A great night of baseball

Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn's baseball team began the final week of the regular season with a doubleheader sweep at South O'Brien on June 26.

The Hawks gave up a run in the first inning of the opening game, but finished strong to defeat the Wolverines, 8-1.

H-M-S had only one baserunner through three innings, but tied the score in the fourth on an error. During a seven-run fifth inning, Tyson Tessum and Tanner Tesch hit consecutive two-run singles, Tesch and Jacob Cates later scored on an error, and Blake Meendering scored on a single by Evan Eilers.

"We got off to a slow start but I was happy to see the bats finally wake up," said Hawk coach Jeremy Gloden. "We took advantage of some errors and some free bases."

The Wolverines never seriously threatened after the opening inning. Cates was dominant on the mound, allowing just one hit, walking two and recording 17 strikeouts.

"I was happy with how he attacked the zone and threw a lot of strikes," Gloden noted.

Trenton Vollink and Eilers each finished with two hits, and Tessum and Tesch had one hit and two runs batted in.

H-M-S scored twice in the seventh inning of the nightcap to defeat South O'Brien, 6-4.

The Hawks took a 2-0 lead in the first inning when Tessum scored on a passed ball and Bradley Van Beek drove in Cates with a single. They scored two more runs in the third on an error and a double by Jack Mastbergen.

"I was happy to see us get off to a quick start and take the lead. We were aggressive on the bases and took advantage of the extra opportunities given to us," Gloden said.

South O'Brien scored a run in the second inning and tied the score with three runs in the fourth. The Wolverines threatened to take the lead in the sixth, but the Hawks prevented a run from scoring when Ethan Diehm threw the ball from the right field fence to Tessum, who relayed it to Cates who tagged the runner out at the plate.

Tessum then led off the seventh inning with a triple and scored on a passed ball. Cates reached on an error and scored on another error to give H-M-S a two-run lead.

Mastbergen had two hits, and Meendering, Tessum, Vollink and Van Beek each had one.

Eilers pitched 4-1/3 innings and gave up four hits and four runs, walked five and struck out four. Tessum earned the win in relief, allowing two hits while striking out five.

"It was fun to finally see the ball bounce our way a little," Gloden said. "It was a great night of baseball."

• vs. Trinity Christian

The Hawks finished the regular season with a "tough" loss to Trinity Christian, 5-2, on June 28 at Hull.

The Tigers took a 2-0 lead in the second inning and built a 4-1 lead with two runs in the fifth. They padded their lead with a run in the sixth.

Tesch was hit by a pitch to lead off the fourth inning and scored on a passed ball. The Hawks added a run in the seventh when Eilers singled and scored on a passed ball.

Vollink finished with two hits while Aiden Bush, Eilers and Van Beek each had one.

Tesch went the distance on the mound. He gave up six hits, walked two and struck out four.

The Hawks finished War Eagle Conference play with a 1-9 record.