Easy Wins And Tough-To-Swallow Losses The Story For NHS Sluggers

By Andy Hutchison

When the Newtown High School baseball team wins, the team really wins (the Nighthawks outscored their three victims a combined 23-7) but when the Hawks lose … they are thinking they really should have won (Newtown has dropped a two-run extra-inning game and a pair of tough-to-swallow, what if? one-run contests).

“It’s really tough because those are games you look back on at the end of the year,” captain Jake DeVellis said of those close defeats.

A hit here or a pitch or play in the field there is all that separates the Nighthawks (3-3) from a 6-0 start.

But that’s baseball and that’s why the best baseball teams in the state sometimes suffer a handful of losses en route to a championship while, in basketball — by comparison — the best teams regularly win all or almost all of their games, NHS Coach Carl Strait points out.

All-in-all, Strait is pleased with his team’s performance thus far. He has five new-to-varsity players regularly playing a role in any of four positions on the field: sophomore shortstop Ryan Tita, sophomore left fielder Bryan Czel, sophomore second baseman RJ Roman, junior second baseman Andy Lapple and senior third baseman Keith McGrath.

“Those five are really doing the job defensively,” Strait said.

In addition, those players have contributed at the plate. Strait said he has been pleasantly surprised by the emergence of the younger and newer players and adds that he will go with the hot hands and bats so the lineup can change on any given day.

“Every one of them can play every day,” Strait said of the players on his roster.

 Returnees, including juniors Brandon Rosenberger (catcher) Kyle Kromberg (outfielder) and George Zaruba (first baseman) are hitting the ball well. Zaruba hit a three-run homerun in a 7-6 loss to Stratford on April 17 and Rosenberger had three hits and Kromberg had two in a 4-3 defeat to Masuk on April 15. “Those one-run losses are tough,” Strait said. On the bright side … “To know we were in the games we lost is nice,” the coach added.

Newtown defeated Ridgefield 8-4, Immaculate 7-3 and, most recently, toppled New Milford 8-0 (at home on Tuesday).

In the shutout, pitcher Rickey Gallucci pitched six strong innings of five-hit ball and Charlie Lobosco came in to strike out three batters to seal the win. Tita hit a two-run homer, Kromberg had an RBI double, Andy Lapple singled in a run and Zaruba belted a run-scoring triple. Newtown also capitalized on five New Milford errors and scored two of their runs thanks to the visitor’s miscues.

The Nighthawks were scheduled to visit Bethel on Wednesday before rain pushed the game to April 28. The Hawks will host Brookfield on Friday at 3:45 pm.