U10 Hawks Win Three More In Fairfield County Play

Newtown’s U10 softball team raised its record to 5-2 in the Fairfield County Fast Pitch Softball League with victories over Southbury, Norwalk and New Canaan this past week. Newtown also lost to Darien. Mikayla Kuligowski chalked up seven strikeouts in the 10-4 victory over Southbury on Thursday night. The bats were on fire in the first couple of innings as the Hawks jumped out to a 10-0 lead.  Emily Woznick and Caitlyn Linden led the attack with key singles in the first, contributing two RBIs each. Gillian Galante had an RBI single in the first and Woznick and Lauren Wilcox added a double and single, respectively, later in the game.

On Saturday, the team went on the road to play Norwalk and Darien. In the first game, against Norwalk, the Hawks played solid defensively and rode the pitching of Galante to a 5-2 victory. Galante had nine strikeouts in the game. Woznick again sparked the offense with a two-run double in the first inning, scoring Haley Ryan who had reached base on a walk and Shannon Mullins who had bunted her way on. Linden led off the third with a double, but was stranded as the next three batters grounded out. Galante and Kelly Merrick reached base on bunts and scored on fielder’s choices in the fourth, as the Norwalk team struggled in the field.

In the second game of the day, the Hawks dropped a game to Darien 8-5 after mounting a sixth inning comeback that fell short. With a short bench and 92-degree weather, the team showed signs of fatigue, making several errors and struggling at the plate. In the final inning, the first three batters, Linden, Woznick and Mullins, reached base on walks. With the bases loaded, Katie Laaksonen and Aimee Alexander each had singles to bring in three runs and cut the Darien lead to 8-4. The last run was scored on a fielder’s choice by Molly Begg and Newtown got no closer.

The Hawks finished the weekend with a 6-0 victory over New Canaan at Liberty Field. Galante overpowered New Canaan, throwing a two-hitter with 12 strikeouts and issuing only two walks. Wilcox rapped a single in the second inning for an RBI and added another RBI single in the fourth. Woznick collected two RBIs on a shot to right field that was fielded cleanly for the out at first. Laaksonen and Mullins also had singles in the winning effort.