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Focused on batting

Hawks softball take decisive win over Greene County

South Hamilton’s Chloe Barkema (7) applies the tag after a Greene County base runner took a little too long of a lead. The Hawks defeated the Greene County Rams Friday night, 9-0. DFJ photo/Tracy Runneberg

JEWELL – South Hamilton put on a stellar offensive show in their 9 – 0 triumph over Greene County last Friday night.

The Hawks (13 – 7 – 0) have proved themselves to be quite the offensive force to be reckoned with. South Hamilton plated three runs in their opening bat. They coasted on the 3 – 0 lead until adding another three runs later in the fourth inning.

Alissa Moss and Ady Wintermote set the tone by lashing out singles to the gap in right-center field. Marla Grubb belted a double to left field scoring Moss. The Hawks went on to score two more runs.

Taylor Volkmann started off the hit parade for the Hawks in the fourth inning by driving a hard ball out to center field for a double. She is definitely a key hitter for the Hawks with a batting average of 0.354. Volkmann went 2 for 4 at the plate and had one RBI for the Hawks. Lily Skartvedt and Cortney Harris also landed doubles. Harris had 2 RBIs for the Hawks.

“Up at the plate I just try to make contact to bring my teammates in,” said Skartvedt. “We’ve really focused on batting and that has really helped us a lot.”

The Hawks totaled 14 hits at the plate and they only left four runners on base. Nearly everyone who had made it on base, made their way back to the home plate.

“We’ve been doing a better job of getting some runs when there’s two outs,” said head coach Rusty Wintermote. “It doesn’t matter if it’s at the start or end of the lineup, we are getting those two-out hits.”

The Greene County Rams (8-17-0) were unable to put any runs up on the scoreboard. They had the Hawks’ pitcher, Volkmann, to thank for that.

The sophomore struck out eight Greene County batters; she gave up only three hits and one hit-by-pitch early in the game.

The Hawks defense was concrete throughout all seven innings. If the Greene County batters didn’t strike out, they either popped up or were thrown out. Altogether, the Hawks caught seven fly balls and only had one fielding error.

“The defense behind me makes me feel very comfortable on the mound,” said Volkmann. “I know they’ll have my back.”

Comfortable is right. Volkmann radiated confidence as she stepped foot onto the mound. Volkmann has had 87 strikeouts this season and has only walked 12 people. Her success has not gone unnoticed, especially by Coach Wintermote.

“She’s gained a lot of confidence going up against tougher teams,” said Wintermote. “It’s showing as we go through the rest of the conference.”

The Hawks look to keep their winning streak alive as they travel to Prairie City-Monroe on Monday the 26th. Game time is set for 7:15 p.m.

So. Hamilton 9, Greene County 0

Friday at Jewell

Greene County 000 0000 – 0 2 2

S. Hamilton 300 330 – 9 14 1

Hannah Promes and Samantha Hardaway. Taylor Volkmann and Breanne Diersen. W – Volkmann. L – Promes. 2B – SH: Grubb, Volkmann, Skartvedt, Harris. RBI – SH: Skartvedt (2), Diersen (2), Harris (2), Grubb, Volkmann, Barkema.

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