Sandy Hook, CT — Down to their final couple of outs, Newtown High School’s baseball team came through in the clutch with a run to tie the game and force extra innings. Then came a two-out rally; single, walk, pinch-hit single. Ballgame. The Nighthawks got a walk-off single up the middle off the bat of Logan Akbas for a dramatic, thrilling 5-4 win over visiting Ridgefield in a back-and-forth Class LL State Tournament opening-round game in Newtown on May 30. With the win, the No. 14 Nighthawks (13-7 this regular season) earned a trip to No. 3 Staples of Westport in the second round on Wednesday, May 31, at 4 pm; the No. 19 Ridgefield Tigers (11-9 during the regular slate) saw their season come to a bit of stunning end. Newtown used small ball to get the offense going early; the Hawks jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Dhilan Amin bunted his way on and later scored on a fielder’s choice RBI off the bat of Josh Rosen. The Hawks executed a double steal and Danny Leyva swiped home for the second run. Ridgefield got a run back in the top of the second, but Nighthawk pitcher Will Burns escaped a bases-loaded jam to limit the damage, inducing a groundout to short stop to end the frame. The Tigers, however, loaded the bases again in the third and capitalized on an error to score two runs before Burns shook that off to strike out the side and keep the Hawks within a run. A two-out, two-strike single by Jamie Piccuillo in the bottom of the third drove in Sammy D’Aprile who singled to start the frame. D’Aprile stole second and advanced to third on a pitch in the dirt before Piccuillo drove him in. A hit-and-run double down left field line by Evan Nikolos put two runners in scoring position but the Tigers escaped further trouble. Burns worked a one-two-three top of the fourth. Newtown went down in order in the bottom half, and Burns worked around a one-out single with a pair of strikeouts and a pop fly to keep things tied heading to the last of the fifth. Solid Ridgefield defense in the fifth kept the score deadlocked. D’Aprile was robbed of a hit. Leyva ripped a first-pitch single to left, but a double play ended the frame. In the sixth, an error set the table for the Tigers to take the lead. A diving play by second baseman Jonathan Moseman robbed the Tigers of a hit, but a two-out RBI single gave the visitors a 4-3 lead and ended Burns’ outing. Finn Geissler relieved and got a quick pop fly to retire the side. Newtown missed a golden opportunity to tie the game in the sixth. Piccuillo skied a towering double to right-center leading off. Yarema Stasyshyn successfully bunted the runner to third, but a pair of strikeouts on pitches in the dirt got the Tigers out of the jam. Amin took the mound in the seventh and got around an error to keep the Hawks within a run. Moseman started the bottom of the seventh with a two-strike single to left center. Amin bunted the runner into scoring position, and D’Aprile came through with a game-tying run batted in. D’Aprile smacked a hard grounder the opposite way; the ball kicked off first base and sailed into shallow right field for single. With two outs, D’Aprile stole second and advanced to third on an errant throw, but was left on third and the game went to extras. In the top of the eighth, after a grounder back to Amin on the hill and a diving catch by Nikolis in right field, the Tigers had consecutive two-out singles before a lineout to left ended the threat. Facing pitcher Myles Gythfeldt, in relief of Jacob Voellmieke, Newtown made two outs before the bats awakened in the eighth inning. Nikolis bounced a single up the middle, and catcher Hayden Conklin worked the count full before walking to set up Akbas for the decisive pinch hit, a clean single to center which — when pinch runner Tighe Zavatsky slid across home plate ahead of the tag — sparked a wild celebration as Nighthawk players poured out of the dugout and onto the infield to congratulate Akbas and other teammates. “Everybody picks each other up,” Newtown Coach Ian Thoesen said. “We battle every single inning.” This was Newtown’s 12th game that was decided by a single run this spring; the Hawks are 7-5 in these close ones. Thoesen noted that Akbas, a senior, has come through in a variety of spots — be it pitching, hitting, fielding — when called upon. Rosen, also a senior, was fighting through an injury but gutted it out and provided a hit and RBI. Newtown’s coach was happy to see his Hawks come through with some timely hits and was especially pleased with how well the team did with bunting in this one. “It was good — we executed. We worked a lot on bunting this year and everybody got their bunts down,” Thoesen said. Burns battled for 5.2 innings, allowing an earned run, four hits, and two walks. He struck out seven. Geissler faced just the one batter and did his job, and Amin went two frames, allowing three hits, but no walks or runs. He fanned one batter and picked up the win. Sports Editor Andy Hutchison can be reached at [email protected]. https://www.newtownbee.com/05312023/hawks-sluggers-come-through-in-a-pinch-earn-thrilling-walk-off-victory/