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The
Official Newspaper of Manchester and Delaware County, Iowa
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
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West Delaware girls continue to combine good pitching with timely hitting
by Ken Boesenberg
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The West Delaware girls softball team had a very good week last week with four WaMaC Conference wins. (There actually could have been five, however, or press deadline was Friday at 9:30 a.m. which did not leave time to include Saturdays make up game at Vinton.)
On Monday night the Hawks hosted the Bobcats of Western Dubuque on Sill Field.
The Bobcats had been ranked in the top 15 for most of the early season, having just fallen out of the rankings at the end of the previous week.
Katie Murphy tossed a one-hitter through the first four innings of game one to pick up the victory as the Hawks defeated the Bobcats 6-0.
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Freshman, Allison Klein slides safely into second base against Benton Community. Allison has done a great job for the Hawks as a pinch and courtesy runner this season. |
Jenna Hermsen took over in the fifth and threw three strong innings for the Hawks. She gave up just one hit while striking out three batters.
The Hawks gave Murphy and Hermsen all the run support that they would need in the home half of the first inning.
With one out Katlyn Heiserman singled, Lindsey McDowell doubled and Sara Hermsen doubled to drive in to runs. Katie Murphy helped her own cause with a line drive double to drive in a run.
An error by the Bobcat left fielder allowed the fourth run of the inning to score.
The Hawks scored their final two runs of the game in the home half of the second. Kayla Vaske, Ashley Hood and Katlyn Heiserman all singled to get one run in. Lindsey McDowell hit
a fly to center to score Ashley Hood from third to give the Hawks a 6-0 lead.
The Hawks had runners on in every inning but failed to score after the second stanza.
For the game the Hawks had 12 hits with Katlyn Heiserman leading the way, going 4 for 4. Lindsey McDowell was 2 for 2 while Ashley Hood, Sara Hermsen, Katie Murphy, Kayla Vaske, Abby Flannagan and Renee Bockenstedt each had one hit.
In game two the Hawks defeated the Bobcats by the same score as in game one, 6-0.
West Delaware scored their first run in the top of the second inning on a lead off single by Katie Murphy and a one out double by Katie Wessels.
The Hawks added a pair of runs in the top of the fourth when Sara Hermsen led off with a single, Kayla Vaske singled to put a pair of Hawks on. Some base stealing trickery followed as Allison Pasker, running for Sara Hermsen was able to score the first run.
Jenny Hood’s fly ball out to right field scored Allison Klein who was running for pitcher Katie Murphy, giving the Hawks a 3-0 lead.
The Hawks put the game away in the top of the sixth when they pounded six straight hits, all singles, by Kayla Vaske, Katie Murphy, Jenny Hood, Katie Wessels, Kayla Bries and Ashley Hood.
Jenna Hermsen came in to close out the Bobcats over the final two innings as the Hawks posted the 6-0 win over Western Dubuque.
The Hawks collected 10 hits in game two led by Katie Murphy who was 2 for 3; Kayla Vaske who was 2 for 2, and Katie Wessels who was also 2 for 2.
Also getting hits were Ashley Hood, Sara Hermsen, Jenny Hood and Kayla Bries.
On Wednesday night the Hawks traveled to Van Horne to take on the Bobcats of Benton Community in a WaMaC Conference double header.
Game on saw the Hawks defeat Benton Community 10-1 behind the combined one-hit pitching of Katie Murphy and Jenna Hermsen.
Murphy tossed five innings of no-hit ball while striking out nine. Hermsen threw the final two innings, giving up one hit and striking out one.
The Hawks scored their first run of the game in the top of the first when Katie Murphy drew a bases loaded walk..
Their second run came home when Sara Hermsen walked and Allison Klein running for Hermsen stole second. She came into score on Jenny Hood’s double to make the score 2-0.
Holding a 5-0 lead the Hawks broke the game open by scoring five runs in the top of the seventh inning.
Ashley Hood, Lindsey McDowell and Jenny Hood all had RBI hits in the seventh.
In game two the Hawks scored a pair of runs in the first inning on four base hits as they went on to the 7-0 victory.
In the home half of the third inning West Delaware sent all nine batters to the plate as they scored four runs to put the game out of reach.
Ashley Hood led off with a double Katlyn Heiserman and Lindsey McDowell followed with singles. Katie Murphy and Kayla Bries drove in the final two runs with a pair of singles.
