Newtown High School’s baseball and softball teams, after starting their tryouts indoors in area fitness facilities, have been practicing on the Blue & Gold Stadium turf field; and tennis players finally moved outside now that the snow has melted off the courts.

The spring season is set to begin on Wednesday, April 8 (weather and field condition permitting of course). On the slate for opening day are two home contests as each of Newtown’s two new-to-varsity squads begin play. The boys’ volleyball team — the only lineup not at a disadvantage in terms of proper venue preparation — will host Darien for a 4:30 pm match at the NHS gymnasium. Assuming enough of the remaining snow melts away from the grounds Rock Ridge Country Club, and the course is ready for action, the first-year varsity girls’ golf team, which was a club squad last spring, will tee off in a 3 pm contest with Brookfield.

Baseball, softball, girls’ and boys’ tennis, and boys’ golf are all scheduled to have road matchups on April 8. Newtown’s boys’ lacrosse team begins its campaign with 5:45 pm game against visiting Brookfield at Treadwell Park on April 9. The girls’ lacrosse team begins play the next day, with a 7 pm visit to Brookfield. Newtown’s girls’ and boys’ track teams don’t get started until later in the month.

In addition to there being two new teams, there’s a new coach. The ten-time South-West Conference champion girls’ lacrosse team welcomes Amanda Mastera, who formerly worked as an assistant coach at FCIAC powerhouse Greenwich High. Mastera replaces Maura Fletcher, who retired last spring after her decade-long run.

“It’s a tough act to follow but it’s certainly a chance I’m ready to take and it’s going to be a fun year,” Mastera said.

The boys’ lacrosse team, also coming off a conference title run, is striving to get back to the top, and is loaded with seasoned players up and down the lineup.

With a roster loaded with experience all around, the NHS softball team will take aim at winning the SWC. Newtown’s baseball team boasts a combination of strong senior leadership and young talent, and also will look to make some postseason noise. With their grass playing fields first covered with snow, and now soaking wet and still unplayable early in April, the softball and baseball sluggers have made the most of an opportunity to practice on the turf.

The tennis teams got outside with only a few days to get reacclimated to playing with temperature changes, wind, and sun. The girls were limited to only some of the high school courts; they shoveled off some of the snow, but what remained melted and left part of the surface too dangerous for use.

Newtown’s boys’ tennis team practiced at Dickinson Park this past week, and will switch places with the girls this coming week. Treadwell Park’s courts are being renovated. Lacrosse teams, after playing inside at NYA, got out onto the turf at Treadwell, as well as at Blue & Gold Stadium in late March. Track and field participants prepared in the school until enough of the snow melted allowed them to start using about half of the track and portions of the turf field at Blue & Gold this past week. Snow, protected by tree cover and shade, still covered the hills surrounding the Treadwell’s Tilson Field and at Blue & Gold after the calendar turned to April.

“I’m just looking forward to some warm weather and getting baseball started,” said Newtown Coach Matt Memoli, whose team, after a scheduled visit to Staples of Westport at 4 pm on April 8, is hoping to host Fairfield Ludlowe, also at 4 pm, the next day.

Check back to The Bee’s sports web page for team previews, and go to the April 10 print edition of The Bee for season outlooks for all of the squads.