Hinton enjoyed a pair of four-run innings, one of which came immediately after Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn had gotten itself back into the game. The outbursts helped the Blackhawks down HMS 12-3 in a War Eagle Conference game played June 7 at Hinton.
“I liked how we responded in the top of the fourth and cut it down to 4-3,” remarked Hawk head coach Jeremy Gloden. “Unfortunately, we gave up four runs with two outs in the bottom of the fourth and that gave them all the momentum back. I thought our approach at the plate was better tonight. We cut our strikeouts in half and put more balls in play. We need to continue to build on that and clean up some of the small mistakes that were made tonight moving forward. Those small mistakes really add up against a team like Hinton.”
The Blackhawks scored two runs in both the second and third innings to move on top 4-0. After the four-spot in the fourth, Hinton struck for four more runs in their final at bat, which came in the bottom of the sixth.
The fourth-inning rally by HMS began with Jacob Cates being struck by a pitch. With one out Blake Meedering singled and Evan Eilers followed with an RBI base hit. The Hawks executed a double steal for the next run. Trenton Vollink singled to knock in the third, and final, run of the inning. The Hawks left seven runners on base, Hinton four.
Cates got the pitching start and went 5-1/3 innings. Of the 11 runs he allowed, five were earned. Cates surrendered seven hits and struck out and equal number of batters. He was also responsible for three walks and three hit batters. Eilers tossed the final two-thirds of an inning. He gave up an unearned run with one hit, one strikeout and one walk. HMS had three of the game’s four errors.
HMS 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 – 3
Hinton 0 2 2 4 0 4 x – 12