Stuck in a funk

The issues that challenged Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn's baseball team to begin the month continued against three War Eagle Conference opponents last week.

In action against Akron-Westfield, the Hawks were limited to two hits and struggled defensively during a 10-0 loss on June 6 at Akron.

The Westerners built a 4-0 lead with two runs in the second inning and single scores in the first and fourth innings. Six runs in the fifth ended the game.

"Free bases, fielding miscues, mental mistakes and quiet bats continue to plague us," Hawk coach Jeremy Gloden observed. "We have fallen into a funk and we need to continue to work our way out of it, especially during this tough stretch in our schedule."

The Hawks' only hits were singles by Trenton Vollink and Ethan Diehm.

Starting pitcher Jacob Cates allowed four hits and nine runs (six earned), walked seven and struck out three. Jordan Ortega was charged with one run in an inning of relief.

• vs. Hinton

Three big innings propelled Hinton to a 20-4 win over H-M-S on June 8 in Hartley.

The Blackhawks started things with four runs in the opening inning. After being retired in order in the second, Hinton scored four times in the third inning, 10 runs in the fourth and two more in the fifth.

H-M-S got on the scoreboard in the second inning, when Tanner Tesch walked and scored on a single by Jonathan Ortiz. Keith DeBoer drove in a run in the third with a bases loaded walk. Run-scoring singles in the fourth inning by Jordan Ortega and Jacob Cates produced the Hawks' final scores.

Cates finished with three hits and Ortega had two. Nick Bronstad and Ortiz each had one hit.

Bronstad was the losing pitcher. He allowed 14 runs (eight earned) and eight hits, and walked seven. Trenton Vollink gave up six runs on four hits, with five walks.

• vs. Unity Christian

Ten first-inning runs by Unity Christian put the Hawks in a hole from which they could not recover. The Knights would add four runs to wrap up their 14-3 win on June 10 at Orange City.

H-M-S led off the scoring when Trenton Vollink walked and scored on a single by Jacob Cates. But the Knights' 15 batters in their half of the inning collected seven hits, walked twice and capitalized on two errors to put up a double-digit run total.

Cates picked up another RBI with a sacrifice fly in the third inning and Tanner Tesch's groundout drove in another run.

Five hits helped Unity Christian score their final runs in the fourth inning.

Vollink finished with two of H-M-S's four hits.

Jordan Ortega pitched 3-2/3 innings and allowed 14 runs (six earned) and 11 hits, walked three and struck out two. Tyson Tessum gave up two hits in the final inning.

H-M-S (2-8, 1-5) plays at West Sioux on June 17, hosts West Bend-Mallard on June 21 (varsity only) and plays at Harris-Lake Park on June 22.