By Kim J. Harmon

JOHNSTON, Rhode Island – Just when you thought it couldn’t get any better, it did.

Maybe winning a state championship was more than most teams had a right to hope for in any given summer, but the Newtown U10 travel softball team went one better last weekend by winning the New England Regional Tournament championship with a thrilling, 6-3 win over Stamford.

“In my mind, (going to the New England Regionals) was the reward for being state champions,” said manager Nancy Bowen. “Everything just jelled at the right time and the kids were having a lot of fun. It was phenomenal.”

It could have been the omen – a hawk circling the fields overhead – or simply the frame of mind the team (and all the hangers-on) was in starting on Friday morning, when the caravan (complete with fully decorated windows) left from the Newtown Middle School to take the three hour ride up I-95.

“The fans – the parents – were our 12th man,” said Bowen. “They were really loud and the kids loved it.”

And the kids – all of them – contributed to another magical championship. Twelve different hitters got at least two hits during the tournament and all 14 players managed to reach base at least once along the way.

Kate Bowen was 7-for-15 (.466 average), Nora Lynn Shimko was 6-for-13 (.461 average with an .800 on base percentage) and Stacy Broughton was 6-for-15 (.400) to lead the offensive attack.

Meanwhile, Melissa Fracker (.800 on base percentage) had four hits while Jenna Legros, Kelly Tenney, Megan Sajovic, and Renee Solheim had two hits apiece. Elissa Robertson (.571 on base percentage), Annie Hull (.600 on base percentage), Nicole Alberico and Chelsea Fay had two hits apiece.

Marley Koschel and Katie Serock might not have collected any hits, but both reached base and helped the Hawks. And Joanna Barry was unable to attend the tournament, but was no doubt there in spirit.

The Hawks opened the tournament on Friday with a tough, 3-2 win over Barrington, New Hampshire. In the critical fourth inning, Robertson walked to lead things off and was followed by bunt singles off the bats of Bowen and Legros. Shimko, Broughton and Tenney all singled and just like that the Hawks had three runs across the plate.

Sajovic and Legros pitched three innings each. Bowen made five assists in a strong defensive game at second base while Robertson was solid behind the plate. Broughton caught a tough pop up in right field and Legros made some nice plays off the mound.

“The coaches worked together as a team, too, just like our kids play,” said Bowen. “And Al (Legros) did a fabulous job coaching the pitchers.”

On Saturday, the Hawks met Stamford for the first of three times in the Regionals and came away with a 7-6 win. Facing a 6-5 deficit in the top of the sixth, Broughton and Kelley hit back-to-back singles to start the rally. Hull had the big hit, driving in two runs with a two-out single (Tenney made a perfect slide at home to score the eventual game-winner).

Shimko was superb in the field.

The Hawks scored four runs in the third inning with a walk to Robertson and singles by Bowen, Legros, and Shimko and a double by Broughton. In the fifth, Alberico singled and Bowen rapped an RBI double to get the Hawks to within one.

Then came the decisive sixth inning.

Things got a little bit easier later in the day when the Hawks trounced Warwick, Rhode Island, 20-4, in a four-inning game. The Hawks scored eight runs in the first inning and then eight more in the fourth to close it out.

The Hawks collected 13 hits and took advantage of seven walks. Bowen tripled and drove in three runs to spark the offense. Alberico, Solheim, Fay and Robertson had two hits apiece (Fay and Robertson were 4-for-4 in the leadoff spot).

That win put the Hawks into the championship series of the double-elimination tournament and squared them off – again – with Stamford. The Hawks had to beat Stamford to capture the state championship and had to beat ‘em again to take the regional championship.

But there was a bump in the road.

Stamford won the first game, 10-0, to force a decisive finale.

The Hawks collected just five hits in the loss – two of those coming off the bat of Sajovic. Bowen, Shimko, and Fracker all had hits, as well. Stamford scored two runs in the first inning, but then broke it open in the fourth and fifth innings with seven more runs.

The Hawks threatened in the third and fifth innings, loading the bases both times, but couldn’t get a run across the plate.

And that set the stage for the finale.

“I don’t know what happened,” said Bowen. “I think we might have been up too late the night before. But the kids went out there again and forgot that game.”

Plus they had something else – another team – in their corner. The New Milford Jades U16 team, which won a Regional Championship on a nearby field, stayed for two innings of the U10 final and cheered the Hawks on.

“They picked up our girls tremendously,” said Bowen. “It was so awesome.”

The two teams battled through a scoreless tie in the first three innings, but then the Hawks broke it open in the top of the fourth. Robertson bunted to lead off and reached on an error by the catcher. Bowen then laid down a bunt single and Legros followed with another bunt that resulted in another error to load the bases.

Shimko stepped to the plate and belted a bases-clearing triple and nearly turned it into a home run, but she was thrown out at the plate.

Stamford scored two runs of its own in the bottom of the fourth to narrow the gap, but Newtown took a 4-2 lead in the top of the fifth on an RBI single by Bowen. Solheim had singled and Hull and Robertson had walked to load the bases.

With that two-run lead in hand, the Hawks jumped further ahead in the top of the sixth. Shimko reached on an error at second (off a hard hit ball) and then Broughton singled. Sajovic reached on a fielder’s choice before Tenney singled and Fracker doubled to score two runs and put Newtown ahead, 6-2.

Newtown allowed Stamford to score once in the bottom of the sixth – but that was all.

Shimko was a defensive dynamo in the game, turned a double play and playing well at shortstop and third base. Robertson, behind the plate, threw out two would-be bunters and then Bowen, at second, backhanded a hard-hit ball up the middle for an out. Fracker was also solid in the outfield.

It probably can’t get any better than a state championship and a regional championship – but if there is a way, the Hawks will probably find it.

The Hawks are coached by Nancy Bowen, Dave Broughton, Al Legros and Tom Bowen.