By Andy Hutchison

It took two trips to Seymour, but only one try for the Newtown High School’s girls softball team to knock off the defending Class M state champions. In doing so, the Nighthawks improved to 3-0 to begin the spring campaign.

After riding the bus to Seymour on April 9, only to learn upon arrival that the field’s muddy conditions meant the game would be postponed, the Nighthawks enjoyed the weekend, knocked off New Milford 8-3 on Monday then went back to Seymour and earned a convincing 9-1 win on Tuesday. Newtown had beaten Danbury 9-2 in the season-opener on April 7 and carried a perfect record into Wednesday’s game with Bunnell of Stratford (after The Bee sports section went to press).

In the Danbury game, senior pitcher Kate Bowen, in her first outing since missing a season while recovering from an anterior cruciate ligament injury, was seemingly in top form. Bowen pitched the full seven innings and struck out nine batters. She allowed just four hits and issued one walk in the win.

Bowen got plenty of offensive support as freshman center fielder Jessica Gibbons had two hits in her debut. Her sister, senior Megan Gibbons, had a double and Natalie Dunn knocked in two runs as the Hawks struck for four runs in the second inning to seize control.

In the New Milford game, it was more of the same with Bowen tossing a three-hitter with eight strikeouts. Bowen helped her own cause with a long home run as part of Newtown’s 11-hit attack in which every starter had at least one base hit. Ashley Kuligowski had three hits and Dunn continued her strong hitting with a triple and a pair of runs batted in.

In the Seymour game, the Nighthawks found themselves nursing a 1-0 lead before breaking the game open with an eight-run fifth inning. Colleen Cunningham came through with two hits, and Ally Modzelewski, Rachael Ruiz and Dunn, who leads the team with six RBI, all knocked in two runs.

Bowen allowed only an unearned run and had eight more strikeouts. Entering the middle of this week, the Manhattan College-bound softball player had 25 strikeouts and had surrendered only three earned runs and allowed 11 hits in 21 innings of work.