Newtown High School's baseball team dropped a pair of hard-fought nail-biters, 5-4 to visiting Westhill of Stamford on April 9 and 6-5 at Immaculate of Danbury on April 13.

Against the Westhill Vikings, Newtown struck first in the opening inning when Travis Rekos reached base on an error, advanced to third on a pair of wild pitches, and scored on Kieran Garrity's ground out.

Trevor Stott made his first start on the mound for Newtown and impressed early, racking up strikeouts and keeping Westhill off balance. However, the Vikings pushed across a pair of runs in the second inning to take a 2-1 lead. The Nighthawks threatened in the bottom half of the inning, putting two runners on via a Stott single and a walk by JT Walsh, but were unable to capitalize. Newtown left another runner stranded in the third after Garrity was hit by a pitch and stole second, as Westhill maintained its advantage.

The Nighthawks responded in the fourth inning, plating three runs to reclaim the lead. Cam Kullgren sparked the rally with a leadoff single and moved into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt by Jack Carta. After stealing third, Kullgren scored on a Stott single. Courtesy runner Pete Eppers replaced Stott and quickly made an impact, stealing second before Walsh singled to move him to third. Following defensive indifference that advanced Walsh, Ryan Schmidt executed a bunt single to drive in Eppers, then added a stolen base to put himself in scoring position. Rekos later added an RBI groundout to score Walsh, giving Newtown a 4-2 lead heading into the later innings.

Stott’s outing ended after four innings in which he recorded nine strikeouts while allowing two earned runs. Carta took over in relief in the fifth inning but ran into trouble as the Vikings chipped away. Westhill scored once in the sixth and added two more in the seventh to take the lead.

The Immaculate game was a heart-breaker, decided on the final play in the bottom of the seventh inning. Newtown appeared in control late, carrying a 5-3 lead into the final frame, but the Mustangs rallied for three runs to walk it off.

The Nighthawks struck first in the opening inning. With two outs, Chris Moseman worked a walk, stole second base, and came around to score on a double by Lucian Place. Immaculate responded quickly in the bottom half, capitalizing on a sacrifice bunt and three Newtown fielding errors to take a 3-1 lead.

Newtown answered in the second inning to tie the game. Carta led off with a double, and Schmidt followed with an RBI single. Rekos then lifted a sacrifice fly to even the score at 3-3.

After a scoreless stretch, the Nighthawks regained the lead in the fifth when Kullgren delivered an RBI single to make it 4-3. Newtown added an insurance run in the sixth, as Stott and Walsh reached on errors, and Walsh later scored on a Schmidt fielder’s choice to extend the lead.

On the mound, Jamie Piccuillo delivered a strong start for Newtown, allowing four hits and three runs (only one earned) over five innings while striking out nine. Stott took over in relief, pitching one and 1/3 innings and allowing three runs (two earned) on three hits while striking out two.

Schmidt led the offense with two RBIs. Place, Carta, Schmidt, Rekos, Kullgren, and Eppers each recorded a hit. Moseman was active on the bases with two stolen bases, and Schmidt, Sean Caron, and Kullgren each added one.

Newtown got into the win column in a one-run game, edging visiting New Milford 7-6 on April 15. The Hawks blew the game open early with a six-run frame and held off the Green Wave. Read more about the game in the April 24 print edition of The Bee.