For baseball pitchers the mound is their office for a game. And bullpen mounds allow for proper warmup to allow these throwers to do their job most effectively — and, ideally, without injury.

In an effort to make things better for pitchers at Newtown High School, Wes Keayes, a senior pitcher for the Nighthawks, chose for his capstone project to rebuild two mounds and add a new one this past spring.

"There were only two mounds originally, and they were old and run down so I wanted to build new ones and add an extra so that more pitchers could get their work in at once so our pitching coach could watch us at the same time," said Keayes, who earned All South-West Conference accolades. "It’s very important to have multiple (mounds) because it makes it easy for our coach to watch us all at the same time. And he can give each of us feedback."

Keayes was assisted in this project by Kevin Kling, a builder from Monroe. "He helped with all the measurements and building the frame of the mounds with the correct slope," Keayes said. Additionally, his dad, John, brother and NHS alum Lance, and teammates Jamie Piccuillo, Jonathon Moseman, Ryan Schmidt, Kieran Garrity, Petey Eppers, and Danny Leyva all helped with the project.

With a passion for toeing the rubber and throwing fastballs, this project was ideal for Keayes. These efforts not only helped Keayes and his teammates this past season but will continue to benefit the high school team as well as other baseball players, in future seasons.

"I absolutely love pitching, so I really wanted to do my project revolving around it. I do hope that future classes can use these mounds for years to come and any travel teams that play at the fields as well," he said.

Keayes will play Division II baseball at Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven; he will study Business.

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