Held scoreless through three innings and leading just 3-0 in the fourth, the Newtown High School softball team put its hitting shoes on to the tune of a nine-run rally in the fifth on the way to an improbable 12-0, run-rule victory over visiting Bethel on April 17. The game was called because of the mercy rule in which teams with a 12-run lead are declared the winner once the opponent has been retired in the fifth inning.

Bethel appeared poised to push this game into the sixth and then some, despite the Newtown power surge starting with back-to-back home runs in the fourth. Maddie Thoesen and Bri Pellicone both cleared the fence to get the scoring started. Sophia Caruso followed with a single and was bunted into scoring position by Lila Accousti. Caitlin Milks followed with a run-scoring single to make it 3-0 Nighthawks.

In the fifth, Julia Berry led off with a walk. Two outs later and the Wildcats never would have guessed they would get run-ruled. But Newtown strung together hit after hit, and a couple of errors mixed in resulted in the scoring outburst. Caruso had a run batted in on single through the third-base hole to make it 4-0. Gabby Ansman followed with an RBI hit down the left field line. Accousti reached on an infield single that scored a run. Reyha Litke blooped a two-run single to center to make it 8-0, and the Hawks kept pouring it on.

Berry, the leadoff batter, had three hits, an RBI, and two runs scored; Cordova was 3-for-4 with three RBI, and two runs scored; Pellicone and Caruso both had two hits, an RBI, and two runs scored; and Rachael Casagrande had one of Newtown’s 15 hits and scored a run. Ansman and Cordova both doubled and Berry had a stolen base.

“Once we start hitting it repeats itself,” Pellicone said.

“I think hitting is just contagious. When one person starts hitting everyone else feeds off it,” Newtown Assistant Coach Christina Wolf-Gallo said. “That inning is an example of what we’re capable of as a team when we’re hitting.”

The homers by Thoesen and Pellicone allowed everybody to relax a bit after a tight few innings were put in the books by both starting pitchers. Newtown gave regular starter Thoesen a break and turned to Addy Cordova who pitched four solid frames, allowing two hits, two walks, and struck out a pair. Reyha Litke entered the game with Newtown still leading 3-0 and pitched a hitless, one-walk, two-strikeout frame.

“They complemented each other very well today,” Wolf-Gallo said of the Nighthawk pitchers.

Newtown followed up its nine-run inning game with a 9-0 win, beating visiting New Fairfield behind a 15-hit effort on April 22.

Pellicone went 3-for-4 with two singles and a double; Cordova went 2-for-4 with a single, a double, and an RBI; Thoesen drove in the first run with a sacrifice fly to right to score Berry; Caruso an RBI single and sacrifice bunt that scored a run; Ansman went 2-for-4 with a single, a double, and RBI; Accousti went 2-for-3 with a pair of solid singles; Casagrande had a two-run single and walk; and Litke and Elena Burdo recorded RBI singles. Pellicone and Accousti both stole bases.

Thoesen pitched two innings and had two strikeouts; Cordova pitched three innings and recorded four strikeouts; and Litke tossed two innings and recorded one strikeout. The three pitchers combined to allow only three hits.

“In addition to hitting, our defense was solid. Addy Cordova had a great day at short, making some great plays before going into pitch. Bri Pellicone and Caitlin Milks worked together to make some great saves in the middle of the infield, and Sarah Hubner ended the game with a double play,” Head Coach Megan Goyda said.

The Hawks will host Immaculate of Danbury Friday, April 26, at 4 pm.

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