After lightning flashes halted play in the fifth inning of a scoreless visit to Masuk of Monroe on May 8 Newtown High School’s softball team brought the thunder (with two strikes) for a thrilling 2-1 come-from-behind victory over visiting Brookfield, in a makeup game, on May 10.

What’s more, it was the bottom of the batting order that pulled through under pressure and gave the Bobcats their first loss in South-West Conference play this spring.

The Nighthawks were limited to just one hit — a bunt single by Sophia Caruso — for six and two thirds innings before rallying. After Gabby Ansman’s one-out walk a Newtown strikeout brought the home team down to its final out, and strike as No. 7 hitter Gillian Boughan fouled off a pair of two-strike offerings before blasting a game-tying double to left. Courtesy runner Evelynn Schoen easily scored the tying run after advancing to second base on a wild pitch. No. 8 batter Lila Accousti worked a walk, and No. 9 hitter Olivia Doersch got the count full before lacing a hard, clutch single to center field to bring in the decisive run.

“Being shut out and being able to make contact and get the ball in play was good,” Boughan said.

Doersch said her approach was to simply make good contact and let the pitch do most of the work.

“To have my seven, eight, and nine step up when we need them the most — I’m proud of them,” Newtown Coach Megan Goyda said. “Brookfield’s such a great team, too.”

In fact, the Bobcats had beaten defending conference champ Masuk (12-1 overall through May 12 action) by a score of 3-1. Brookfield, through May 12 action has an overall record of 13-3; the Nighthawks improved to 9-5 overall with the win over Brookfield.

“It shows we can hang with really good teams and we can go far in SWCs and States,” Boughan noted.

Newtown pitcher Maddie Thoesen, interestingly, never pitched with the lead but earned the win. Thoesen allowed one earned run, in the first inning, on six hits, walking one and striking out seven. Her counterpart, Sydney Miller, allowed just the two hits, walked four, and struck out 12.

“It’s really nice seeing their confidence build up,” Thoesen said of her teammates pulling through in the final inning.

Speaking of getting a boost, the Nighthawk win over Brookfield certainly stands to go a long way.

“I think it will give us confidence in the rest of the games, including Masuk,” Doersch added.

Newtown already proved something against Masuk, although it did not count. Pitcher Addy Cordova matched Masuk’s Grace Ely as the pitchers hung zeroes going into the fifth inning. Masuk had the lone hit of the game when repeated flashes of lightning in the area put a stop to the game. Rules are such that, since it was not an official contest (five innings) the game must be made up from the start. The makeup date will be Sunday, May 18, back at Masuk at 1 pm.

“I think when you have two really good teams like this the idea of re-battling for seven innings is hard,” Goyda said. “It’s a game of any team shows up on a given day.”

In other words, both pitchers were on in the innings played before the lightning (and rain) and there is no telling what kind of game will unfold when replayed.

“When conference standings are on the line you want to limit the number of times you show them all your tricks,” Goyda added.

Playing extra innings against stellar competition beats the alternative of playing weaker teams, the coach said. Newtown has had its share of lopsided victories. The Nighthawks, with a 4-0 win over visiting Notre Dame Prep of Fairfield at Treadwell Park on May 12, improved to 8-0 against SWC teams; Brookfield and Masuk entered into action the week of May 12 with records of 9-1 and 8-1, respectively, in conference play.

Newtown had another hard-fought win with a 3-1 victory over visiting New Milford (11-4 overall and 7-2 in SWC games through May 12 action). The Hawks broke a 1-1 tie with two runs in the bottom of the sixth. Elena Burdo had a double and two runs batted in. One of Newtown’s runs was unearned. Thoesen was outstanding, allowing one earned run on two hits, no walks, and ten strikeouts.

Against Notre Dame, Cordova allowed two hits and struck out seven in five innings, and Thoesen allowed one hit and whiffed two batters in two frames for the combined shutout as the pitchers worked around three NHS fielding errors. The Nighthawks mustered only four hits but made good use of them. Thoesen and Reagan Schenzer both had hits and RBIs and Burdo had a pair of hits and two runs scored. Six Nighthawk walks and a pair of wild pitches assisted Newtown.

Both Thoesen and Cordova reached career strikeout milestones earlier this season with Thoesen recording her 200th strikeout May 3 versus Waterford and Cordova fanning her 100th batter in the April 28 New Fairfield game.

Sports Editor Andy Hutchison can be reached at andyh@thebee.com.