Working to pull through the slump

Runs remained at a premium for the Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn softball team, which scored just twice in four games last week, all of which were losses.

H-M-S had only two baserunners in an 11-0 home loss to Remsen St. Mary's on June 13. Abby Otto hit a single in the first inning and Eliza Tewes walked in the third to account for the Hawks' limited activity on the base paths.

St. Mary's started their scoring with a run in the first inning and added three runs in each of the next three innings. A run in the fifth ended the game.

Eleven hits, five walks and five errors contributed to St. Mary's scoring against Hawk pitcher Kamryn Ebel, who recorded three strikeouts.

"It wasn't our night," Hawk coach Stephanie Bronstad acknowledged. "The girls couldn't get the bats going and our defense wasn't the best."

• vs. Emmetsburg

Another night on the home diamond didn't translate into a win, as the Hawks were defeated by Emmetsburg, 12-0, on June 14.

The E-Hawks scored six times in the second inning and five in the third. They also scored a run in the fourth.

Cadence Klein, Addison Sheeler and Bailey VerHelst had the only hits for H-M-S.

Gracie Knobloch was the losing pitcher. She gave up 11 hits and 12 runs (four earned), walked four and struck out five.

• vs. Gehlen Catholic

H-M-S did score against Gehlen Catholic, but 18 strikeouts by Jays' pitcher Rylee Schnepf hampered the offense in a 3-1 loss on June 15 at LeMars.

One run in the first inning and two runs in the fifth were all the runs Gehlen Catholic needed. Hawk pitcher Kamryn Ebel limited the Jays to three hits, walked four and struck out six.

"Defensively we played a great game," Bronstad observed. "We had a few good hits but just couldn't get it going. The girls are working through a slump and learning to fight through it."

Gracie Knobloch led off the seventh inning with a double and scored on a single by Eliza Tewes for H-M-S's only run.

Knobloch finished the night with two doubles, while Abby Kunzman and Tewes had the Hawks' other hits.

• vs. West Sioux

West Sioux and H-M-S had similar overall records (5-10 and 3-10, respectively) entering their game June 17 at Ireton, but the hosts were in command throughout to earn an 11-1 victory.

With H-M-S trailing 2-0, Gracie Knobloch led off the second inning with a walk. After an error by West Sioux, Knobloch scored on a single by Eliza Tewes.

The Falcons answered with five runs in their half of the second. They added single runs in the third and fourth innings and two more in the fifth.

Cadence Klein had the only other hit for H-M-S. Abby Kunzman and Knobloch each walked twice.

Knobloch pitched 3-1/3 innings and allowed six hits, five runs and four walks, and also struck out seven. Kamryn Ebel gave up six runs on three hits.

"The girls are struggling to pull out of the slump," Bronstad said. "We struggled with the bats and on defense. We didn't hit the ball like I thought we would."

H-M-S fell to 5-11 overall and 2-7 in War Eagle Conference games. The Hawks play at MMCRU (Cleghorn) on June 24 and in the Okoboji tournament on June 25. They wrap up the regular season with home games on June 27 against South O'Brien, June 28 against Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire and June 29 against Trinity Christian.