Hawks open the baseball season with win over GTRA
Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn took a lead and then got some critical insurance runs late to capture their season opener 10-7 over Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire May 18 at Hartley. The Hawks opened the scoring with four runs in the third inning. The lead was just 5-4 before HMS tallied five times in the sixth. The Titans, who already had two wins under their belts, came back with three runs in the top of the seventh but it wasn’t enough.
“Last night was a wild one for sure,” acknowledged Hawk head coach Jeremy Gloden. “We definitely saw some good things, but we also have things we need to improve upon. It feels good to start 1-0 again this year.”
HMS totaled nine hits, all singles. Jordan Ortega was 2-for-3 including an RBI hit in the third. He scored a run, as did his courtesy runner, Jack Mastbergen. Tanner Tesch went 2-for-4 with a run scoring single in the sixth. In his lone plate appearance, Evan Eilers delivered a single to plate the Hawks’ final two runs.
Keaton Graves was 1-for-3 with a walk and two runs scored. He also drove in the team’s fourth-inning run on a fielder’s choice. Jacob Cates singled and scored in the third. He drew a walk in the sixth and Mastbergen came around to score as his courtesy runner. Jonny Ortiz singled, walked twice and scored a run. Trenton Vollink went 1-for-4 with a run scored. HMS stranded 11 base runners while the Titans left six on base.
Ortega got the start and went five innings to pick up the win. He allowed three runs, two of which were earned, on six hits. The senior struck out five batters, walked five and hit one. Ortega was the beneficiary of a double play in the second inning when Tesch leaped to snare a flair to second and threw to first baseman Bradley Van Beek who tagged out the base runner.
Cates took the mound for the final two innings. He yielded four runs, but because of a couple of errors, none of those runs were earned. The sophomore gave up just one hit and walked one. Because of three passed balls on third strikes, Cates ended up striking out eight batters in his two innings. During his time behind the plate, he threw out a runner at third and also tagged out a runner coming home. There were a number of wild pitches and passed balls by both teams.
GTRA 0 0 0 1 2 1 3 – 7
HMS 0 0 4 1 0 5 x – 10