ROLAND – Top-ranked (Class 1A) AGWSR elected to gamble, but had its bluff called and lost as the sun began to dip during the late stages of the Roland Kiwanis Tournament Saturday evening.

A fast start fueled plenty of momentum that carried South Hamilton to the upset victory.

With Cougars’ all-state pitcher Ashley Sicard in the dugout at the onset, the Hawks jumped all over starter Alana Groninga and scored a run in the first inning and two more in the second en route to a 3-1 win.

Sicard was eventually called on in the second, but by then it was too late.

The game was called to a halt in the fifth inning due to the 70-minute time limit.

“The girls were really relaxed before the game, so I knew were ready and focused to go out there and play,” South Hamilton head coach Laura Read said. “(The fast start) was great to see because we’ve been struggling early in games.

“Our mindset at this time of the year has changed and I think we’re feeling a little more confident.”

While Groninga struggled with the tight strike zone – she walked four in just 11?3 innings before Sicard took over – Hawks’ hurler Ady Wintermote found her zone. The sophomore allowed just five hits and struck out two.

With the way Wintermote was throwing and with a flawless defense behind her, Read says she would have liked to see the game go the full seven innings.

“It would have been great to get them in seven because I think we would have come out on top, but a win is a win,” Read said. “Ady had shut them down pretty well … she always stays so composed out there.”

Lead-off hitter Kayla Lucas got the ball rolling for the Hawks. Sensing Lucas was a slapper, AGWSR brought its outfield in to the edge of the grass, but the senior made them pay by hammering a ball down the left-field line that resulted in a triple. She scored moments later on a RBI bunt single by Wintermote.

Lucas gives off the appearance of a slapper, but is more than capable of hitting the ball hard.

“I know her and she was thinking ‘crush the ball,'” Read said. “I was just telling her to take it nice and easy and just make contact because she hits it hard enough.”

South Hamilton loaded the bases in each of the first two innings.

A one-out Alissa Moss double to left ignited the two-run second. Groninga then walked Lucas, Wintermote and Alyssa Hegland in succession to plate a run. Sicard entered, but the Hawks added another run on a RBI grounder off the bat of Kayla Carlson.

Wintermote added a double in the fourth inning.

Sicard pulled the Cougars to within 3-1 in the third with a RBI double, but Wintermote took over the remainder of the way.

ADM 11,

South Hamilton 2

South Hamilton (8-11) was unable to carry the momentum over to its second game Saturday evening, but the opponent had plenty to do with that.

No. 4-ranked (4A) ADM exploded early with six runs in the first inning and five more in the second in the lopsided game that only lasted into the fifth inning.

The Tigers touched Hawks’ starting pitcher Katie Johnson for seven hits and nine runs in just one inning of work before she handed the ball over to eighth-grader Taylor Volkmann. Making her first varsity appearance, Volkmann held her own and allowed just five hits and two earned runs in 31?3. She struck out two and walked three.

ADM’s six-run first frame included a two-run double by Molly Jacobsen and a three-run home run off the bat of No. 8 stick Taylor Boorn.

Jacobsen added a RBI double in the second. Kila Carbine and Shannan Jones each drove in two.

Jacobsen, ADM’s southpaw ace in the circle, struck out 10, including seven of the first 10 batters she faced.

Carlson ended Jacobsen’s no-hit bid with a single to right field in the fourth inning, and she eventually scored on a bases-loaded walk to Moss. Tiffany Jacobson lined a hit to right earlier in the inning that scored Hegland, who was aboard after taking a pitch off the face mask.

Hawks win in HOIC

COLFAX – Ronnie Olson bashed a fifth-inning solo home run to spark a two-run frame and propel South Hamilton to a 3-0 Heart of Iowa Conference victory over Colfax-Mingo here on Friday.

Kayla Lucas also ripped a RBI single in the fifth for the Hawks (4-5 HOIC). Carly Swenson added an insurance run in the sixth with a RBI base knock.

Lucas, Swenson and Kayla Carlson all finished with two hits. Ady Wintermote slapped a single.

Wintermote allowed seven hits and struck out three to earn the win in the circle.

South Hamilton will be at home this evening to host fourth-ranked (3A) Greene County at 7:30 p.m.