Newtown High School’s softball, baseball, tennis, and golf recap from the week of April 17-23 is as follows:

Softball Team Returns From Disney

The Nighthawk softball team spent part of spring break, last week, at Disney World in Florida where the Nighthawks played several scrimmages. Newtown tied Scarborough High of Maine 6-6, defeated Massabesic High of Maine 5-3, topped fellow Connecticut guest Maloney 12-4, blanked Yarmouth of Maine 9-0, and defeated Noble of Maine twice, 12-4 and 6-2.

Back in Connecticut and to regular season competition, the Hawks won two of three contests between April 18 and 22 to improve to 6-3 overall. Newtown blanked host Weston 11-0 on April 18, fell 5-1 to visiting Oxford in an eight-inning game on April 19, then toppled host Joel Barlow of Redding 17-4 on April 22.

In the game against Weston, three Hawks — Kayla O’Grady, Emily Woznick, and Dani Shine — drove in two runs. Woznick had two hits, including a double, and Shine also had two hits, one of them a triple. Jess Gibbons also tripled. Pitcher Gillian Galante had 14 strikeouts and no walks.

Against Oxford, O’Grady singled and scored Newtown’s only run on an RBI groundout by Gibbons. Oxford tied the game on a seventh inning wild pitch and pulled out the win with a four-run top of the eighth. Galante struck out nine batters.

Newtown pounded out 18 hits against Barlow in a six-inning mercy rule triumph. Galante had ten strikeouts and got plenty of offensive support, led by Shine who was 4-for-5 with six runs batted in. Gibbons was 3-for-3 with a triple and homerun, and scored five runs. Gibbons was also walked intentionally two times. O’Grady went 3-for-5 and scored three runs. Woznick had two hits, a double and triple. Kate Laksoonen also had two hits, one a triple. Courtney Escoda broke the game open with a big two-run single.

Sluggers Struggle, Then Crush Immaculate

The NHS baseball team, after winning three games in a row, carried a five-game losing streak into an April 24 game with Immaculate. Newtown prevailed 13-6 behind the bat of Steve Conway who had three hits and drove in seven runs. Conway homered and tripled in the triumph.

Newtown fell 4-1 at Weston on April 17, was beaten 10-3 by Oxford on April 19, then went to Rhode Island to take on Tolman at Pawtucket Stadium on April 20. Newtown fell 5-3. The Hawks visited Barlow on April 22 and held an 8-4 seventh-inning lead before falling 9-8 to host Falcons.

Conway and Dan Poeltl both had two hits and knocked in a run in the Oxford game. Against Barlow, Pat Mullins, Reid Schmidt, Virgil Procaccini, and Dean Demers all had two hits.

Aces On The Courts

The girls’ and boys’ tennis teams continue to roll. The girls’ squad began the year with seven straight wins, including a 6-1 victory at Bethel on April 22.

Newtown’s top three singles players, Caroline Kelly, Lauren Beier, and Mia Terracino, all won in two sets. In doubles play, the teams of Stephanie Roman/Julia Frattaroli, Annie Beier/Lauren Frazzetta, and Meghan Logan/Aimee Alexander all won two-set matches.

The boys won their fifth and sixth in a row — with 7-0 triumphs over Immaculate and Bethel — and remain unbeaten in matches that count in the conference play. Against host Immaculate on April 17, top singles player Cam McCleary prevailed over Nick Hatcherm 7-5, 1-6, 6-1. Newtown’s two through four singles players, Sean Elliott, Ricky Fuentes, and Yossi Kohrman-Glaser, all won in two sets.

In doubled play, the teams of Keaton McCleary/Matt Carino, Kunal Marwah/Peter Winans, and James Frazzetta/Charlie Poarch all cruised in two sets as well.

“Immaculate’s players put up a stubborn fight but our boys were more experienced, and it showed. The only close match was at first singles, where Cam McCleary once again kept his head and his poise to fend off a stirring comeback by his opponent,” Newtown Coach Marty Margulie said. “We are on target to complete our run to the conference playoffs, but are playing one match at a time and taking none of them for granted.”

Newtown bested visiting Bethel on April 22. The same four singles players rolled to victory. In doubles action, Keaton McCleary teamed with Nic Klein to win in the first position, and the other tandems of Mike Dutsar/Winans, and Frazzetta/Poarch also earned two-set triumphs.

On Course

The Nighthawk golfers visited the Pomperaug of Southbury at Heritage Village Country Club on April 16. The Nighthawks gave a valiant effort but were defeated by the unbeaten Panthers, shooting a 173 to Pomperaug’s 160.

Newtown was led by Brian LeBlanc who shot 40. Other Nighthawk contributions came from Vivek Tedla 42, Graham Hubbert 45, and Josh Houle 46.

Two days later, the Hawks visited the Weston Trojans at Aspetuck Valley Country Club and fell short, 157-166. The Nighthawks were led by the play of LeBlanc and Hubbert, both of whom shot a 40. Scores of 42 by Tedla and 44 by Houle contributed but were not enough to overcome the strong play of the Trojans (4-1).

Newtown improved to 4-3 this spring by shooting a 159 in a win over visiting Bunnell of Stratford (170), dropping the Bulldogs to 5-2, at Rock Ridge Country Club on April 23. LeBlanc led the Hawks with a 36. Tedla shot a 40, Houle 42, and Hubbert 41.