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Top of order powers Lynx past Hawks

Martinez and McKinney a combined 5 for 7 with two doubles and six runs scored in season opener

Webster City’s Romel Martinez (left) dives head-first towards the plate to score as South Hamilton catcher CJ Hewitt goes up the third-base line to retrieve the ball on Monday in Webster City. The Lynx beat the Hawks, 9-2. DFJ photo/Troy Banning

WEBSTER CITY — Romel Martinez and Noah McKinney stand in that 5-foot-7 range, nowhere near big enough to make pitchers quake in their cleats when they step into the batter’s box.

But hurlers are also likely to overlook them only once. Why? Because they make contact, and when the ball is put in play, good things can and often will happen.

The top two batters in the Webster City lineup wore out the South Hamilton pitching staff on the opening night of the season at Lynx Field, as they went a combined 5 for 7 with two doubles and six runs scored in a 9-2 victory on Monday.

Martinez led off the bottom of the first with a frozen rope into left-center for a double and he went 2 for 3. McKinney rattled off three hits — he had a double of his own to drive in a run in the fifth — and scored three times as well while reaching base on four occasions.

“The one-two punch is great,” McKinney, a senior second baseman said. “We have to start out the game well to get the team going. We have confidence because we’ve been working all winter.”

Webster City first baseman Austin Lampman (right) leans over a diving Marco Balderas to snag a throw over from pitcher Max Hackbarth on Monday at Lynx Field. DFJ photo/Troy Banning

WCHS (1-0) smacked 11 hits off four South Hamilton pitchers. Dylan Steen connected for a pair of singles and plated a pair of runs. Jordan Tanner added a two-RBI single and Max Hackbarth drove in another run with a base knock.

It was a typical season opener for both teams, where sometimes shaky pitching led to long at bats, even longer innings and a 61⁄2-inning contest that took 2 hours, 44 minutes to complete.

The two teams used a combined seven pitchers that issued 12 walks and hit eight batters.

South Hamilton (0-1) struggled with the beanball. The Hawks plunked seven batters and committed three errors that led to three unearned runs. CJ Hewitt suffered the loss after going two innings.

“The walks, the hit batters, we can’t be doing that,” South Hamilton head coach Kyle Galetich said. “We’ve got to throw strikes and get ahead of batters. But we’re better pitchers than we showed (Monday night). These guys have proven that in the past.”

South Hamilton second baseman Mateo Balderas (left) applies the tag to a diving Jordan Tanner. Tanner swiped the base for Webster City in its 9-2 victory over the Hawks. DFJ photo/Troy Banning

WCHS ace Max Hackbarth had his own issues, particularly early, en route to his eighth consecutive victory dating back to the start of the 2017 season. The southpaw walked four batters, two with the bases loaded, in the second inning and finished with five free passes allowed in five innings of work.

But after the rocky second, Hackbarth brought his pitches down and showed the form that made him a first-team all-state hurler a season ago. He finished with nine strikeouts.

South Hamilton made the veteran lefty work though. The Hawks worked deep into counts, fouled balls off repeatedly and were patient enough to force the walks.

“At times we put good swings on pitches,” Galetich said. “I don’t think we swung the bats the way we could have, but part of that is their pitching. They rolled out some good guys.”

WCHS head coach Adison Kehoe was impressed with South Hamilton’s approach and discipline at the plate.

DFJ photo/Troy Banning

“Tip your cap to South Hamilton,” he said. “They fouled off some good pitches and offensively they’re going to be tough. They’re going to be a fun team to watch this year.”

Caleb Olson and Dylan Steen worked in relief for the Lynx and combined for three more whiffs.

The WCHS trio allowed just one hit — a second-inning single to center off the bat of Mateo Balderas.

“Max, for him to grind as hard as he did for five innings and only give up two runs, I’ll take that every time,” Kehoe said. “The first inning or two he’s going to have to figure it out, but after that second inning he was cruising.”

WCHS erupted for four first-inning runs to take command. Martinez, McKinney, Tanner and Steen roped consecutive hits off Hewitt and the Lynx sent 10 batters to the dish. The Lynx scored two more runs in the fifth and three in the sixth.

DFJ photo/Troy Banning

But WCHS also left 14 runners stranded on base, seven of them in scoring position. It left them jam packed in the first and third innings.

“I’ll chalk that up to first-game jitters,” Kehoe said. “When we had guys on second and third, you could see our batters going moon-eyed trying to make something happen. But those are things we can work on in practice. We’re far from a finished product.”

Webster City 9, South Hamilton 2

Monday at Webster City

SHamilton 020 000 0 — 2 1 3

Web City 400 023 x — 9 11 0

CJ Hewitt, DJ Klonglan (3), Zeke Balderas (4), Garrett Grady (6) and Z. Balderas, Hewitt (3). Max Hackbarth, Caleb Olson (6), Dylan Steen (7) and Jordan Tanner. W — Hackbarth. L — Hewitt. 2B — WC: Romel Martinez, Noah McKinney. RBI — SH: Klonglan, Cade Balvanz; WC: Tanner (2), Steen (2), McKinney, Hackbarth.

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