CHESHIRE – Beacon Falls is just a small little town along the Route 8 corridor (population: 5,200), but it provided a mighty tough foe for the Newtown Babe Ruth Softball 14-and-under travel team in the Central Valley Fastpitch League tournament last week.

Just one game after the two teams locked up in a pitcher’s duel that ended in a 1-1 tie, Beacon Falls defeated Newtown, 3-2, in the CVFL quarterfinals. Beacon Falls would go on to the U14 championship game on Sunday.

The Hawks – who had finished second in the recent Connecticut Babe Ruth State Tournament (to a team, Norwalk, that went all the way to the World Series in Denver, Colorado) – reached the CVFL quarterfinals by virtue of wins over Bethel (7-2) and the Newtown Heat (4-2) and the tie with Beacon Falls.

In the win over Bethel, Jenna Van Waalwijk singled, tripled, scored two runs and drove in two runs. Ally Kirk, Sarah Greenfield and Rachael Warburton all had singles while Lisa Alberico walked twice, stole a base, and scored two runs. Jenn Blauvelt and Ali Legros also reached base several times. Mariale Renna and Kaitlyn Ferguson combined on a two-hitter with eight strikeouts.

In the win over the Heat, Renna fired a complete-game five-hitter, walking one and striking out eight. Greenfield, Van Waalwijk, Annie Grills and Blauvelt all singled while Ferguson doubled. Meredith Palo sparked the team by scoring a run after getting caught in a rundown. Legros, Sophie Cerreta and Alberico played well in the field.

In the tie with Beacon Falls, Renna fired a complete-game four-hitter with nine strikeouts. The Hawks, meanwhile, collected just three hits of their own – a double (Warburton) and two singles (Van Waalwijk and Legros).

And in the loss to Beacon Falls in the quarterfinals, the Hawks rallied from a 2-0 deficit in the sixth inning to force a tie. Legros singled, then advanced to second on a single from Palo. Alberico reached on a fielder’s choice and then – right behind Palo – scored on a single by Katie Herwig. Renna pitched well while the defense of Herwig, Cerreta, Ally Kirk, Van Waalwijk, Legros and Grills yielded no errors.

The Hawks were coached by Rich Van Waalwijk, Cosmo Alberico and Al Legros.