Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn saw a close softball game with South O’Brien turn into a lopsided one. The Wolverines scored eight times in the final two innings to down HMS 9-2 June 1 at Hartley.
“We played well, but we still have that third of the inning we need to buckle down on,” said Hawk head coach Stephanie Bronstad. “The team didn’t hit as well as we hoped when we needed it.”
The Wolverines took the first lead of the game with a run in the third. Two runs in the fifth put the Hawks on top. It started with Darby Mastbergen drawing a walk. She reached second safely on an error. Jessica Riedemann singled and the runners advanced on a wild pitch. Cadence Klein grounded out 1-3 but she still got an RBI when Mastbergen was able to beat the relay throw home, sliding in just ahead of the tag. With two outs Eliza Tewes singled home Riedemann.
Gracie Knobloch got the pitching start and went six plus innings in taking the loss. She allowed eight runs on seven hits. The eighth-grader fanned eight batters, walked four and hit one. “Gracie pitched a good strong game, just got flustered with the end of the game,” noted Bronstad. “She is young and just needs to focus on the batters.” Taya Mason came on in relief to get the final three outs – all on strikeouts. She yielded a run on a walk, a single and a double.
In addition to the hits by Riedemann and Tewes was the double belted by Knobloch in the sixth inning. HMS left seven runners on base while the Wolverines stranded six. Each team was guilty of three errors.
S. O’Brien 0 0 1 0 0 3 5 – 9
HMS 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 – 2