By Kim J. Harmon

Heading into the 2007 baseball season, senior infielder Tony Gallucci was 2-for-7 with one double, no triples, and four RBI.

But in 2007 Gallucci was presented with the opportunity to start every day and now he has far different numbers – much more gaudy and awe-inspiring and, perhaps, even a little sick. Heading into the season he was hitting .286, but he will be leaving high school as a career .467 hitter after going 33-of-68 with 19 runs scored, 15 RBI, two doubles and six triples.

Now that is a breakout season.

Gallucci had his breakout season is his final year in high school, but Kate Bowen had her breakout season in her first year.

The freshman – groomed as a pitcher throughout her travel softball career – became the everyday second baseman for head coach Bob Guerrera and the Lady Nighthawks and quietly laid down the foundation of what should be an exciting career after hitting .402 (35-of-87) with 22 runs scored, 19 RBI, four doubles, four triples and two home runs.

She is the first player – never mind freshman – to collect 30 hits in a season since Ali Bernstein collected 33 in 1995 (the previous year, Bernstein banged out 42 hits – believed to be a school record – while posting a .532 batting average).

A breakout season is something that occurs rather unexpectedly – almost out of the blue – and Gallucci and Bowen were not the only two Newtown High athletes to have a breakout season in 2006-07. To be fair, one would also have to take a look at players like Kasey Schulz and Tania Domingos (soccer), Sam Wong (field hockey), Mike Kennedy (basketball), Christian Beitel and Mike Bloomberg (hockey), Seth Hull (baseball), Joanna Barry (softball), Will Mahony (lacrosse), Courtney Gleason and Betsy Vendel (lacrosse), and Tucker Kass (football).

Arguably, there are others who could fit into this discussion. But these dozen or so shined brighter than most and maybe, if they are among those returning to field in 2007-08, they have set the stage for something even better.

Read on –

Seth Hull had some experience (87 at-bats) heading into the 2007 baseball season and his numbers were good, if a bit modest.

But as the old cliché goes, he stepped it up. Batting in the clean up spot, Hull hit .347 (26-of-75) with 15 runs scored, 11 RBI, four doubles, five triples and two home runs and while be bumped up his career average by a mere six points, he bumped up his career slugging percentage by almost a hundred points in helping lead the Nighthawks into the CIAC Class LL quarterfinals.

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Joanna Barry hit just .204 as a sophomore with nine hits in 44 at-bats (she did score the most runs on the team, though, with 16).

When it came time to be a full-time third baseman, though, she was ready. The junior infielder batted .304 (24-of-79) with a team-high 27 runs scored, 14 RBI, one double, two triples, and a team-high five home runs.

And some of those shots were Ruthian.

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Though Betsy Vendel had a mere 11 goals and four assists in 2006 for the girls lacrosse team, don’t forget that the offense was being carried by girls like Karli Beitel (40-62-102), Lauren Ciccomascolo (60-8-68) and Rachel Maley (39-23-62).

With Beitel and Ciccomascolo gone, Vendel had a chance to step into the chasm left behind and all she did was score 35 goals (third best on the team) and assist on 10 others and in the South-West Conference championship game scored four goals and assisted on two others.

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Courtney Gleason was another one, working in the shadow of players like Beitel, Ciccomascolo and Maley.

But after scoring 26 goals for the girls’ lacrosse team as a sophomore in 2006, Gleason grabbed hold of the opportunity to become a major part of the offense and scored a team-high 56 goals while assisting on 29 others for a spectacular 85 point season.

She scored three goals in the SWC championship game and now as 85 for her career.

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The boys’ lacrosse team did not have a particularly eventful season, but one of its few bright spots was Will Mahony.

After scoring 14 goals last year (tied for second-best on the team), Mahony stepped into the void left behind by leading scorer Grant Speer and did his best to help carry the offense in 2007. He led the team in goals (30) and was second in assists (10) for a nice 40-point season.

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When Tucker Kass stepped into the quarterback spot as a junior, he was seen as more than a gunslinger with a great arm.

His numbers were modest in his first year behind center as he complete 71-of-159 passes (44.6%) for 980 yards and 10 touchdowns. As a senior, though, he became the key to a potent offense that nearly led the Nighthawks into the CIAC Class LL state tournament as he hit on 73-of-148 passes (49.3%) for 1,212 yards and 14 touchdowns.

Sure, it was just two more completed passes – but it was for a better completion percentage for 240 extra yards and four more touchdowns.

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As a freshman, Christian Beitel had only minimal opportunity in 2005-06 to contribute on the ice for the Newtown High School hockey team.

As a sophomore, he was the biggest weapon the Nighthawks had as he scored a team-high 25 goals while assisting on nine others for a team-high 34 points. With plus/minus of +14, Christian helped lead the ‘Hawks into the South-West Conference tournament and into the CIAC Division III state tournament as one of the top ranked teams and it all ended with the locals putting together one of their finest seasons ever at 14-8-1.

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When a team loses both of its goaltenders, there has to be some cause for concern.

But Mitch Bloomberg allayed those concerns for head coach Dustin Zima and the Newtown High School hockey team when he stepped between the pipes and in 936 minutes (90% of the total minutes player) all he did was make 566 saves in 23 games, allowing just 53 goals for a 91.4 save percentage and 2.55 goals-against average.

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They weren’t called “super sophomores” for nothing.

When Kasey Schulz and Tania Domingos entered Newtown High School as freshman, they had already made quite a name for themselves in travel soccer and it was with much anticipation that they began their high school careers.

Their freshmen years were pretty good.

As sophomores, they started to take over.

Schulz and Domingos were the leading scorers on a team that went 17-3-1 and reached the finals of the South-West Conference championship – not to mention the quarterfinals of the CIAC Class LL state tournament (losing in both to rival Masuk).

Schulz scored 23 goals and assisted on eight others for 31 points while Domingos tallied 13 goals and assisted on 11 others for 24 points. The pair accounted for 62% of the scoring and a little over 50% of the total offense of the Lady Nighthawks.

And they still have two years left.

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For a few years, the Newtown High School boys’ basketball team lacked a big time presence under the basket.

Mike Kennedy showed some promise as a junior, scoring 162 points and averaging 8.1 a game, but the offense that year was largely a perimeter offense with Joe DeVellis and Dave McLaughlin combining for 554 points and 58 three-pointers.

Last winter, though, Kennedy took over. He canned 100 field goals, scored 297 points (a team-high 13.1 per game) and canned 98-of-135 free throws as the ‘Hawks won 10 of their first 12 games and qualified for the South-West Conference and CIAC state tournament.

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Sam Wong had two goals and three assists as a junior with the Newtown High School field hockey team, but as a senior – and a captain – she took her game to a different level in 2006.

Wong led the Lady Nighthawks in goals (8), assists (4) and points (12) as the locals went 10-8-0-2 (7-3-0-1 in their last 11 contests), reaching the South-West Conference semi-finals (where they lost to New Milford) and the second round of the CIAC state tournament (where, alas, they lost to New Milford in overtime).