With first place on the line, Newtown High School's baseball team - behind a dominant pitching effort from Jason Hebner - topped visiting Masuk of Monroe 4-1 at Fairfield Hills, on May 17.

Hebner struck out ten batters and allowed six hits, helping the Nighthawks avenge an early-season loss to Masuk, in the regular-season finale, a battle of South-West Conference teams with identical overall and SWC records. Newtown finishes 15-5 (11-2 in conference play), and Masuk is 14-6 (10-3).

Newtown's SWC quarterfinal-round opponent and game date will be determined, but the Nighthawks will host the playoff opener.

The Nighthawks bounced back from a 12-0 loss to visiting New Milford the night before - a game in which a two-out error, one of four NHS fielding miscues, opened the door to a nine-run second inning.

In what Newtown Coach Matt Memoli called a mirror image of that game, his team benefited from five Masuk errors and a strong pitching performance to get back into the win column.

"It's a huge reminder to us just how much effort and concentration we have to have to be successful," Memoli said.

The loss to New Milford, in which the Nighthawks managed only two hits, ended the team's second six-game winning streak this spring.

Hebner worked around a shaky start in which he walked the leadoff batter, Masuk's John Orzechowski, and surrendered the game's first run on an RBI single off the bat of Luke Shaffer. From that point on, Masuk mustered few scoring chances, as Hebner used his fastball and off-speed pitches to breeze most of the way through the game.

"The defense was great behind me today," Hebner said. "If you have confidence in your defense you can throw where you want to throw."

Memoli has been pleased with the left-handed pitcher's determination all season long.

"He definitely wants it every pitch, every game - he's a gamer, he's an animal. We needed that," Memoli said.

Newtown scored only once in the first inning despite four Masuk errors in the frame as Mason Melillo reached base and scored.

The Hawks broke a 1-1 tie with three runs in the third as Sam Czel led off with a walk, stole second, and scored the go-ahead run on an error. Jack Procaccini singled to right to put runners on the corners, and Eugene Citrano laced a hard single, also to right field, to plate the third Newtown run of the game. A wild pitch allowed Newtown's fourth run.

In a 7-1 win over host Notre Dame-Fairfield on May 11, Hebner tossed six innings, allowing three hits, one run, and two walks; he struck out seven batters. Ben Dieckman pitched an inning, allowing a hit and a walk, and fanning two.

Procaccini went 2-for-4 with two runs batted in, and a run scored. Czel and Melillo both had a hit, RBI, and run scored; Czel also stole a pair of bases. Justin Tyrrell doubled for one of his two hits, and scored a run. Hebner had a two hits and scored three times. Lucas O'Brien drove in a run.

The Nighthawks blanked host New Fairfield 4-0 the next afternoon. Andrew Ross threw six innings of five-hit ball, walking three and striking out three, and Adam Beckett capped things with a scoreless frame.

Czel had four hits and an RBI, and again stole two bases as the Hawks swiped four as a team. Hebner had a hit, RBI, and run scored; Connor Barrett had a hit and two runs scored; and Ross added a hit and run scored.

Memoli noted that the 15-5 record matches the best he's had since he started coaching at Newtown High in 2010.

"These kids have to be proud of that - that's not easy to do," Memoli said. "At the same time, it's just the beginning now."

And Memoli hopes the start of another long winning streak as the playoffs get underway.