Hawks stage seventh-inning rally to beat Harris-Lake Park in tourney opener
It’s never over until it’s over. For Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn’s girls the task was clear: score at least two runs in the bottom of the seventh or see the season come to a close. Facing a similar situation, Harris-Lake Park had just plated four runs in the top of the inning to turn a 5-3 deficit into a 7-5 lead. Rather than hang their heads, the HMS players appeared to say “why not us and why not now.” The Hawks did indeed keep their season alive by scoring three runs in that last turn at bat to pull out an 8-7 win in the opening round of the Class 1A Region 1 softball tournament July 6 at Hartley.
“The girls played a tough game down to the last play,” lauded HMS head coach Stephanie Bronstad. “They hit the ball well when needed. We made TOO many errors that almost cost us the game, but they fought back with the bats. Time to clean up the errors and get ready for Akron tomorrow night!”
Elle Mastbergen got the Hawk seventh off on the right foot by lacing a double. She was replaced at second by her courtesy runner, Morgan Grooters. Next up was Eliza Tewes and her base hit moved Grooters to third. Not to be outdone, Bailey VerHelst followed with a single of her own to knock in Grooters and bring the Hawks within a run. VerHelst went to second on the throw home.
Tewes, who had advanced to second without a throw, moved to third on the VerHelst single. A wild pitch allowed Tewes to come home with the tying run. Kinsey Schirmer, pinch running for Ver Helst, moved to third on Jessica Riedemann’s ground out to the third baseman. Abby Kunzman was up next and she also hit a ball to third. As the HLP third baseman threw to first, the assembled crowd never got a chance to see if the relay throw home would prevent Schirmer from scoring. That was because the third baseman’s throw sailed wide of first and Schirmer had clear sailing home to score the winning run.
HMS had jumped out on top with a pair of runs in the first inning. Leadoff hitter Riedemann got on board by way of an error and moved to second on a passed ball. Kunzman’s bunt allowed Riedemann to take third. Gracie Knobloch followed with a base hit to drive in the first run. She stole second and went to third when Darby Mastbergen grounded out to the shortstop. A wild pitch gave Knobloch the green light to put the Hawks up 2-0.
After the Wolves knotted the score with a deuce in the top of the second HMS went back in front with a tally in the bottom of the frame. Elle Mastbergen drew a walk to lead off the inning and gave way to Grooters. The courtesy runner moved to third, courtesy of a couple of ground outs. She then scored when the shortstop failed to handle a ball hit by Riedemann.
Each team posted a run in the fifth. There were two outs in the bottom of the inning when Taya Mason ended a long at bat with a base hit. The next two batters caught the hitting bug. Cadence Klein’s base hit moved Mason to second where she was in position to score on a single off the bat of Elle Mastbergen.
The Hawks increased their lead to 5-3 with a run in the sixth. With one out, Riedemann rapped a base hit. She went to second on a Kunzman groundout. From there, Riedemann scored easily on Knobloch’s RBI double. HMS left 11 runners on base while the Wolves stranded six.
Knobloch was 2-for-3 on the night with two RBI’s and a run scored. Also going 2-for-3 was Elle Mastbergen who batted in one. Grooters scored twice in her place. VerHelst went 2-for-4, including a double in the fourth, and knocked in a run. Her pinch runner Schirmer scored the game winner.
Mason was 1-for-1 with a run scored. She walked once and was twice hit by a pitch. Riedemann went 1-for-5 and scored two runs. Tewes and Klein were each 1-for-4 with Tewes scoring a run.
Going the distance in the pitcher’s circle was Knobloch. She allowed three hits and three earned runs. The eighth grader walked six batters and struck out two. There were five HMS errors.
HLP 0 2 0 0 1 0 4 – 7
HMS 2 1 0 0 1 1 3 – 8