Two big hits helped Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn build a large enough lead to hold off West Bend-Mallard 7-5 June 20 at Gilmore City. HMS broke on top 3-0 in the third and then added four runs in the seventh, which were key, as the Wolverines added a four-spot of their own in the bottom of the seventh.
“A good team win,” remarked Hawk head coach Jeremy Gloden. “We had all three phases working together. Two key highlights were a two-run, two-out double by Blake Meendering that extended our early lead to three. The other was Bradley Van Beek’s three-run home run that extended our seventh-inning lead to 6-1. That turned out to be a very big hit because West Bend-Mallard made us earn every out in that last inning.”
Jacob Cates came up one out short of pitching a complete game. He recorded 11 strikeouts and only two walks. The five runs came on seven hits. Only three of the runs were earned. Tyson Tessum took the mound and walked the first batter he faced but then induced a fly ball, which he caught, to seal the victory. Making the work of the pitchers easier was the fact that HMS played error-free ball in the field.
“Jacob threw very well last night,” observed Gloden “He was able to attack the zone and kept his walk numbers down. They got to him a little bit in the seventh and we had to go to Tyson for the final-out save due to the pitch count. Hoping this builds some momentum heading towards the postseason next week.”
The Hawks missed a chance to score in the second inning when Cates doubled and Van Beek and Evan Eilers both singled. HMS left a total of eight runners on base while the Wolverines stranded six.
In the third inning Tessum singled and came home on another Cates double. The seventh inning saw a Tanner Tesch single and a walk to Cates precede Van Beek’s round-tripper. Meendering followed with his second double of the evening and scored the seventh HMS run following a pair of passed balls.
HMS 0 0 3 0 0 0 4 – 7
WBM 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 – 5