Baseball Team Looks To Make Its Best Pitch

By Andy Hutchison

Pitching, very often, is considered the biggest key to success in baseball. That’s the case at Newtown High School, where Coach Matt Memoli is looking for his depth on the mound to potentially carry the Nighthawks a long way this spring.

The Nighthawks, coming off a 12-8 regular season, had early exits in both of last year’s postseason tournaments, courtesy of rival Pomperaug of Southbury. Newtown was one of only two teams to defeat Pomperaug last year, winning one of two regular-season meetings, but the Panthers knocked the Hawks out of the South-West Conference playoffs in the first round and edged the Hawks out of the second round of Class L state tournament.

The Nighthawks lost seven players on graduation, but will bring back plenty of talent throughout the lineup. “There’s a ton of talent here,” the coach said. As the preseason winded down this week, Memoli was sorting out his lineup, but he has been particularly impressed with the arms on this club.

“This year I really think we can do something pretty special if we do what we can from a pitching standpoint. We’ve got a lot of pitchers who have experience, who are very, very talent. It’s just a matter of putting it together,” Memoli said.

The team has eight seniors on the roster, including outfielder/pitcher Rich Sandler, shortstop Evan Noonan, outfielder/pitcher Kyle Wilcox, and outfielder David Lucia.

“We’re definitely looking to them for leadership,” said Memoli, adding that the seniors will have to direct the younger players on the field.

Pomperaug, as always, along with Masuk of Monroe, and Bethel are among the tougher teams in the conference, Memoli believes.

The Newtown coach expects his team to be competitive and conference and a state titles are, potentially, within reach, he believes.

“Our goals are always to compete to win an SWC title and try to advance in the state tournament,” Memoli said. “Depth on the mound will be key. If we do what we need to, we can do some special things.”

“Our team is really deep in talent,” said Sandler, adding that the Hawks have been excited for the start of the campaign for a long time. “I’ve been waiting for it all year. Our team has been counting down the days probably since school started.”

The Nighthawks were scheduled to begin the season against a pair of FCIAC teams, Ridgefield and Staples of Westport, April 5 and 7, respectively, before their first SWC game, at Weston on April 9. The team hosts Bethel on April 13. NHS faces Pomperaug May 2 and 17.