Akron-Westfield won its ninth game, against just one loss, when it defeated Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn 12-2 in five innings. The War Eagle Conference game took place June 7 at Hartley.
Two doubles were among the half-dozen A-W hits in a six-run second inning. In the game the defense for HMS experienced some lapses as the Westerners’ run in the first inning scored on an error and errors prolonged their five run fourth inning.
“Akron-Westfield hit well and challenged our pitchers and defense along with our batters,” commented Hawk head coach Stephanie Bronstad. “We knew what to expect from them and had a few errors along with them hitting some gaps hurt us in the long run.”
The Hawks bunched four of their five hits in the third inning to produce their two runs. Jessica Riedemann kept the inning alive with a two-out base hit and Cadence Klein followed with a single. Gracie Knobloch’s base hit brought home Riedemann and then Darby Mastbergen singled to score Klein. The fifth HMS hit was a single by Taya Mason in the fourth inning.
“Our girls batted well on and off throughout the game, we just need to turn the bats on every inning,” noted Bronstad. “The girls continue to battle every inning and being challenged and learning from a good team is always a positive.”
Mason toed the pitching rubber to start the game and went four innings. She gave up all 12 runs, nine of which were earned. Mason allowed 10 hits, walked four batters, struck out two and hit two. The fifth inning was given to Knobloch who yielded one hit, fanned one batter and walked one. The Hawks committed five errors on the night.
A-W 1 6 0 5 0 – 12
HMS 0 0 2 0 0 – 2