Hawk Youth Softball Players Help Strike Out Cancer And Opponents

The Newtown Hawks 12U Softball team finished second in a field of seven teams playing in the Southington Strikes Out Cancer Tournament last weekend.

The Newtown Hawks’ 10U and 12U teams donated $300 to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation at the start of the tournament. The money was raised through 50/50 raffles at several league events this spring.

Once again, the Hawks faced the eventual tournament champion, the Southington Lightning, in the first game of pool play and lost 5-4. Southington came out hitting and took an early two-run lead in the first, but Newtown settled down and retired six of the next seven batters and scored a run in the third on Haley Ryan’s timely single that scored Sarah Spillane.

Southington came back with three runs in the fourth and the Hawks rallied to within one  run in their half of the fifth. Rose Pagett walked and Sydney DiMartino had a single to set up Ryan’s fielder’s choice RBI. Brianna Baranowski and Katie Laaksonen walked to set the table for an RBI double by Kelly Merrick. In the six inning contest Lauren Wilcox tallied eight strikeouts.

The Hawks followed up with a strong performance against the CT Mirage, winning the game 14-2 in three innings. Laaksonen led the hitting attack with two singles and a triple and had 4 RBI, Wilcox and Baranowski had two singles and two RBIs apiece, Pagett and Katie Reilly had RBI singles, and Shannon Lynch and Ryan each had a single. Wilcox notched the win with the help of excellent defensive efforts by Ryan and Laaksonen.

In the final game of pool play, the Hawks beat the Southbury Heat 9-3 to grab the third seed going into the single elimination round. Wilcox tallied 11 strikeouts over six innings and had strong defensive support from Merrick, Ryan, and Baranowski. Offensively, Laaksonen had a two-RBI double, Merrick and Wilcox had singles producing two runs each, Caitlyn Linden had a double, and Ryan a single.

In the first game on Sunday, the Hawks faced a rematch with Southbury and coasted to a 9-1 win in five innings. Ryan had a triple, Baranowksi had two hits, and Merrick and Laaksonen each had a hit.  Advancing to the semifinals, the Hawks were visitors to the second seeded Southington Lightning 98’s, and prevailed 3-1 in extra innings.

With the score tied 1-1, the International tie-breaker was invoked and Ryan was put on second base to start the eighth inning. With the heart of the batting order due up, the Hawks responded with Laaksonen getting an RBI single to put the team ahead. Linden then had a single that was followed up by Wilcox’ RBI double. The 98’s were held scoreless in the bottom of the eighth to secure the win and the Hawks advanced to the finals.

On an extremely hot and humid day, the Hawks had a short break before facing the Southington Lightning 12U team. The Hawks managed to hold onto a 1-0 lead through three innings, then watched the Southington bats come to life for six runs in the fourth. With very little left in their tank, the Hawks settled down, giving up only one more run through seven innings in a 7-1 loss.

The team will focus on league play during the next two weeks and take a welcome break before preparing for the Babe Ruth State tournament, July 10-11 in Stamford.