It was a wild one

Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn put together two big scoring innings against Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire, and the Hawks needed every run they got to preserve a 10-7 home field win on May 18.

The baseball season-opener was "a wild one for sure," according to Hawk coach Jeremy Gloden. The first five H-M-S hitters in the third inning reached base safely and four of them scored. Jordan Ortega drove in one run with a single and the other three runs scored on passed balls.

GT/RA scored its first run in the fourth inning. The Hawks answered in their half of that inning, as Jonathan Ortiz led off with a single and scored on a fielder's choice.

The Titans scored twice in the fifth inning and once in the sixth to narrow the margin to 5-4. H-M-S responded in the sixth, sending 11 batters to the plate thanks to three hits, four walks and two hit batters. The first five hitters who reached base all scored on two passed balls, an RBI single by Tanner Tesch and a two-run single by Evan Eilers.

GT/RA scored three runs in the seventh to cut the deficit in half, but a pair of strikeouts ended the threat.

"It feels good to start 1-0 again this year," Gloden said. "We definitely saw some good things, but we also have things we need to improve upon."

H-M-S finished with nine hits, including two each by Ortega and Tesch. Contributing one hit each were Jacob Cates, Keaton Graves, Trenton Vollink, Eilers and Ortiz.

Ortega pitched five innings and earned the victory. He allowed six hits, walked five and struck out five. Cates was credited with the save, walking one and striking out five.

H-M-S hosts Harris-Lake Park on May 27 and plays at South O'Brien on May 31 and Trinity Christian on June 1. All are JV/V games for the baseball and softball teams.