Newtown Brought its Enthusiasm to Softball Final

Enthusiasm is one word to describe the crowd at Saturday's Class LL championship game.

Mission is another that's synonymous with the matchup between top-seed Newtown and second-seed Westhill.

The Newtown crowd had a few students with their faces painted blue and gold and people from the whole town came out to support the Nighthawks in their 4-2 loss to Westhill.

From the opening pitch to the final out, Newtown's denizens and supporters were boisterous, starting by high-fiving each other when freshman Monica Macchiarulo led off the game with a single.

Their intensity picked up when the Nighthawks took a 2-0 lead. Even after the Vikings tied it in the bottom of the first inning, Newtown still remained buoyed.

Miryam Kuligowksi, mother of Nighthawk catcher Ashley Kuligowski led the cheers, saying, "I'll say Newtown, you'll say Nighthawks."

She exhorted "Newtown" and her compatriots responded by yelling, "Nighthawks."

Both teams ended the season at 26-1 but making this journey was special for Newtown fans because it was their first trip to the state finals and they didn't feel a need to make reservations for it back in March.

"It wasn't anything we expected," said Bob Gibbons, father of junior third baseman Megan Gibbons and freshman center fielder Jessica Gibbons. "We just came together as a team and [senior co-captain] Kate [Bowen] and Ashley kept the team going. They have been great captains and the whole senior class have been great leaders. We knew we had a good team and thought we'd do well but we never thought we'd do this well. This is unexpected."

Losing this game wasn't easy but Newtown remained positive and viewed things as the glass being half-full after suffering the defeat.

"If someone asked me in the preseason what it would be like to be 26-1, I would have said, 'it would be amazing,'" said Kate's mom Nancy Bowen. "This was an amazing season."

When the Nighthawks won 9-1 at Seymour, a team that has won eight state titles since 1993 and was the top-ranked team in the state last year, they knew this wasn't going to be an ordinary year.

"We knew we could have a special year when we beat Seymour," said Bob Gibbons.

Many future Newtown softball players, who currently play Babe Ruth softball, were in attendance in uniform. Bob Hoffman, coach of the U-12 Bombers was there with three of his players and were cheering vociferously for the Nighthawks.

"It's been a wonderful journey we've been on since the girls were 10 years old," said Miryam Kuligowski. "They've known each other for a long time and ever since the team was selected, they have been doing things together. It's all for one and one for all on this team. There's no upperclassmen and underclassmen, they all have the same goal. The five seniors have been wonderful."

Tom Bowen, the father of Kate Bowen, said, "The girls love each other and get along. There were no egos on the team and everyone cheered for each other."

Kevin Kuligowski, the catcher's father, said, "The girls jelled and got along well with each other, which was key. Everyone from 1-16 jelled and everyone contributed."

While Newtown's crowd was enthusiastic, so was Westhill's.

The Vikings' fans, some shirtless, were intense as well and two Wilton softball players came out to support their FCIAC opponents with their bodies painted in Westhill's colors.

Also working against the Nighthawks was that the Vikings were on a mission after a controversial second round loss to Norwich Free Academy in the 2009 Class LL playoffs. Westhill was eliminated 4-3 by NFA because of a series of errors by the umpires and although the Vikings protested, they were denied because of the CIAC's no-protest policy.

In fact, the New York Yankees invited Westhill to its June 18 game last year because of the controversy and the Vikings were guests of Yankees general manager Brian Cashman.

"It was a big motivator for us this year," said Westhill senior co-captain pitcher Jen Joseph. "We wanted to make it happen."

Dedication also played a big role for the Vikings as they began captains' practice in November, before the winter sports season began. According to Westhill coach Tom Pia, his players took close to 1,000 swings each before the season started.

"We love softball at Westhill and take it very seriously," said Joseph.

No matter how enthusiastic Newtown was, in the end, it just couldn't trump Westhill's mission.

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