The bats got hot when Newtown High School’s baseball team hosted Bunnell of Stratford on April 16. The Nighthawks earned their first win in decisive fashion, posting a 15-5 triumph over the Bulldogs.

“We hit the ball very well,” said Newtown Coach Ian Thoesen, whose team was coming off consecutive shutout defeats and trailed Bunnell 3-0 in the first inning before battling back — and then pulling away.

“We have fight in us,” Thoesen said. “We’ve been playing well.”

Wes Keayes tripled and Ayden Paulos, Kieran Garrity, and Ryan Schmidt all doubled to power the offense.

Paulos, who gave up baseball after freshman year and focused on football, decided to get back to the diamond for the end of senior year and collected his first hit in the win over Bunnell. He had one of a dozen Nighthawk hits. There were also nine walks in the power and base reaching surge.

“It was definitely a big turning point for the team,” Paulos said. “We’ve got a lot of power behind the bats.”

Chris Moseman had three hits and a pair of runs batted in; Jamie Piccuillo had two hits, two walks, and a pair of runs batted in; Garrity and Paulos both knocked in a pair of runs; and Jonathan Moseman, Danny Leyva, Lucian Place, and Wes Keayes all had an RBI each. Ryan Schmidt collected two hits.

“I know we’re going to have more of that — hitting is contagious,” Piccuillo said.

On the mound, Piccuillo pitched four innings, allowing four earned runs and striking out six. Leyva and Jonathan Moseman each tossed a hitless frame in a game shortened an inning by the mercy rule.

The Nighthawks looked to keep their winning ways going but fell 8-2 in a rescheduled game when Berlin visited the next day. Newtown certainly had base runners; the Hawks had five hits — three by Garrity — and seven walks but left the bases loaded twice.

“Today we hit the ball well. I think we left too many men on base today,” Thoesen said.

Among the defensive highlights was a gem turned in by left fielder Travis Rekos with a throw, third baseman Schmidt with the relay, and catcher Collin Gevry with the tag play at home plate.

Newtown fell 5-3 at home to Ridgefield on April 19; Piccuillo had two hits and a pair of runs batted in and Jonathan Moseman had a hit and RBI. Only two of the Ridgefield runs were earned. Keayes tossed five innings of four-hit ball with seven strikeouts and Jack Carta and Leyva each pitched a scoreless inning but four errors in the field proved costly to the Hawks.

The Hawks bounced back with a 5-1 victory over Pomperaug of Southbury on April 21. Newtown led 1-0 before tacking on three runs in the fifth for a little breathing room, then answered Pomperaug’s run in the top of the sixth with a run of their own in the bottom of the frame. Garrity had two hits, two RBI, and a run scored; Jonathan Moseman delivered two hits, an RBI, and run; Carta had two hits and an RBI; Keayes had two hits and a run scored; Lucian Place had a hit and RBI; and Chris Moseman added a hit and run scored.

Piccuillo pitched a strong game allowing just the one run, scattering five hits, walking just one, and whiffing nine batters in his six innings. Leyva closed it out with a hitless, one-strikeout frame. The Hawks played error-free baseball and improved to 2-0 against South-West Conference opponents.

Sports Editor Andy Hutchison can be reached at andyh@thebee.com.