Akron-Westfield snapped a tie with a run in the fifth inning and held on to defeat Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn 2-1 June 7 at Hartley. Each team had scored a run in the first inning of the War Eagle Conference contest.
“We did a better job of making contact tonight, but again, hitting it right at people,” commented HMS head coach Jeremy Gloden. “Akron-Westfield was very solid defensively and they made the plays when needed. We had chances early, but we continue to struggle to find that clutch hit.”
With one out in the Hawk first, Jordan Ortega was hit by a pitch. Dawson Schiphoff singled him to second. A double off the bat of Jacob Cates brought Ortega home. Samuel Heyn flied out to left field for the second out and courtesy runner Tyson Tessum was thrown out trying to advance to third. The only other HMS hit was a single by Keaton Graves in the third.
Heyn got the call for the Hawks and pitched 5-2/3 innings. He allowed both runs along with four hits. Heyn struck out six batters, walked six and hit one. Ortega’s 1-1/3 innings of work showed no runs on two hits with three strikeouts.
“Sam struggled at times on the mound, but he competed and kept us in the game,” said Gloden. “Akron-Westfield is very disciplined and they make you work as a pitcher. Jordan came on in relief and did a nice job as well. We competed and we had a chance there in the seventh. We need to continue working on our approach at the plate and being able to come through in run scoring opportunities.”
A-W 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 – 2
HMS 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 – 1