Tuesday night was one of those down performances.

Roland-Story blistered five hits and took advantage of three errors in the first inning to build a comfortable lead en route to a 9-4 victory over the Hawks.

The Norsemen touched South Hamilton pitcher Anna Lammers — who was making her varsity debut in the circle — for five first-inning runs, and they added two more in the second.

HAWKS, See Page 6

South Hamilton freshman Kate Barkema looks at the plate as she stands on second base during Tuesday’s HOIC contest against Roland-Story in Roland. The Norsemen scored five first-inning runs and never trailed in a 9-4 win over South Hamilton. DFJ photo/Angela Hewitt

The Hawks made five errors in the contest, as well as several mental mistakes that didn’t help their cause.

“We just didn’t play a very good game (Tuesday night),” McMaken said. “We struggled defensively, we struggled offensively … it’s kind of to be expected because we do have a young team. But we always need to get better and I think the girls will respond to that.”

Roland-Story (1-1, 1-1 HOIC) touched Lammers for 11 hits. South Hamilton (1-1, 1-1 HOIC) managed just three base knocks.

Brenna Barquist delivered an RBI single in the second to briefly pull the Hawks back into contention, and she added a second RBI an inning later. Jessica Woodall added a two-run single with two outs in the second.

Trailing 8-4 after three innings, South Hamilton managed just one base runner over the final four frames. Roland-Story hurler Madison Geise retired 12 consecutive batters and 13 of the final 14 she faced.

Jessi Harms also had a base hit in the loss.

The Hawks were back on the road last night with a trip to Jefferson to take on Greene County.

Roland-Story 9, South Hamilton 4

Tuesday at Roland

SH 031 000 0 — 4 3 5

R-S 521 010 x — 9 11 3

Anna Lammers and Mackenzy Grady. Madison Geise and Macy Friest. WP — Geise. LP — Lammers. Multiple hits — R-S: Reagan Faber (3). 2B — R-S: Ally Ringsby. RBI — SH: Brenna Barquist (2), Jessica Woodall (2); R-S: Friest (2), Geise (2), Ringsby, Faber, Lydia Oetker.