The Hawks are missing just four players from last season’s squad that went 11-9 and placed fourth in the Heart of Iowa Conference, but all of them were all-league talents. Zeke Balderas, Cole Berg, Sam Lewis and Cade Balvanz aren’t walking through that door anytime soon, so to speak, and it’s up to the Hawks to find suitable replacements.

“We’ve got a lot of guys back with some experience, but we lost some good players,” South Hamilton head coach Kyle Galetich said. “My hope is that by the time we get to the 12th, 13th and 14th games that we’re improved, and I think we will be.”

South Hamilton’s 14-game regular season schedule, which is comprised of only league opponents, will get under way on Monday with a road trip to take on Prairie City-Monroe.

Over the past few years, Galetich’s decision as to who would be on the mound for the season opener was an easy one — it was Zeke Balderas. A first-team all-conference performer in 2019, Balderas was the rock of the Hawks’ pitching staff for three years, and a season ago it was Berg who was the next man in. They combined to make 12 starts, throw 77 innings and strike out 114 batters last summer.

Who does South Hamilton give the ball to this season? Junior southpaw Carter Hewitt has the most experience, not to mention a blazing fastball. The 6-foot-5 hurler went 3-2 on the bump with a 4.26 ERA and 46 strikeouts a season ago, but control problems limited him to only 23 innings.

Galetich sees a more confident Hewitt this season though. And if he can keep his pitches around the plate, he could have a breakout season.

Tycin Barkema and Elijah Balderas, both sophomores, also dipped their toes into the pitching pool as freshman with a combined 221⁄3 innings of varsity work. They’ll see time on the hill, as will seniors Cade Flaugh and Quinton Grove, and junior Brock Galetich.

“In the past it seems like we’ve had juniors and seniors as our pitchers, but we’ll be back to more juniors and sophomores this year,” Kyle Galetich said. “A lot of them have pitched (junior varsity) and it’s going to be a big jump from JV to varsity for them.”

Without a bona fide returning ace, it will fall onto South Hamilton’s defense to pick up the slack, something Kyle Galetich is confident will happen. Brock Galetich, Barkema and Flaugh were regular starters on the infield a season ago, while Grove and Freddie Lewis are back as starters in the outfield. Elijah Balderas will return behind the plate, and Lane Swenson can play virtually any position on the field. Brandyn Feighner will get a run in the outfield as well.

Brock Galetich, Barkema and Flaugh are all capable of playing multiple positions on the infield as well.

“Defensively we’ll be as solid as we’ve been and as experienced as we’ve been in a long time,” Kyle Galetich said. Our outfield is fast and athletic, and I think our infield defense will be very good.”

Even if South Hamilton’s pitching staff rounds into shape, and even if the defense is as good as Kyle Galetich projects, the Hawks are still going to have to score runs. The HOIC is always tough, and that will be no different this season.

In other words, one or two runs per game simply isn’t going to cut it.

“Our conference is notoriously tough in baseball,” Kyle Galetich said. “There are no walkovers in this conference.”

Brock Galetich will be the table setter at the plate for the Hawks. He raked at a .407 clip with a pair of doubles and 10 RBIs while hitting near the top of the order a season ago. Flaugh put together a .302 batting average, and Barkema showed flashes in his first season at the varsity level. After being called up to the varsity squad midway through the season, Barkema became a permanent fixture and smacked five extra base hits.

“With Tycin and Elijah especially, I think a year under their belts will help them a lot,” Kyle Galetich said. “For a lot of these guys, last year as freshmen and sophomores, it was a bit of a learning curve. I think this year they’ll see they’ve caught up a little more with the pitching they’ll see.

“We’re a little more balanced offensively this year and we’ll be as fast as we’ve ever been. Being patient and knowing what we can do at the plate will help.”

North Polk and Gilbert dominated the conference landscape a season ago, as they both went 13-1 inside the league and combined for a 52-12 overall record.

Gilbert lost a hefty chunk of its offense to graduation, but returns arguably the most dominant pitching staff in the league. Easton Johnson, a junior who has committed to Creighton, is a hard-thrower who went 7-1 with a 1.20 ERA a season ago. Sam Vanderpool and Jacob Papesh, also juniors, combined to go 7-0.

North Polk has its own ace hurler in Joe Husak. He put together a 6-2 record and 1.43 ERA in 2019.

PCM, third in the HOIC last summer, returns key pieces as well and could make the jump to challenge Gilbert and North Polk. The Mustangs are tough to beat whenever Derek Brown (6-2, 1.49 ERA in 2019) takes the ball.

Kyle Galetich says his club welcomes the challenges though. A daunting schedule comprised of primarily Class 3A opponents will only help the Hawks once the postseason rolls around in mid-July.

“I think we can be very competitive in the conference,” Kyle Galetich said. “I’m not concerned about who we play, but how we play and how much we improve. The more we improve against these 3A schools, the better it will be for us in the postseason.”