Saydel pitcher Mason Hicks sprinkled in enough off-speed pitches to keep the Hawks at bay, as the Eagles went on to take the Heart of Iowa Conference clash, 3-2. Hicks limited South Hamilton (7-6, 7-6 HOIC) to just three hits to help his team complete the two-game season sweep.

“We’ve got to swing the bats better than that,” South Hamilton head coach Kyle Galetich said. “(Hicks) had a little bit of a funky delivery and we couldn’t pick up his slider for anything. He kept us off-balance pretty well.”

The contest was locked at 2 entering the bottom of the seventh inning. Saydel (8-12, 6-7 HOIC) won in walk-off fashion courtesy of a suicide squeeze bunt by Payton Swafford that pushed Nick Gudin across. Swafford finished with two RBIs.

Skyler Cardenas belted a solo home run for Saydel in the third inning.

Tanner Blue pitches for South Hamilton against Saydel on Wednesday in Des Moines. DFJ photo/Angela Hewitt

Tanner Blue was on the hook for the loss after going four innings on the mound. He relieved Carter Hewitt, who pitched just 21⁄3; Hewitt is penciled in to get the start on Saturday in South Hamilton’s Class 2A District 13 quarterfinal against PCM.

Quinton Grove was responsible for two of the Hawks’ three hits. He had a single, as well as a third-inning RBI double. Brandyn Feighner also singled.

Saydel 3, South Hamilton 2

Wednesday at Des Moines

S. Ham 002 000 0 — 2 3 4

Saydel 002 000 1 — 3 5 1

Carter Hewitt, Tanner Blue (3) and Elijah Balderas. Mason Hicks and Skyler Cardenas. WP — Hicks. LP — Blue. Multiple hits — SH: Quinton Grove. 2B — SH: Grove. HR — SAY: Cardenas. RBI — SH: Grove; SAY: Payton Swafford (2), Cardenas.