The Daily Freeman-Journal

ALLEMAN — It was a challenge presented by South Hamilton head baseball coach Kyle Galetich, and those that he tested passed.

Freshman pitchers Elijah Balderas and Tycin Barkema were tasked with slowing down one of the top teams in the Heart of Iowa Conference Monday night, and while they didn’t come out on top they certainly opened their coach’s eyes.

“I was very impressed with how they pitched,” Galetich said after South Hamilton fell to HOIC co-leader North Polk, 4-0. “I didn’t think either one of them would be intimidated and I think they both relished the challenge of pitching against them. They’re both mentally tough enough.”

Balderas gave up eight hits and four earned runs over 42⁄3 innings of work. He walked two and struck out four.

Barkema took over in relief in the fifth and worked 11⁄3 innings. He held the Comets (14-4, 8-1 HOIC) hitless and fanned two.

South Hamilton (8-5, 6-5 HOIC) was limited to just three hits — two singles by Brock Galetich and one by Cole Berg — by North Polk pitchers Joe Husak and Clark Hood, who combined for 14 strikeouts. Husak sat 10 Hawks down in a little more than five innings on the mound.

“The Husak kid has got a good slider and once he got two strikes you knew you were going to see it,” Kyle Galetich said. “For some of our younger guys who haven’t seen that pitch, it’s tough.”

Ryan Fausch and Mark Cox both lashed two hits for North Polk. Fausch found the gap for a triple and he also drove in two runs.

North Polk 4, South Hamilton 0

Monday at Alleman

S. Ham 000 000 0 — 0 3 1

N. Polk 010 210 x — 4 8 0

Elijah Balderas, Tycin Barkema (5) and Lane Swenson. Joe Husak, Clark Hood (6) and Colby Brunkow, Sam Kvidera (3), Husak (6). W — Husak. L — E. Balderas. Multiple hits — SH: Brock Galetich; NP: Ryan Fausch, Mark Cox. 2B — NP: Cox, Colten Parkins. 3B — NP: Fausch. RBI — NP: Fausch (2), Parkins.