Maybe the Newtown Hawks 12-year-old travel softball team is sick of seeing Stamford, but all that experience the Hawks gathered last weekend in the Connecticut Babe Ruth Softball State Tournament could prove beneficial.

That’s because the newly crowned U12 State Champions are heading on to the New England Regionals in (you got it) Stamford.

This is the fourth year in a row Newtown has met this Stamford team in the state finals, winning twice in the U10s and once in the U12s. The two squads have also ended up in the New England Regionals together, splitting two games.

This year the Hawks had it all – pitching, defense, and solid stick work – in the state tournament last weekend in Cheshire. The locals defeated Norwalk (6-1), Stamford (5-2) and Cheshire (19-3) to qualify for the championship round.

The Hawks dropped a 4-1 decision to Stamford, but Stamford – having come out of the loser’s bracket – had to win another to earn the title. The Hawks weren’t about to let that happen and rolled to a 14-1 victory to close out the tournament.

Through the tournament, pitchers Kate Bowen and Megan Sajovic combined to throw 26 innings, whiffing 21 batters while issuing only three walks. And behind them, the defense played near error-free softball, committing just four miscues in 56 chances (.929 fielding percentage).

Overall, the Hawks scored 45 runs and allowed only 12.

In the win over Norwalk, Bowen pitched a flawless three innings, allowing no hits, no runs, and striking out five. Then Sajovic took over, allowing only one hit, no earned runs, and striking out four. Sajovic also fielded grounders at shortstop and pitcher and Laura Newberry had three put-outs at third.

In the sixth inning, Norwalk led off with a hard grounder to right field, when Allie Modzelewski’s quick pick-up and perfect throw to first really shut down the opposing team.

At the plate, Nora Lynn Shimko started the action in the first inning with a base hit and then Kaila Harrington walked to put two runners on base. Caitlyn Cosgrove had a hard hit that went through second base to drive in two runs.

Bowen started the fourth inning with a single, followed by singles by Monique Samuelson and Modzelewski to send one runner home. Sajovic walked to load the bases, Samuelson scored on the steal, and Shimko delivered a hit to drive in two more runs.

With one win already in the bank, the win over Stamford ended up being the key game in the tournament. For the game, the defense at all positions combined for 14 putouts in the field without an error. Meanwhile, two runners were caught stealing by Shimko.

In the first inning, Newtown scored three runs on four hits. Newberry started with a base hit and stole home. Harrington and Cosgrove both had hits and RBIs to give the locals three runs. Then there was excellent pitching by Bowen and a defensive shut down of Stamford’s first three batters.

In the second and third innings, Stamford scored two runs on three hits and a walk. Anne Marie Davis caught a shot in center field in the second against Stamford to end the inning and prevent two runs from scoring.

In the third for Newtown, Shimko reached on an error and scored on a sacrifice by Harrington. And in the last inning, Newtown added one more on a base hit by Christine Beck, an error by Stamford, and a steal of home.

In the win over Cheshire, the Hawks pounded out 13 hits with Cosgrove banging out a double with the bases loaded in the first inning. Modzelewski pitched two great innings, striking out four batters. Rachel Ruiz was on base three times, scored twice and had two hits.

In the opener of the championship series, the Hawks – for once – failed to come up with the hits when they needed them. The locals left nine runners on base. Beck slugged a double and Samuelson to drive in the only Newtown run of the game.

But the offense rebounded in the finale, a 14-1 win. Shimko went 3-for-4 and scored twice while Sajovic doubled, singled, drew two walks and scored four runs. Newberry also was on base four times, with two walks and two hits, scoring four runs and driving in two runs. Bowen was 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored while Ruiz and Samuelson each had hits and runs scored. Harrington had three RBIs, a base hit and a walk to further the offense.

In the fifth inning, Cosgrove had the big hit of the game with a two-run double over the centerfielder’s head. By the end of the fifth inning, Newtown had a nine-run lead.

Once again, the defense gloved the ball flawlessly, making all 15 plays in the field. Stamford put the ball in play to virtually every position and all were played perfectly. Shimko had a terrific tournament behind the plate and ended the game and the tournament by catching the last pop-up behind the dish.

Bowen pitched the first two innings, struck out one and gave up no walks and also scooped up two plays at shortstop. Sajovic pitched the last four innings, recorded one strikeout, issued no walks and executed two great plays in the field.

Special mentions needs to go to Elyssa Robertson, who was unable to participate in the tournament because of injury yet remained the heart of the team by being at every game and practice, keeping the books and in general keeping the team spirits high.

Big Offense Not

Enough For U14s

Banging out 45 hits in four games and averaging nine runs a game would be enough for most teams, but not the Newtown Hawks 14-year-old travel team.

The Hawks defeated New Canaan (17-5) and Terryville (6-3), but lost to Norwalk (12-2) to fall into the loser’s bracket. There, the locals pounded out 16 hits and scored 12 runs but still somehow fell to Terryville (18-12).

In the win over New Canaan, the Hawks collected 15 hits as Jaclyn Van Waalwijk (two singles), Val Nezvesky (two doubles and a single), Nicole Alberico (single and a double) and Melissa Fracker (two singles, four runs scored) led the way.

Stacy Broughton and Jen Blauvelt limited New Caanan to just two hits in a solid pitching performance.

In the win over Terryville, the Hawks rallied behind strong pitching from Mariale Renna. Renna went the distance, striking out eight Terryville batters and allowing just three hits. Katie Schmidt contributed with a pair of singles, Nezvesky had two doubles and scored three times, and Fracker had a pair of singles.

In the loss to Norwalk, the defending Connecticut and New England Regional champs, Kelley Tenney smacked a pair of doubles while Sarah Greenfield singled and doubled to pace the offense.

The loss dropped the Hawks into the loser’s bracket, where their tournament came to an end with a loss to Terryville. Seven Newtown errors were the difference.

But despite being down, 8-1, the Hawks refused to give up and rallied to tie the game in the sixth inning. In the seventh however, Terryville took full advantage of Newtown errors and wild pitches and scored 10 more runs. The Hawks still displayed tremendous character and rallied again in their final at bat, scoring four more runs and leaving two runners in scoring position when the final out occurred.

Multiple hits by Rachel Nicolosi, Van Waalwijk, Nezvesky (three hits), Tenney (three hits) and Joanna Barry powered the offense.

Fall Ball

 

Newtown Babe Ruth Softball will sponsor a Fall League and registrations will be held over the course of the next two and a half weeks.

Registrations will be at in the old court room at the Edmond Town Hall on Thursday, July 29 (7 to 9 pm); Saturday, July 31 (9 am to 12 noon); Wednesday, August 4 (7 to 9 pm); and Monday, August 9 (7 to 9 pm).

There will be no late registrations accepted.

Sponsors and coaches can contact Shari Burton at 426-5977.