Barry and the runner made a break for home, but Barry recovered and threw to Kuligowski to preserve the tie.

The eighth inning went quietly and another delay – this one caused by rain – forced the umpires to shut everything down until Saturday. The game resumed at 4:30 pm and about 35 minutes later the locals were heading for the bus.

Despite the loss, it was a great performance for the ‘Hawks against the most dominant pitcher in the state.

“It was out heart,” said Fracker. “We wanted to win, plain and simple. Everyone wanted to play with heart. It’s unfortunate that we lost, but we have to be positive about it. We hit the ball well and had an opportunity to win.”

No easy task against Masuk.

The ‘Hawks advanced to the quarterfinals with an impressive, 6-1, win over Bunnell in the second round. The locals split the season series with the Lady Bulldogs, but the second of those meetings was a 4-0 loss for the ‘Hawks at Treadwell Park.

Last week at Newtown High School, Bowen roped a line drive, two-run home run that sizzled past the rightfielder and rolled to the top of the embankment that leads to the lacrosse practice field. Tenney doubled in a run while Shimko and Cosgrove both drove in runs. Legros scattered five hits, walking one and striking out seven.

Newtown 6, Bunnell 1

BATTERIES: Bunnell – Kerry Fenn-Phillips and Jamie Vesciglio; Newtown – Jenna Legros and Ashley Kuligowski. WP: Legros (14-5). LP: Fenn-Phillips (6-4). SO: Legros 7, Fenn-Phillips 3. BB: Fenn-Phillips 2, Legros 1. 2B: Kelly Tenney (N). HR: Katie Bowen (N). RBI: Bunnell – Fenn-Phillips; Newtown – Bowen 2, Nora Lynn Shimko, Tenney, Caitlin Cosgrove.

Masuk 1, Newtown 0

BATTERIES: Masuk – Rachele Fico and Caitlin Viccari; Newtown – Jenna Legros and Ashley Kuligowski. WP: Fico (24-1). LP: Legros (14-6). SO: Fico 17, Legros 5. BB: Legros 3, Fico 2. RBI: Masuk – Caitlin Viccari.

BASEBALL

Newtown 3, Norwalk 2 (8)

Stamford 2, Newtown 1

Though its dramatic run through the CIAC Class LL state tournament ended with a 2-1 quarterfinal loss to Stamford last Saturday, the Newtown High School baseball might never have gotten there without Mike Tibbetts and Seth Hull.

It was Tibbetts pitching seven stellar innings of three-hit baseball and Hull tripling in a run in the top of the eighth inning that lifted 20th-seeded Newtown past 4th-seeded Norwalk, 3-2, in a second-round contest at Malmquist Field in Norwalk.

The Bears had just won the FCIAC championship and went into the second round game with Newtown sporting a 21-4 record while the ‘Hawks entered the game sporting a 13-9 record and having recently lost to Bunnell in the first round of the South-West Conference tournament.

Can you say underdog?

But Tibbetts – who will be playing ball at Manhattan College next year – was throwing gas right from the start, mixing in a curve and a funky slider and whiffing eight batters in his first four innings of work while scattering three singles. Sure, he was reached for a couple of runs – in the third and sixth innings – but both were unearned.

“For four years he has been effectively wild,” said head coach Carl Strait, “keeping hitters off balance. That day, he had his fastball and curveball working and did a real nice job with his command. He was also doing something with his slider and it was his out pitch. It was beautiful. I think he got three swinging strikeouts on that pitch. Mike pitched better than he has in the five years I’ve known him.”

With Ryan McGrath and Greg Rodden taking the ball the most, Tibbetts had just a handful of starts on the season. In a matchup with Pomperaug a few weeks ago in Cooperstown, New York, the senior locked down one of the top teams in Class M (the Panthers played in the state semi-finals this week) for five innings, but was then victimized a couple of hits and some shaky fielding in a 5-4 loss.

The win over Norwalk was his piece de resistance.

And it pushed the locals the deepest into the state tournament they have been since 1985 when Newtown lost, 4-1, to North Haven in the CIAC state championship game at Muzzy Field in Bristol. Since that point, the ‘Hawks won only won three state tournament games in the next 10 years – and didn’t win another until last week, 12 years later, when the ‘Hawks upended Conard of West Hartford in the first round.

In the win over Norwalk, McGrath gave the Nighthawks a 1-0 lead in the top of the first with a solo homer, but the Bears answered back in the third. In the top of the sixth, PJ Cochrane drove in Tony Gallucci with a sacrifice fly to put Newtown ahead, 2-1, but the Bears answered back again in the bottom of the frame.

But in the eighth, Gallucci singled and scored on Hull’s triple, the senior slugger’s fifth three-bagger of the season.