The Hawks added their seventh run in the bottom of the fifth to pick up victory number four of the week.
Leading hitters for the Hawks were Ashley hood 2 for 3, Katlyn Heiserman 3 for 3, Lindsey McDowell 2 for 3, Jenny Hood 1 for 3, Katie Murphy 2 for 3, Kayla Bries 1 for 2 and Sara Hermsen 1 for 2.
On Thursday night the Hawks traveled to Colesburg for a non-conference double header with the always scrappy and tough Vikings of Ed-Co.
Game one was a pitchers duel between the Hawks Katie Murphy and the Vikings Nikki Lueken.
The Hawks were able to push across a single run in the top of the second and two more in the fifth to win by a final score of 3-0.
Murphy tossed five innings of no-hit ball with Jenna Hermsen throwing the final two.
Katie Murphy aided her own cause with a one-out RBI double to score the the Hawks first run of the game.
Katlyn Heiserman continued her hot hitting as she collected three hits in game one. She drove in the Hawks second and third runs with a double in the top of the fifth.
Getting hits in game one were Ashley Hood 1, Katlyn Heiserman 3, Sara Hermsen 1, Katie Murphy 1, Kayla Bries 1 and Kayla Vaske 1.
Game two was much different that game one as the Hawks scored early and often to win by a score of 12-0 in three innings.
West Delaware put five runs on the board in the first inning with Jenny Hood’s two RBI double being the big hit.
An Ed-Co error gave the Hawks run number six in the top of the second inning.
The Hawks put the game away with a six run third inning. They had five hits in the inning with three of them bing doubles.
The Hawks improved to 28-4 overall and are undefeated in WaMaC Conference action.
This week the will host Central DeWitt on Monday and play in the Independence tournament on Friday and Saturday. |
Hawks climb back into thick of WaMaC Conference title race
by Ken Boesenberg |
The West Delaware boys baseball team started out the week with a WaMaC Conference double header split with the Bobcats of Western Dubuque last Monday night.
The Hawks took game one 15-0 in six innings before dropping the night cap, 4-3.
West Delaware pounded out 18 hits in game one including three home runs.
Two of the long balls were by Dan Marshall who started at first base for the Hawks. The other home run was by BJ Hermsen in the fourth inning.
The Hawks scored three times in the first on hits by Lucas Kafer, Zach McCool and Nate Lahr.
Dan Marshall hit his first of two home runs in the second to give the Hawks a 4-0 lead. Single runs in the third and fourth built the Hawk lead to 6-0.
In the top of the sixth the Hawks sent 14 batters to the plate, scoring nine runs on seven hits to go up 15-0.
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West Delaware utility player, Dan Marshall celebrates his second inning home run against Dyersville Beckman. The Hawks swept the Blazers 15-8 and 13-5 last Tuesday evening. |
Chris Harbaugh had two hits in the inning and Dan Marshall added his second home run of the game.
Garrett Linderwell picked up the pitching victory with six innings of three-hit ball. He walked none and struck out 12 in picking up the win.
Getting hits for the Hawks in game one were Chris Harbaugh 3 for 5, Lucas Kafer 1 for 2, Zach McCool 3 for 4, BJ Hermsen 2 for 5, Nate Lahr 2 for 4, Nathan King 2 for 4, Garrett Linderwell 1 for 4 and Clarke Butler 1 for 1.
After pounding out the 18 hits in game one the Hawks were able to get just eight hits in game two as they fell to the Bobcats 4-3.
Western Dubuque scored all four of their runs in the first three innings as Mitch Mormann took the loss on the mound for the Hawks.
Lucas Kafer tossed the final three innings allowing no runs on two hits while striking out six batters.
The Hawks had runners on in every inning but just never got the key hit when they needed it.
West Delaware scored their first run in the fifth inning when, with two out, Lucas Kafer was hit by a pitch. Zach McCool drew a walk and BJ Hermsen followed with an RBI single.
Hermsen drove in the Hawks final two runs in the top of the seventh with a two out single.
The loss dropped the Hawks record to 18-3 on the season.
Getting hits for the Hawks in game two were Chris Harbaugh 1, Zach McCool 2, BJ Hermsen 2, Nathan King 1, Garrett Linderwell 1, and Dan Marshall 1.
On Tuesday night the Hawks traveled back to Dyersville to make up the earlier rained out games.
