BETHEL — Call him Charlie Hustle. Newtown High School’s Charlie Curtis darted home with the South-West Conference Championship-clinching run in the bottom of the seventh inning. Newtown High School’s baseball team stole one from Masuk of Monroe, 3-2, at neutral site Bethel High on May 25.

Curtis swiped home on a bizarre play in which batter Ryan Verdi alertly ran to first base on a strikeout to draw the throw. Verdi and Curtis both said the pitch did not hit the dirt, meaning the catcher did not have to throw to first. Verdi, however, baited the Panthers into making a throw to first. Curtis took off from third and narrowly beat the return throw home sparking a walk-off celebration for the No. 3 Nighthawks.

“That was probably the most exciting thing in my baseball career and I’ve been playing for a while,” said Curtis, who earned tournament Most Valuable Player accolades. “I saw the ball leave the catcher’s hand and I was gone.”

“I just went and hoped for the best and it worked out,” Verdi said.

Newtown was coming off a 6-2 win over Immaculate of Danbury in the semifinals after a 13-9 victory over New Milford in the quarterfinals.

“It feels amazing. The energy in our dugout has been unbelievable the last few games and it’s carried us here,” Curtis added.

The Nighthawks manufactured all of their runs by playing small ball and capitalizing on opportunities.

In the bottom of the second inning, Curtis doubled to deep centerfield, advanced to third on a groundout to the right side by Verdi and scored on a sacrifice fly to left off the bat of Zander Kasbarian, who came back from injury just in time to play a key role in the triumph.

After Masuk tied things in the top of the fourth, Newtown scratched out a run for a 2-1 lead. Matt Pietrorazio struck out but reached first on a throw in the dirt when he slid safely across the bag to beat the throw. Pietrorazio stole second base and scored when Verdi reached on an error.

The Panthers evened the score in the top of the fifth, setting the stage for Newtown to make its final lead last. Curtis reached on an infield single when he slapped the ball toward first. The ball had spin on it and eluded Masuk’s diving first baseman. Curtis stole second standing up, without a throw, moved to third on a pitch in the dirt, and the rest is championship history.

Newtown starting pitcher Jake Hossler was solid and kept the game close before handing the ball over to Will Burns who came on with a baserunner on first and no outs in the sixth. Burns got the last six outs, highlighted by four strikeouts, for the win.

"It was awesome," said Newtown Coach Ian Thoesen, adding that his team members have battled and worked hard throughout the spring.

Read more about this win in the June 3 print edition of The Bee.

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