Joanna Closs, coach of the Newtown High School softball team, and her Nighthawks, are looking to make the most of return to the field following last year’s coronavirus-canceled season.

“I feel like we got skipped in line after waiting in it all day. I am so excited to be back, and the enthusiasm and passion these girls have displayed over the past three days has been amazing,” Closs said during late-March preseason preparation.

Captains are pitcher/third baseman Nicole Fisher, second baseman/outfielder Katie Goyda, and first baseman Sarah Kick.

Other key players are outfielder Gina Lewis and pitcher Sydney Adolfson. Closs said to keep an eye on utility player Morgan Melillo, outfielder Maddy Twitchell, and a very strong sophomore class

Newtown went 13-8 and fell to eventual champion Masuk of Monroe on the South-West Conference tournament semifinals in 2019.

The goals this year, Closs said, are to play all of the games on the schedule — very much an uncertainty for teams given how many have lost time due to coronavirus protocol — to reach the SWC finals, and to qualify for the state tournament.

“We have a nice young team with a lot of talent led by seasoned veteran seniors. We should be fast and a good hitting team,” Closs anticipates.

Tough teams the Hawks expect to contend with are three-time champ Masuk, last year’s runner-up Notre Dame-Fairfield, and New Milford, Closs said.

The Nighthawks should get a good sense of where they stand early on; three of the team’s first four match-ups are against those foes. It all begins with an April 10 visit to New Milford at 2 pm.