McGrath relieved Tibbetts in the eighth inning and recorded his second save of the season on only 11 pitches, nailing down a pair of strikeouts in the process. Tibbetts got the win, though, pushing his record to 3-4 and dropping his earned run average from 4.90 to 3.63 on the year.

“Mike ran out of gas in the middle of the sixth,” said coach Strait, “but he dug down deep to get out of it. It was hot and grueling and with every pitch, every kid on the team was pulling for him. (Norwalk) had been mashing the ball all year and Mike held them to three hits. It was amazing.”

In the quarterfinals on Saturday, the ‘Hawks tussled with another FCIAC team but this time came out on the short end of a 2-1 finish with Stamford.

Stamford scored runs in the bottom of the third and fourth innings, but the ‘Hawks could only counter with one run in the top of the fourth. It started when Gallucci reached first on a one-out error. Matt Gastonguay pinch-ran for Gallucci and promptly scored when McGrath ripped a down the left field line.

In the top of the sixth, the locals had a chance to even the score at 2-2. Joe DeVellis was plunked by a pitch but on a lazy single to centerfield by Gallucci, DeVellis was caught trying to reach third. McGrath then struck out and Hull grounded out to end the threat.

Newtown 2, Norwalk 1

BATTERIES: Newtown – Mike Tibbetts, Ryan McGrath (8) and Brian Cullinan; Norwalk – Angelo Bruno, Matt Iannazzo (6) and Joe Reddock. WP: Tibbetts (2-4). LP: Iannazzo. SAVE: McGrath (2). SO: Tibbetts 8, Bruno 3, McGrath 2. BB: Tibbetts 2, Bruno 1. 2B: Alex Magoulas (N), Nick Urso (N). 3B: Seth Hull (N). HR: McGrath (N). RBI: Newtown – McGrath, Hull, PJ Cochrane.

BOYS TENNIS

CIAC Class LLs

Mario Roehrs (first singles) and Adam Wenick (fourth singles), playing some of their best tennis of the season, posted impressive first round victories at the CIAC Class LL state tennis tournament at Wesleyan University in Middletown last Thursday.

Roehrs fought off painful foot blisters to defeat New Britain’s Mike Pomykala 7-6 (9-7), 6-0.

“Pomykala is the most difficult type of player for any teen-ager to encounter: an exceptionally athletic youngster who runs down every ball and hits it back unerringly without any power whatever, forcing his opponent to win the point,” said head coach Marty Margulies. “To beat him it is necessary to maintain one’s poise and to avoid the opposite extremes of over hitting on the one hand and being suckered into playing the same game of ‘puff ball’ on the other.”

Roehrs did so with aplomb, hitting authoritative but carefully controlled strokes either as winners or as approach shots that set up winning volleys.

Wenick also displayed courage and poise, rebounding from a first set loss to capture the match 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 against Alex Madsen of Fairfield Prep. Somewhat erratic in the early stages, Wenick recovered and out-hit, out-ran and outlasted Madsen – a highly skilled competitor – the rest of the way.

Newtown fared less well in the remainder of the matches as Wenick lost his next round 6-0, 6-0 to William Mercarolla of Ridgefield, one of the tournament’s top seeds. Roehrs’ blisters swelled to the point where he was forced to default against his next opponent, first seed Ben Zuckerberg of Amity.

In other singles matches, Chris Meier lost to Stevie Schwartz of Amity 6-0, 6-1 and Evan Batzer lost to Kevin Maloney of Hamden, another seeded player, by the same score – although Maloney had to work hard for every point and was visibly tired toward the end. Batzer kept pace with him stroke for stroke, but Maloney was able to sustain most of the rallies for just a little longer, and his slightly greater consistency carried the day.

The doubles teams were likewise unsuccessful. Shiva Manjunath and Andrew Schwartz, also of Amity, defeated Timo Roehrs and Peter Manos 6-1, 6-3; Mike Mosier and Martin Collier of Xavier defeated Casey Tenney and Colin Jacob 6-2, 6-1; and the seeded team of Spencer Clark and Darren Mahoney, from Glastonbury, defeated Justin Carotti and Dan Cassidy 6-0, 6-1.

“The team is looking forward to next season,” said coach Margulies, “when most of this spring’s talented bunch, including five freshmen (four of them regular starters) will return in hopes of improving on the past year’s winning record.”

GIRLS TENNIS

CIAC State Tournament

Newtown High School No. 2 singles player Christina Ciamarra advanced into bracket play in the CIAC state open tennis tournament with an 8-6 win over Alexandra Cifone of Bristol Eastern in the opening round.

But Ciamarra, seeded 12th initially, was stopped, 8-0, by Sarah Griffin of Cheshire in the first round of bracket play.