A .380 hitter on the season, Blue isn’t someone the Hawks try to hide at the bottom of the lineup. He’s a more than capable stick who’s talented enough to win games when called upon.

And South Hamilton needed him in its biggest outing of the season.

Locked in a 4-all tie with Hudson in the bottom of the sixth inning, Blue delivered the game-winning hit — a line-drive RBI double into the gap in left-center that scored Lane Swenson from third, and the Hawks shut the door in the seventh to knock off the Pirates, 5-4, in a Class 2A District 5 semifinal.

“I was excited and I knew I could do it,” Blue said. “I was just going to swing away like normal and I was ready for sure. I was looking for anything to hit.”

Lane Swenson digs for third on his way to a triple in the sixth inning against Hudson on Tuesday in Story City. He went 3 for 3 in the game. DFJ photo/Troy Banning

Swenson jump-started the sixth with a lead-off triple into open space in right-center, but a ground out and strikeout left him still standing 90 feet away when Blue stepped into the box. He crushed a belt-high Caleb Ham fastball over the fat part of the plate.

“Everybody in our lineup can hit,” Swenson said. “I trust everybody in our lineup to hit behind me and drive me in.”

It’s true, South Hamilton (19-5) has an explosive lineup, but it was the lower part of the order that got the job done against Hudson (15-13). The Nos. 6-9 hitters — Swenson, Freddie Lewis, Jake Ellis and Blue — accounted for five of the team’s eight knocks, all five of its RBIs and two of its three extra-base hits.

Swenson was a headache for the Pirates all evening. He went 3 for 3 with three RBIs, and Ellis also produced an RBI single.

“Those guys were big,” Brock Galetich, the Hawks’ lead-off hitter who went 1 for 4, said. “When the top part doesn’t produce, the bottom part is usually there to pick us up. Lane, he’s been doing it all year for us.”

South Hamilton’s Jake Ellis (left) and Brock Galetich (center) nearly collide while going after a relay throw as Hudson’s Isaac Messmore slides into third during the third inning Tuesday evening in Story City. The Hawks rallied twice and beat the Pirates, 5-4, in a Class 2A District 5 semifinal. DFJ photo/Troy Banning

South Hamilton was forced to rally back from 2-0 and 4-2 deficits, but never wavered thanks to its confidence.

Hudson scored two runs in the first inning, only to have the Hawks answer with two in the second. Elijah Balderas keyed the flurry with a lead-off double to left-center and Swenson followed with an RBI single to left. He sprinted home on Ellis’s RBI bouncer back up the middle two batters later.

The Pirates rattled Hawks’ starting pitcher Tycin Barkema for four consecutive hits to open the third, as they jumped back in front 4-2. Galetich came on in relief with runners at first and third with no outs, but avoided more damage with a double play on a suicide squeeze bunt attempt by Ethan Vogt that was popped up to Balderas behind the plate. He quickly fired to Barkema at third for the second out.

“That was huge,” Galetich said. “Elijah made a great play because they had all of the momentum. To get out of there was a huge momentum shift.”

South Hamilton got the two runs back in the bottom of the third. Barkema and Carter Hewitt, aboard via a walk and base hit, both scored on Swenson’s two-run single into right to make it 4-4.

South Hamilton’s Tycin Barkema celebrates after scoring a run in the third inning against Hudson on Tuesday in Story City. The Hawks advanced to Saturday’s Class 2A District 5 final against HOIC rival and top-ranked Roland-Story. DFJ photo/Troy Banning

“It’s first pitch every time for me,” Swenson said. “With our group, we’ve been playing together since kindergarten. We’ve grown up together and we just know we can’t be down because we’re very good at every position.”

Hudson touched Barkema for seven hits, but had no such luck against Galetich, who kept the Pirates on the defensive by being able to throw his slider for strikes. He surrendered just one hit and struck out five over five innings of relief work en route to the win.

“All through my sports career, I’ve been put in those positions,” Galetich said. “So it wasn’t anything new, I just had to throw strikes and hit my spots.”

Hudson’s one hit off Galetich was a double to left-center by Vogt in the sixth. But Hawks’ center fielder Freddie Lewis delivered a bullet from the wall to third to throw out Jacob Wiersma, who was aboard with a lead-off walk, and that silenced the Pirates’ chances of taking the lead.

South Hamilton advanced to Saturday’s district final against a familiar foe — Heart of Iowa Conference rival and No. 1-ranked Roland-Story (29-5), which rallied from an early 4-0 deficit to knock off Iowa Falls-Alden, 10-6, in Tuesday’s other semifinal.

DFJ photo/Troy Banning

South Hamilton and Roland-Story split their two regular season meetings. The Hawks took Round 1 on June 7, 7-3, while the Norsemen evened the series on June 28, 5-4.

“It’s going to take our best ball,” Galetich said of Round 3. “It’s going to come down to the final inning and whichever team handles the pressure the best. We’ll be ready.”

Class 2A District 5 Semifinal

SH 5, Hudson 4

Tuesday at Story City

HUD 202 000 0 — 4 8 0

SH 022 001 x — 5 8 1

Caleb Ham, Jacob Wiersma (6) and Joe Culham. Tycin Barkema, Brock Galetich (3) and Elijah Balderas. W — Galetich. L — Ham. Multiple hits — HUD: Dillon Haddeman; SH: Lane Swenson (3). 2B — HUD: Ham, Ethan Vogt; SH: Balderas, Tanner Blue. 3B — SH: Swenson. RBI — HUD: Culham, Haddeman, Wiersma; SH: Swenson (3), Blue, Jake Ellis.

AT A GLANCE

Who: South Hamilton (19-5) at No. 1-ranked Roland-Story (29-5).

What: Class 2A District 5 final.

When: Saturday, 7 p.m.

Where: Story City.

At Stake: A spot in Tuesday’s Class 2A Substate 3 final against either Garner-Hayfield/Ventura (21-4) or New Hampton (17-15) in Mason City.

Previous 2021 meetings: South Hamilton won 7-3 on June 7; Roland-Story won 5-4 on June 28.