Update: The SWC semifinal game between Newtown and Masuk will take place at Stratford's DeLuca Field on Tuesday, May 21, starting at 5 pm.

Newtown High School’s softball team jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the opening inning and fended off visiting Brookfield to earn a 5-3 win in the South-West Conference tournament quarterfinals, in Newtown, on May 20.

Fourth-seeded Newtown advances to the semifinals and a date with top-seeded Masuk of Monroe; No. 4 Brookfield awaits the start of state tournament play.

Ryssa Swanson had an RBI single and Natalie Horn hit a two-run double in the opening frame. Katie Goyda also had a hit in the first.

Brookfield got a run in the fourth. Newtown got its four-run lead back in the fourth when Horn walked, was sacrificed to second on a Kim Buttery bunt, and later scored on a Jackie Moccio RBI fielder’s choice.

The Nighthawks had a chance to pad the lead in the fifth but couldn’t capitalize on two hits and an error as two runners were thrown out on the bases.

Brookfield got two runs and sliced the deficit in half in the sixth, chasing Newtown starting pitcher Nicole Fisher. Shauna Tucker entered and got the final out of the frame, on one pitch, inducing a soft liner to second baseman Goyda. She pitched a perfect seventh to end it.

Among the defensive highlights was third baseman Angela Carriero’s running catch in foul ground.

“What I like is we put the ball in play a lot. We didn’t strike out a lot,” Newtown Coach Joanna Closs said.

Newtown finished the regular season with four straight wins. The Hawks, after an 8-1 win over Stratford, defeated Immaculate of Danbury 25-1, toppled Bethel 16-2, and beat New Milford 6-1 to finish the regular season 13-7 overall and 10-3 in SWC play.