WEST HAVEN — A season loaded with bright spots — perfect games by pitcher Sydney Adolfson, freshmen stepping in and coming through in the clutch, defeating Masuk of Monroe for the first time in many years, winning the South-West Conference championship — came to an end on June 6.

The skies and Fairfield Ludlowe combined to rain on Newtown’s parade. After the No. 3 Nighthawks had a bye and marched through the second round and quarterfinals of the Class LL State Tournament, No. 2 Ludlowe defeated the Hawks 6-4 in the semifinals at neutral site West Haven High.

“My dream season was to at least get to this point,” said Newtown Coach Joanna Closs, noting that the last time the Nighthawks got this far in the bracket was back in 2010 when they were the top seed and reached the state championship, falling to No. 2 Westhill of Stamford. “This is amazing. I told them they should be 100 percent proud.”

As Closs pointed out, the Nighthawks were a bit unassuming at the start of the season. The lineup was chock full of underclassmen, including freshmen, and had only two seniors — Adolfson and first baseman/pitcher Caroline Gardner. “We were kind of under the radar at the beginning of the year,” Closs said.

Then came a bunch of wins. And a bunch more. With freshmen, including Gabby Ansman and Addison Cordova, becoming regulars in the lineup and producing with timely hits — often with power. Newtown went 18-2 in the regular season and shut out three straight opponents to win the conference crown before posting two more state playoff shutouts prior to running into Ludlowe.

“We took down our nemesis, Masuk, two times which was amazing,” — once in the regular slate and the second time in the conference title game — Closs pointed out. “I’m very proud of them — very, very proud of these kids.”

Against the Ludlowe Falcons, early on, it looked like things might not go Newtown’s way. Ludlowe starting pitcher Alex Lewey cruised through the first two innings and Adolfson had to work around trouble in those two frames. The Nighthawks got out of a jam in the first inning with a double play, and Adolfson pitched around a leadoff double in the second.

Newtown struck first. In the top of the third, Cordova lined a hard single to left and Ansman followed with a booming double off the left field wall for a 1-0 lead. Leadoff batter Julia Berry fought off a two-strike pitch to keep her at bat going, then delivered an RBI single down the left field line, scoring pinch runner and freshman Lila Accousti. The Nighthawks’ 2-0 lead, however, was short-lived.

Ludlowe answered with four runs in the last of the third. After a leadoff walk, Elena Ohe belted a game-tying home run to right center. The Falcons strung together a few more hits and built a 4-2 lead with a pair of two-out hits; a Katie Tournas double broke the tie.

The Nighthawks loaded the bases in the fourth but the Falcons got through the frame unscathed. Adolfson settled in and pitched a perfect bottom of the fourth. Anna Gedacht relieved with one out in the top of the fifth and worked around a base runner to maintain Ludlowe’s 4-2 lead.

The score stayed the same heading into the bottom of the sixth. Rain began to fall, and the Falcons scored a pair of important insurance runs. Back-to-back one-out hits produced a run for a 5-2 lead, and a throwing error allowed the sixth run to score.

Newtown did not go down without a battle. After a leadoff walk by Ansman, Rachel Casagrande reached on an error. Brianna Pellicone’s RBI ground out made it 6-3 and Maddie Thoesen kept the game going with a two-out run-scoring single to center before the Falcons recorded the third out to advance.

With the win, Ludlowe moved on to the championship round to take on top seed Southington; the title game is set for Saturday, June 10, at the University of Connecticut.

“Definitely disappointing. I feel like we beat ourselves a little bit in this game. This game was winnable,” said Closs, noting that plate discipline and errors hurt the Hawks.

The conclusion may not have gone Newtown’s way, but the season overall was certainly quite a success. And there are high hopes for continued success going forward. Newtown will lose only two players to graduation, but both Adolfson and Gardner leave big shoes to fill. It appears Thoesen or Cordova, or a combination of the two, are in line to take over pitching duties next spring. Most of the lineup stands to return, with rising sophomores having gained experience and confidence — not to mention some success in big-game situations.

“Very bright future. We’ve got a lot of strong talent,” Closs said.

“It was a lot of fun,” Ansman said. “Next year I think we have another good shot and I think we’re going to make it far.”

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