Softball Team Has To Overcome Injuries, Graduates And, Of Course, Masuk

By Andy Hutchison

The loss of four starting field players and a strong pitcher to graduation would have been enough for the Newtown High School softball team to overcome. Newtown’s challenge got a little stiffer when junior All-State second baseman/pitcher Katie Bowen suffered an ACL injury this past basketball season — one that will sideline her this softball season. And it got even more difficult when catcher Ashley Kuligowski fractured her hand, putting her in waiting mode for two to three weeks.

The Nighthawks went 20-5 overall and got deep in the both the South-West Conference and state tournaments a year ago. A repeat of that kind of success is contingent on new players stepping up to fill the voids.

Gone are 2008 starters Joanna Barry (third base), Katie Schmidt (center field), Kelly Tenney (first base), Melissa Fracker (right field) and Stacy Broughton (pitcher). “Filling these positions will be difficult,” Coach Bob Guererra said.

Retuning are All-SWC starters Jenna Legros (a pitcher) and Nora Lynn Shimko (shortstop), along catcher Kuligowski (when she does return), who give the team strength up the middle.

This year’s captains are Legros, Shimko and Christine Beck (center field). Other returning seniors are Laura Newberry and Marley Koschel (both outfielders). Junior Rachel Ruiz (catcher) is back and junior Ally Modzelewski (who ran track last spring) will play second base. All of these players looked good in preseason and will fill in where the graduates left openings, Guererra said.

“As a team, we lost some power but gained some speed with some of the new girls, so I will be looking to running a little more that in the past,” the coach said. “Our goals are always the same: try and win every game, but not at the expense of having fun and making it enjoyable for all the players.”

Last season, Masuk was probably the only thing that got in the way of the Nighthawks having more fun than they did. The Nighthawks settled for second in the regular season conference standings to their conference foes, reached the South-West Conference title game only to lose to Masuk and got to the quarterfinal round of the state tournament before Masuk again stopped yet another Newtown run.

Masuk, which returns star pitcher Rachele Fico, and Lauralton Hall should again be the top teams with which Newtown will have to contend, Guererra said. Brookfield, Pomperaug, Bethel and New Fairfield are among the strong teams that stand to give their opponents all they can handle, the coach added.

The Nighthawks’ early-season schedule should serve as a good barometer of where they stand among the best in the conference. The season was scheduled to begin on Wednesday (after The Bee sports section went to press) at Lauralton Hall and resume April 15 at Masuk. Following an April 17 contest at Stratford, the Hawks play their first home game, April 18 against Hall.