Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn got the pitching it needed in its contest with Hinton. However, HMS didn’t enjoy the same success at the plate as baseball hall of famer Wee Willie Keeler whose well-known approach was to “hit ‘em where they ain’t.” Thus, it was the Blackhawks who emerged with a 5-0 War Eagle Conference victory June 9 at Hinton.
“Gracie (Knobloch) pitched a strong game,” noted HMS head coach Stephanie Bronstad. “The girls were aggressive in the box, we just didn’t find the holes. Our defense could have been better but was not horrible. We need to continue to execute the bats and keep fighting all seven innings.”
Hinton scored single runs in the second and third frames. The Blackhawks strengthened their lead by scoring three more times in the fifth.
Knobloch allowed just six hits. Four of the Hinton runs were earned. Knobloch issued four walks, struck out three batters and hit two. There were three HMS errors and none for the Blackhawks.
The Hawks got two baserunners aboard in the top of the first as Jessica Riedemann singled and Darby Mastbergen drew a walk. A strikeout ended that threat. There were only two more on the basepaths for HMS the rest of the night. Eliza Tewes had a one-out base hit in the fifth inning and Mastbergen singled to lead off the seventh. The four stranded Hawks batters were one fewer than the five Hinton left on base.
HMS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 – 0
Hinton 0 1 1 0 3 0 x – 5