JEWELL – Numerous scoring opportunities fell by the wayside and so did South Hamilton’s chances of winning its second Heart of Iowa Conference baseball game Wednesday night at the Mike Penning Athletic Complex.

North Polk did the better job of capitalizing and the Comets pulled away late to knock off the Hawks, 8-2.

North Polk (5-7, 4-3 HOIC) broke a 2-2 tie with a run in the fourth inning and then added two in the fifth, two in the sixth and one in the seventh.

Both teams finished with eight hits.

“We hit the ball pretty well, but then there were times when we had the bases loaded or runners at second and third, and we just couldn’t get that one hit to kind of push things along,” South Hamilton head coach Kyle Galetich said. “That’s kind of been the story of the year. Hitting in the clutch is something we need to work on, but that comes with experience, too.”

Trey Woodall plated a run with a first-inning single and Jake Hand put South Hamilton (2-7, 1-6 HOIC) in front 2-1 in the second with a base knock to right field. Hand also lashed a double; Hunter Griffin joined him with two hits.

Caleb Olson, Colton Griffin and Blake Barquist all added singles.

Woodall took the loss on the mound. He threw four innings, while Olson and Colton Griffin worked out of the bullpen.

South Hamilton will make the trek to Nevada this evening.