You could say Newtown High School’s softball team stole Joel Barlow of Redding’s South-West Conference championship hopes. The top-seeded Nighthawks used an aggressive approach – a trio of double steals – to grab three runs en route to a 9-7 victory in the May 27 title game, at Stratford’s DeLuca Field.

The Hawks built an 8-1 lead before hanging on as the second-seeded Falcons clawed back to within 9-5 before scoring twice in their final at bat, and bringing the potential tying run into the batter’s box with two outs. Shortstop Mikayla Kuligowski fielded a ground ball and threw to first for the final out.

From the beginning of the season we thought it was going to be our year. It feels great,” said pitcher Gillian Galante, who shut out Notre Dame-Fairfield in the quarterfinals, and started the championship game before semifinal-game winner Lauren Wilcox closed it out.

Katie Laaksonen had an RBI double in the top of the first inning; Newtown batted first as the “visiting” team decided by a coin flip. The Nighthawks scored twice in the third, as Emily Woznick delivered a run-scoring single, and Emily Bell and Sara Kennedy executed their first double steal. Bell was out at second, but Kennedy raced home for a 3-0 lead.

Barlow had a chance to get on the scoreboard in the bottom of the third, but Galante escaped a bases-loaded, one-out jam with a pair of strikeouts.

In the fourth inning, two of Barlow’s six errors in the game led to a Mackenzie Macchiarulo sacrifice fly for a 4-0 lead. Later in the inning, Jill Lasorsa scored on another double steal, but it was a costly play for Newtown as Haley Ryan was injured while sliding into second base. Ryan, who was tagged out, was taken from the game on a stretcher after colliding with a Barlow infielder, and sustaining a hit to the head. Ryan’s teammates said they won the game for her. “She’s a tough kid,” Newtown Coach Bob Guererra said.

The Nighthawks continued to put the pedal to the metal on the bases. Still in the fourth inning, Kuligowski stole home for a 6-0 cushion.

“We have good speed on the bases. We have good softball IQ,” said Guererra, adding that he went into the postseason with the goal of putting pressure on opposing fielders with aggressive play on the base paths.

Barlow scored in the bottom of the fourth, but Newtown quickly answered with two runs in the fifth as Woznick smashed a leadoff double down the left field line and scored when Megan Goyda singled and the Falcons committed a fielding error on the play. Macchiarulo added a run-scoring single to make it 8-1.

The Falcons scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth, including one on a double steal of their own, making it 8-4. Goyda helped Newtown get a run back with an RBI single for a 9-4 lead in the sixth.

Barlow threatened to get back into the game in bottom of the sixth, but was held to one run as second baseman Kennedy snared a liner and got a force out at second, helping to limit the damage. The Falcons stranded two base runners in the frame and trailed 9-5.

The Falcons took advantage of an error, with a pair of doubles, to slice the lead in half in the seventh inning before Newtown finally ended it.

Kuligowski said she had plenty of confidence in her teammates to get the job done, but admitted things got a bit uncomfortable as the Falcons chipped away. “I was unbelievably nervous,” Kuligowski said.

Woznick, who went on to earn tournament MVP honors, said the players talked before the game about the importance of executing fundamentals, adding “I couldn’t be happier with the outcome.”

“It’s so exciting – I’m going to keep this feeling forever,” Kuligowski said.