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Barkema, Galetich lead offense in rout of Ogden

Hawks batter Bulldogs for 8 hits and 7 runs in 4th inning, end game early

South Hamilton catcher Lane Swenson (left) puts the tag on a sliding Ben Heeren of Ogden on Saturday in Jewell. The Hawks won 11-1 in 6 innings. Photo by Angela Hewitt

JEWELL — One bat, one spark, is what the South Hamilton baseball team was looking for in the fourth inning Saturday afternoon at the Mike Penning Athletic Complex.

It got eight instead.

And the result? Ballgame.

Locked in a 1-all contest with Ogden, the Hawks sprayed eight hits across the diamond and scored seven runs to put Ogden in the rearview mirror for good. South Hamilton added three runs in the sixth to end the game one inning early, 11-1.

Seven players accounted for the eight fourth-inning hits with freshman Tycin Barkema getting two cracks at the Bulldogs and getting the better of both match-ups.

Freddie Lewis attempts to lay down a bunt during South Hamilton’s 11-1, 6-inning thumping of Ogden on Saturday in Jewell. Photo by Angela Hewitt

“That’s what we need,” South Hamilton head coach Kyle Galetich said. “We need people up and down the lineup hitting and when we do that we can score quite a few runs.”

And it wasn’t just kids finding pitches to hit. It was finding pitches in their wheelhouses and putting a charge into the ball.

“They were swinging to hit the ball hard, not just swinging to make contact,” Galetich said. “And it seems like if one guy gets started or if we get a couple, then everyone starts to roll.”

Barkema was the catalyst in the seven-run explosion, as he led-off with a single against Ogden (13-9) starting pitcher Kayden Kruse, who didn’t make it out of the frame. Cade Flaugh followed with a double and just like that the floodgate opened.

Quinton Grove made it three hits in a row with a two-RBI double, and Freddie Lewis pushed the consecutive hits streak to four with a single. Cole Berg added a RBI single, Brock Galetich roped the ball into the grass for a single, and Zeke Balderas launched a shot into the gap for a double that plated two more runs. Barkema then brought it around with an RBI base hit.

South Hamilton (8-4) finished with 12 hits off Kruse and reliever Scott Westberg. Barkema and Brock Galetich both went 3 for 4 and drove in a combined three runs. Flaugh spanked two doubles and had two RBIs.

Balderas and Berg combined to twirl a five-hitter on the mound for the Hawks. Balderas went the initial four innings and surrendered four hits and the lone Bulldog run. He walked two and struck out six.

Berg took over in the fifth and limited Ogden to one hit. He also walked two and added two punch outs.

Ben Heeren had Ogden’s lone extra-base hit — a double — and scored his team’s only run in the second inning.

South Hamilton faces a challenging week ahead, starting this evening with a road trip to Alleman to take on North Polk at 7:30 p.m.

South Hamilton 11, Ogden 1 (6)

Saturday at Jewell

Ogden 010 000 — 1 5 4

S. Ham 100 703 — 11 12 0

Kayden Kruse, Scott Westberg (4) and Sam Christensen. Zeke Balderas, Cole Berg and Lane Swenson. W — Z. Balderas. L — Kruse. Multiple hits — SH: Brock Galetich (3), Tycin Barkema (3), Cade Flaugh. 2B — OG: Ben Heeren. SH: Flaugh (2), Balderas, Barkema. RBI — OG: Dylan Elbert. SH: Balderas (2), Barkema (2), Flaugh (2), Quinton Grove (2), Galetich, Berg.

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