The 9U Newtown Hawks won the Cal Ripken State Tournament at the Field of Dreams in Easton in early July. The Hawks entered into their district as the No. 2 seed and needed to play seven games to secure the championship. The Hawks avenged a 3-2 loss to New Canaan Red and defeated the defending state champs twice to take over bragging rights with the championship.

Game summaries are as follows:

Hawks 14, New Fairfield 0

Their first game was against New Fairfield Rebels. Two Hawk pitchers (Kolby Conklin and Jackson Christos) pitched a shutout victory in this four-inning, mercy-rule 14-0 triumph. The Hawks collected 11 hits off the bats of Austin Luczak, Chris Evans, Quinn Garvin, Christopher Fairbairn, Felipe Costa, Owen Leighton, and Jacob Christos. Luczak, Evans, and Fairbairn each had two RBI. Newtown did not commit a single error in the field with great plays all around.

New Canaan 3, Hawks 2

In the second game, the Hawks met the 2022 State Champions, New Canaan Red and fell 3-2. Luczak was on the mound for the Hawks. He surrendered three runs on four hits over five innings, striking out five. Conklin came in at the bottom of the sixth and faced two batters. Evans, Garvin, Fairbairn, Levy, Costa, and Kuzma all had hits contributing to the two runs scored. This was not enough when New Canaan made a comeback in the bottom of sixth, scoring three runs to win the game.

This loss placed the Hawks into the loser’s bracket in this double-elimination tournament. They would have to win the next four games to make it to the championship game, and did just that.

Hawks 9, Easton/Redding 1

In the next game, the Hawks faced Easton/Redding and won 9-1. Conklin started on the mound and went 3 and 1/3 innings, allowing no runs on one hit and striking out five. Jackson Christos and Costa both made appearances on the mound. Fairbairn, Levy, Costa, Conklin, Jacob Christos, Jackson Christos, Leonard, and Leighton all had hits.

Hawks 3, Brookfield 2

The Hawks grabbed the lead in the fifth inning for a close victory over the Bolts. The game was tied in the bottom of the fifth when Garvin singled on a 1-1 count scoring the winning run. Costa went 4 and 1/3 innings, allowing two runs on two hits, striking out five, and walking one. Luzcak finished the game with three strikeouts. Evans, Fairbairn, Garvin, and Costa all had hits.

Hawks 13, Greenwich 0

Three Hawks pitchers (Conklin, Jackson Christos, and Evans) combined to defeat the Greenwich Thunder Blue. When he wasn’t pitching, Evans also helped behind the plate with solid work as the catcher. Costa, Luzcak, and Garvin each collected two hits and Fairbairn and Kuzma each had one.

The three wins put the Hawks back up against New Canaan in the semifinals and then the championship game in a double header, pending the outcome of game one. The Hawks were coming off back-to-back games with no rest, and needed to win both games against the 2022 State Champions (New Canaan Red) to win the state title.

Hawks 7, New Canaan 1

In the semifinal game, the Hawks came out hot with four runs in the second inning thanks to Leighton, Jacob Jackson, and Leonard moving runners across the plate with runs batted in. Luczak was on the pitcher’s mound and went 4 and 1/3 innings, allowing no runs on four hits, and striking out five. Costa entered the game from the bullpen in the top of the fifth and struck out two. Evans remained behind the plate for the entire game stopping the base runners from scoring. Newtown defense limited this usually high-scoring team to only one run, in the sixth inning, with great plays by Luczak, Leonard, Levy, Garvin, Fairbairn, Kuzman, Jacob Christos, and Costa. Jacob Christos and Costa led with two hits while Garvin and Levy each contributed with one. Levy hit a double in the top of the second and was the first to cross the plate with a run.

Hawks 7, New Canaan 5

After a brief rest the Hawks were ready to play New Canaan again in the State Championship game. A late lead change led to a 7-5 Newtown victory. New Canaan got its offense started early with two runs in the first inning. Three pitchers (Conklin, Jackson Christos, and Costa) contributed on the mound each striking out one batter. The Hawks notched four runs in the fourth inning with the help of a double by Costa. The offensive firepower by the Hawks was led by Garvin and Costa with two RBI apiece and Jacob Jackson and Levy each with a run batted in. Evans went 3-for-3 at the plate while Luczak, Garvin, Costa, Jackson Christos, and Leonard contributed with one hit each. Defense was on its toes and prevented many hits with great plays by Levy, Luczak, Fairbairn, Leighton, Evans, Garvin, Leonard, Conklin, Jackson Christos, and Costa. The game ended in the top of the sixth with a double play by Luczak and Fairbairn followed by a strikeout by Costa. The Hawks are headed to Chelmsford, Mass. to represent Connecticut in the New England Regional Tournament next week.