JEWELL – Brittany Spindler’s 5-foot, 100-pound soaking wet (maybe) frame isn’t going to make any pitcher shake at the knees, but those that take her lightly should prepare to face the consequences.

Gilbert isn’t the first team to learn this lesson and most likely won’t be the last.

South Hamilton’s junior dynamo continued her recent rampage with the bat in her hands Wednesday night at the Mike Penning Athletic Complex, as she belted her first home run – a two-run shot to left field in the fifth inning that broke a 3-3 tie – and finished 2 for 4 with three RBI to lead the Hawks to an 8-4 Heart of Iowa Conference victory over Gilbert.

Spindler, who hit in the clean-up spot, owns a team-best .500 batting average. In the Hawks last four victories, she’s 9 for 13 (.692) with the dinger, a double, four RBI and 10 runs scored.

What’s the secret to her success? It’s a question she can’t answer.

“I have no mindset going up there other than to just hit the ball,” Spindler said. “I know I’ve got to hit it in order for our team to score.”

And to think, she spent the early portion of the season relegated to the bench. But, eventually, her bat was impossible to leave out of the lineup.

“We challenged her at the beginning of the year because she was struggling,” South Hamilton head coach Rusty Wintermote said. “She’s told me that, for her, that challenge was a wake-up call and she’s been really focused. You don’t expect a kid that size to hit like that.”

Spindler drove in one run with a line-drive single to left field in the first inning against Gilbert, but it was her long ball that pushed South Hamilton (12-8, 7-4) towards the victory. Gilbert had rallied from a 3-0 deficit to draw even in the fourth inning and the Hawks were in need of a spark.

Cue the team’s smallest player.

“That’s my first (home run) ever and I was a little shocked,” Spindler said. “I didn’t think I had it in me, to be honest.”

Chloe Barkema followed two batters later with a shot to center for a single and she scored on a Breanne Diersen double into the gap in left-center that pushed the Hawks lead back to three runs, 6-3.

“We were very quiet in the dugout and it just seemed like we went through the motions after 10-running them up there,” Wintermote said. “So Brittany’s (home run) was huge and the hits started to come after that.”

South Hamilton tacked on two more runs in the sixth, keyed by back-to-back hits by Taylor Volkmann and Ady Wintermote. Both eventually scored.

The Hawks roughed up Gilbert pitchers Kamryn Miller and Riley Nelson for 12 hits, and all nine starters had at least one base knock. Ady Wintermote finished 2 for 4 with a double and Alyssa Hegland was 2 for 3.

Barkema and Ronnie Olson both drove in one run.

Four consecutive first-inning hits by Ady Wintermote, Hegland, Spindler and Olson keyed a three-run outburst, but that may have worked against the Hawks, Rusty Wintermote said.

“When we got those three runs it felt like we got comfortable,” he said. “I told the girls that they have fire and we do not.”

Gilbert took advantage of three South Hamilton errors to score its three runs in the fourth inning.

Ady Wintermote got the start in the pitcher’s circle and went four innings. She was eventually pulled in favor of Katie Johnson, who went the final three frames and earned the win.

The most veteran pitcher on the Hawks’ staff, Ady Wintermote has been dealing with an injured right ankle since the Hudson Tournament earlier this month, and her dad and coach says it’s going to keep her out of the circle for a while.

“She’s not pushing off very hard and I think it’s a confidence thing right now because she’s leaving everything up,” Rusty Wintermote said. “She’s not trusting herself right now. So Katie and Taylor (Volkmann) are going to start getting more of the reps until her ankle gets better.”

Gilbert finished with six hits, all singles.