Gracie Knobloch tossed a one-hitter as Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn shut out Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire 6-0 May 20 at Ruthven. The Hawk junior struck out 14 Titan batters in the season-opener for both teams.
The Hawks had 14 hits but also left 14 runners on base. “The girls played well for the first game out,” observed HMS head coach Stephanie Bronstad. “We left some runs on the bases and we need to opportunities on that better. Defensively, the girls stayed focused all game. Gracie pitched well her first game.”
The visitors got on the scoreboard in the second inning. Abby Otto led off with a single and went to second on a passed ball. Addy Sheeler’s ground ball to third moved Otto up a base and she scored on Frankie Mohni’s groundout to second.
HMS added five runs in the fifth. Delaney Murphy opened the inning with a walk. Eliza Tewes followed with a double and Otto singled home Murphy. Otto then took second and when interference was called Tewes came home and Otto moved to third. An error on a ball hit by Lindsey Van Es allowed Otto to score.
Van Es kept the pressure on with a steal of second. Mohni then picked up her second RBI with a two-bagger that plated Van Es. Mohni was then able to score on Kamryn Ebel’s RBI single.
Ebel went 4-for-5 at the plate and Knobloch was 3-for-4 with a walk. Otto and Tewes each recorded two hits with Mohni, Sheeler and Kinsey Schirmer collecting one apiece.
Knobloch walked three batters, accounting for three of the four baserunners that GTRA stranded.
HMS 0 1 0 0 5 0 0 – 6
GTRA 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 – 0