Recap
Clutch Hitting, Sophomore Sensation Burns Through Lineup (By Andy Hutchison of the Newtown Bee)
Newtown 13, Notre Dame Catholic 0
Fairfield, CT — Sophomore Will Burns tossed four dominant innings as the visiting Newtown High School baseball team earned a five-inning, mercy-rule 13-0 triumph at Notre Dame-Fairfield, on April 30.
Burns allowed only one hit, did not walk a batter, and struck out eight. Tom Tavar pitched an inning of relief.
Newtown’s bats came through with five clutch, two-out runs batted in, two from Charlie Curtis. The Nighthawks scored twice in the second inning, four times in the third, three times in the fourth, and put another four-spot on the board in the fifth to end it.
Curtis, CJ Demers, and Dylan Goyette all hit doubles. Jack Petersen had two hits and three runs scored. Goyette and Curtis both knocked in a pair of runs. Demers, Zach Majeski, Karl Miller, and Ryan Verdi all delivered RBIs.
The mound domination at Notre Dame was welcomed for the Nighthawks coming off a bizarre 17-5 loss to Brookfield two days earlier. Goyette had three hits and drove in two runs, and Petersen had two hits, including a triple, and two runs scored. Newtown pitching, however, surrendered 11 hits, walked four, and hit nine batters.
“He stepped up big-time on the mound for us,” Newtown Coach Ian Thoesen said of Burns’ start against Notre Dame. “He’s got electric stuff. If he’s on, it’s going to be hard for any team to touch him.”
“It felt great. My team was behind me and we got the win,” said Burns, whose fastball tops out at 86 miles an hour, and is complemented by a curveball and changeup.
Burns did not overlook the offensive support his batters provided, including those key two-out hits that helped build the commanding lead.
“It’s a crucial part of the game,” Burns said of hitting in the clutch. “My guys were able to do that today and it helped me on the mound.”