They Keep Soaring Along ... Newtown Hawks’ U10 Softball Team Advances to New England Regionals

With two stunning wins over Stamford and a second-place finish in the Babe Ruth State Tournament, the 10-year-old Newtown Hawks’ softball team advanced to the New England Regionals in Pittsfield, Mass. the weekend of July 31.

The opening game of the state tournament pitted two of the favorites in an early matchup with Newtown marching to a decisive 11-6 victory over the Stamford Stars. Lauren Wilcox kept the Stamford bats quiet with 14 strikeouts over six innings.

Offensive leaders included: Caitlyn Linden, Katie Laaksonen and Kelly Merrick with a double and single each; and Madeline Meier, Haley Ryan, Katie Reilly and Sydney Flint with a hit apiece. 

Newtown went on to beat Southbury 13-10 after jumping out to a 10-1 lead early in the game as the team batted through the order in the first inning. Lauren Wilcox belted a two-RBI double as Newtown scored six runs in the top of the first. With a series of timely walks and ground balls, Newtown added four more in the second inning to put the game out of reach early. Jacklyn Gouveia, Ryan, Linden and Merrick all had hits. Madeline Meier got the win for Newtown, Katie Laaksonen caught two base runners stealing and shortstop Caitlyn Linden had five putouts. 

Playing in their third game of the day on Saturday, Newtown beat Norwalk 17-1 in a shortened mercy rule triumph behind a well-rounded offensive attack. Hits by Haley Ryan and Kelly Merrick led to three runs in the first. Sarah Spillane and Ryan reached base on hits and Sydney Flint walked to set up a three-RBI double for Linden in the second inning. Sydney DiMartino, Spillane and Flint each reached base on hits in the third and Ryan delivered with a two-run double to center field. Newtown topped it off with a double by Jillian Lasorsa, an RBI single by Linden and a fielder’s choice RBI by Zoe Beals in the fourth and final inning. Wilcox got the win with a one-hitter and 11 strikeouts. Laaksonen threw out another base runner attempting to steal.

Despite a 3-0 record, Newtown advanced to the single elimination round on Sunday as the second seed due to tiebreaker rules. Behind the pitching of Madeline Meier, the Hawks easily beat New Canaan 14-1 in four innings. An excellent control pitcher, Meier notched three strikeouts on her way to a two-hitter. A potential run for New Canaan was cut down at home on an attempted delayed steal that turned into a run-down. Merrick, Linden and Laaksonen combined for the putout. Wilcox had four putouts at second base and New Canaan scored its only run on a fielder’s choice in the final inning. Newtown again hit well, batting through the lineup with nine hits, including triples by Meier and Linden, doubles by Wilcox and Reilly, singles by Ryan and Laaksonen and a three-hit, three-RBI performance by Merrick.

Next up was a rematch with the Stamford Stars in the semifinals. Newtown pulled out its best game of the year with a 1-0 win. Wilcox tallied 11 strikeouts, fielded three bunts for outs, Laaksonen caught a base runner stealing and fielded bunt for an out. Merrick fielded a popup at third and Reilly made the final putout on a ground ball to second. In the fifth inning, with the based loaded and only one out, Wilcox threw two key strikeouts to keep Stamford scoreless. A fourth-inning single by Laaksonen followed by Merrick’s RBI double was all Newtown needed to win the game.

In the final game of the tournament, Newtown fell to Milford 11-6 to take second place. Uncharacteristically, Newtown had four errors. Linden and Ryan had a single and double and stole their way around the bases to score in the first inning, but Milford came back with four runs of its own. Sydney DiMartino walked and eventually stole home to pull Newtown to within a run in the second inning and Linden had an RBI single in the top of the fourth scoring Flint to tie the game at four. In the bottom of the fourth, however, Newtown allowed four runs. With the score 11-4 and in its last at-bat, Newtown rallied for two runs as Ryan led off with a single, Linden walked, Laaksonen smacked a double and Wilcox singled.

The team will play in the Fairfield County League Tournament in Ridgefield this weekend and then will travel to Pittsfield for regionals the following week.