Game one was continued with the Hawks leading 4-0 in the bottom of the first inning.
The night was one of attrition for both sides as the strike zone on the extremely muggy night shrunk to the size of an ice cream pale.
With more that 250 pitches thrown during the contest one would expect a lot of scoring.
That there was, with the Hawks putting 15 runs on the scoreboard to 8 for the host Blazers.
Though it was the first visit to the mound at Commercial Club Park for Hawk hurler, BJ Hermsen it was a successful one.
Hermsen allowed eight runs on 12 hits while striking 10 Beckman batters.
The Hawks got their 15 runs on 10 hits. They were also aided by six Beckman throwing errors.
West Delaware put up runs in every inning except the fifth.
Nate Lahr had a big night at the plate as he drove in six runs with a home run and a double. Justin Gideon had three hits and drove in a pair of runs.
BJ Hermsen had one hit and one RBI, as did lead off hitter Chris Harbaugh.
In game two the Hawk picked up a 13-5 victory with Zach McCool going the distance on the mound for the Hawks. He gave up five runs on nine hits while striking out nine batters.
There were more than 270 pitches thrown in game two by pitchers from both sides.
The Hawks scored in every inning except the first inning.
Dan Marshall got the Hawks on the board in the second inning with a two-run home run.
The Hawks added two more runs in the third and three more in the fourth to take an 8-2 lead through four innings of play.
West Delaware was never threatened as they went on to the eight run victory over the Blazers.
Zach McCool and Garrett Linderwell each drove in three runs for the Hawks.
Getting hits were Chris Harbaugh 1, Zach McCool 2, BJ Hermsen 1, Nate Lahr 2, Garrett Linderwell 2, and Dan Marshall 2.
On Wednesday night the Hawks traveled to Decorah for a non-conference contest with the Decorah Vikings.
West Delaware returned home with a 16-3 victory over the Vikings.
With a WaMaC Conference double header facing them on Thursday night at home the Hawks mixed up the pitching rotation for this road game.
Alex Ryan tossed five strong innings and Phil Keppler went the final two for the Hawks.
The two innings were the first action Keppler has seen since injuring his wrist in Oelwein back on the 30th of May.
Offensively the Hawks got a pair of home runs by Zach McCool. The first was a two-run shot in the first inning to give the Hawks the early 2-0 lead. His second was a three-run blast in the eight run seventh inning.
Decorah scored a pair of runs in their half of the third to cut the Hawk lead to 3-2. The score remained that way until a Lucas Kafer RBI single in the sixth and several Decorah errors gave the Hawks a 6-2 lead.
In addition to McCool’s three run home run in the seventh the Hawks also got big hits from Garrett Linderwell and Dan Marshall.
Linderwell drove in a pair of runs with a single and Marshall had two hits in the inning, driving in two runs with a double and a single.
On Thursday night the Hawks hosted the Bobcats of Benton Community for a WaMaC Conference double header.
When all was said and done the Hawks had won games 23 and 24 on the season, 8-0 and 7-2.
Nate Lahr got the Hawks off on the right
foot in game one with a long solo home run in the home half of the second inning.
The Hawks added three runs in the fourth on a two-run double by winning pitcher, Garrett Linderwell. The third run scored when Benton booted a Dan Marshall ground ball allowing pinch runner Brad McDonald to score.
West Delaware put the game well out of reach in the bottom of the fifth by scoring four runs.
Chris Harbaugh drew a lead off walk and Lucas Kafer brought him in with a double. Zach McCool followed with a two-run home run for a 7-0 Hawk lead.
BJ Hermsen made it back-to-back home runs with a blast to deep left field scoring the Hawks eighth run of the game.
Garrett Linderwell picked up the win with some seventh inning help from senior Mitch Mormann.
In game two the Bobcats scored a pair of first inning runs off West Delaware hurler Chris Harbaugh.
That would be the only runs they would get as the Hawks scored seven times to complete the sweep of the Bobcats 7-2.
BJ Hermsen hit a solo home run in the third to cut the Benton lead to 2-1.
In the bottom of the fourth the Hawks got four runs when with the bases loaded the Bobcats misplayed BJ Hermsen’s ground ball allowing two runs to score. Nate Lahr then followed with a towering three-run home run to nail down the victory. |
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Manchester Press 2005-2006
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