WILTON – Five straight wins and a Fairfield County Fastpitch Softball League tournament championship concluded a wildly successful season for the Newtown Hawks 10-and-under travel softball team.

The Hawks finished up 22-5 overall, with a regular season championship and a tournament championship that saw them win five games in a row.

The Hawks dominated tournament play, scoring on average 13 runs per game while giving up only two runs per game. Their smallest margin of victory was eight runs in the tournament final against New Canaan.

“This was a great way to end our season,” said head coach Mark Macchiarulo. “To win this tournament the girls had to beat two teams that had beaten us in the state Babe Ruth tournament. Our kids showed everyone what they are made of.”

In the FCFL opening-round game, Abi and Karlie Kuligowski handled the pitching duties, combining to allow five runs over five innings to host team Wilton. The five runs allowed were not an issue, though, as the Hawks plated 17 of their own in the game.

“Our hitting heated-up against Wilton and did not cool for the remainder of the tournament,” said assistant coach Mark Kuligowski. “Pitching has been our strength all season, so it was nice to see the girls push across a bunch of runs and allow the pitchers to relax a little.”

Katie Mossbarger and Aimee Alexander led the offense, each going 2-for-2 while scoring two runs.

The hot hitting continued in the Hawks second round match-up against Ridgefield. They pounded out 19 hits en route to a 15-0 victory. Once again the Kuligowski sisters, Abi and Karlie, handled the pitching duties, keeping Ridgefield off balance and off the bases. Cousin Mikayla Kuligowski led the hard charging offense, going 3-for-3, while Danielle Shine and Emily Woznick each pounded out a pair of doubles.

In the third game, Newtown faced its first serious challenge, playing a Norwalk team that had beaten the Hawks, 2-1, in their most recent match-up. Norwalk jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the top half of the first inning in what was expected to be a close game.

“Norwalk always plays us tough,” said assistant coach Frank Galante. “They are well coached and play the most solid defense we’ve seen all year. Based on prior experience, I would not have been surprised to see the game end 1-0. But, the nice thing about coaching 10-year-olds is that our kids had put the prior game versus Norwalk out of their minds and just took it to them.”

The Hawks tournament-long hit parade continued, as Kathryn Kerins pounded out a triple while Shine, Kayla O’Grady and Woznick doubled to drive in six of Newtown’s eight runs. Morgan Macchiarulo came off the bench to pitch five innings of no-hit ball and completely shut -down the Norwalk offense.

The victory over Norwalk cemented a No. 1 seed for the Hawks going into the elimination round on Sunday. And after a first round bye, the Hawks met Norwalk for a second time in round two of elimination play.

“The kids were so fired up from the very start,” said assistant coach Miryam Kuligowski. “Their energy was frenetic and they were taking bases aggressively. It was how every coach wants their team to start a game.”

That energy spilled out onto the field early as Macchiarulo struck out the first three Norwalk batters, setting a tone that would carry on throughout the game. In the home-half of the first inning the Hawks scored four runs on consecutive hits by Karlie Kuligowski, Shine, Macchiarulo and O’Grady. Later, hits by Mossbarger, Alexander, Emily Davis and Kerins resulted in five more Newtown runs, nailing down a 9-1 victory and a showdown with the New Canaan Thunder in the championship game.

Now, New Canaan had beaten Newtown in the last meeting between the two teams, a 5-4 decision in the championship game of the Babe Ruth Tournament.

“The kids really wanted this game,” said coach Macchiarulo. “New Canaan had taken a big game from them earlier in the season and they knew that if they wanted the championship, they had to beat New Canaan to get it.”

The game would prove to be a battle. New Canaan jumped out to an early 3-0 lead as early jitters on the part of the Hawks provided New Canaan with an opportunity to score in their half of the first. After Newtown got one run back, New Canaan put three more on the board to gain a 6-1 advantage.

That’s when Newtown had to dig down deep. New Canaan was threatening to put the game away with the bases loaded and no outs, but the Hawks made a pitching move, calling on Gillian Galante to step in and put out the fire. Seven pitches later the Hawks were out of the inning and momentum had shifted.

New Canaan would not score again.

“Gillian (the game MVP) came through for this team as she has all year,” said coach Macchiarulo. “She calmly took control of the game at a time when the team really needed a lift.”

Just as Galante took control for the Hawks defensively, Davis took it upon herself to push the offense, leading off two consecutive innings with extra-base hits, including a triple in the final inning.

“Emily’s play is really indicative of many of the kids on this team,” said coach Galante. “She simply out-hustles opponents. I am sure everyone watching thought she would stop at second base (on her triple in the last inning).”

She didn’t. Nor did any of the other Hawks.

Run-scoring hits by Alexander, Karlie Kuligowski, Shannon Mullins, Mossbarger and Shine drove the Hawks ahead. The Hawks final batter of the season made sure the runs would hold up. Macchiarulo launched a 300-foot, two-run homerun to seal the victory and give Newtown its championship.

“It’s fitting that this final game was a microcosm of our entire season,” summed up coach Macchiarulo. “We relied on our depth of pitching, hustle, and overall execution. Looking at the box score – we had five bunt base hits, five extra base hits, two pitchers and not an error on defense. They won playing a complete game.”