(Sentinel photo by Ty Capron) Hinton second baseman Zach Schoenrock swipes a tag on an MVAO runner sliding into the bag Saturday during the Blackhawks' first-ever home baseball tournament. [Click to enlarge]

It was a special weekend for Hinton's baseball team as they hosted the Blackhawk Invite, the first home baseball tournament in school history, on Saturday.

Sheldon took home the title with a 14-2 win over the Blackhawks after beating Akron-Westfield 15-1 in the first round.

Hinton made its way to the final game by beating Maple Valley-Anthon-Oto 11-8 in their first game. Tyler Stuerman got a complete game win over the Rams giving up eight runs - two earned - on five hits and struck out four.

(Sentinel photo by Ty Capron) Hinton pitcher Tyler Stuerman attempts a pick-off at first base Saturday during the Blackhawks' game with MVAO. [Click to enlarge]

The Blackhawks led off with one run in the first as Nate Freed singled and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Ryan Wenzel. A single by Adam Struve brought in Freed for the first run. In the next inning, Stuerman and Will Davis both walked before Freed singled Stuerman home. Davis moved to third and scored on a groundout by Wenzel.

In the third inning, Stuerman helped his own cause by driving in Cory Westphal and Dustin Kruse with a a RBI single. Struve and Jacob Trierweiler each added two more RBI's in the sixth inning to lead the Blackhawks to the first round win.

Struve led the team with three hits as he fell a home-run short of hitting for the cycle. Freed added three singles on the day.

(Sentinel photo by Ty Capron) A-W shortstop Fernando Beeck tosses across the diamond for an out Saturday during the Westerners' game with Sheldon. [Click to enlarge]

Akron-Westfield wasn't as fortunate in their first round game as they met up with eventual champion Sheldon and were handed a 15-1 loss.

The Orabs chased starting pitcher Derek Appley after 3 1/3 innings as they tagged him for ten runs - eight earned - with three strikeouts and two walks. Alex Frankl didn't fare much better as he only lasted 1/3 of an inning and gave up three earned runs. Michael Harris finished the game and gave up just two earned runs.

The Westerners did their only scoring when Frankl was walked and Appley drove him in with a double. The Orabs limited A-W to just five hits while pounding out 12 of their own.

(Sentinel photo by Ty Capron) A-W first baseman Ben Brown barehands a high-hopping ground ball during play at the Hinton tournament Saturday. [Click to enlarge]

However, the Westerners finished the weekend with a win after defeating MV-AO in the consolation game as a clutch hit by senior Justin Koch led A-W to the 7-6 win.

Koch was also the winning pitcher for A-W as he pitched a complete game and allowed six runs while walking one.

The team did most of their scoring in the second inning led by Appley. The sophomore walked and went to second when Koch reached by an error. With two on, Tyler Johnson hit a bases-clearing triple put A-W on the scoreboard. The next batter, Ben Brown, recorded a RBI single when he scored Johnson from third.

In the third inning, Harris walked and Appley moved him to second with a sacrifice. With a runner in scoring position, Koch was walked to first and Brown came through with a RBI on a fielder's choice.

However, the Westerners found themselves down 6-4 entering the home half of the seventh inning. Harris and Frankl led off the inning with back to back singles. With runners at first and second, Brown was walked to load up the bases for Koch. The senior came through in the clutch and got himself the win with a walk-off double that drove in all three runs as A-W on 7-6.

Koch had one hit but three RBI's. Brown had two singles and Tanner Bundy had a single and a double.

Hinton fell to Sheldon 14-2 in the championship game as Wenzel took the loss on the mound. The senior gave up ten runs - seven earned - with one strikeout. Jacob Trierweiler pitched one frame and gave up three earned runs on four hits. He also struck out one and walked one.

Robert Matson pitched the seventh inning and gave up four runs - one earned - with a walk and plunked a batter.

The Blackhawks scored one in the first inning and added their second run in the fourth. Wenzel singled to start the first and stole second. After advancing to third on a groundout, he scored on another groundout by Westphal.

Westphal added another RBI on the day after knocking in Struve in the fourth inning. Struve was on second base with a double before Westphal followed him with another double for the second run.

Hinton only managed four hits in the game but Westphal collected two RBI's along with his double.

"It was a good experience for us," said Hinton's Steve Diediker. "We played Maple Valley and Sheldon - two teams we've never played before in our history. It was kind of fun for us."

The Blackhawks were in War Eagle Conference action on Thursday night as they hosted Spalding. Hinton edged out the Spartans in a 9-6 game that was delayed by weather and wasn't completed until close to midnight.

Freed was the winning pitcher after giving up four runs - one earned - on seven hits in the first six innings. The senior walked four, hit one batter and struck out eight.

Stuerman pitched the seventh and gave up two runs on no hits. The sophomore walked two and hit one.

After scoring two runs in the first inning, the team exploded for seven in the fourth frame. Struve did most of the damage in the inning with his three-run double.

"They gave us some help with a couple of walks - they also had an error," said Diediker. "We were able to come up with four hits to advantage of some of the walks and the error they had. It was a situation where we took advantage of a couple of walks. It gave us a little breathing room when they scored a few runs in the last two innings."

The Westerners lost a nail-biter to South O'Brien as they fell 10-9 in eight innings. Johnson took the loss after giving up five earned runs in 6 1/3. He had no walks but hit one while striking out six.

Fernando Beeck gave up five earned runs and struck out three and walked one.

In the second inning, Johnson and Brown led off with base hits before Harris laced a single to scored the two.

After Koch singled to score Frankl in the fifth, Brown led off the sixth with a double and went to second on a sacrifice by Beeck. A Bundy sacrifice put the freshman Brown on third. An error by the Wolverines allowed Brown to scored from third.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Westerners found themselves down by two. With Appley on base, Koch singled to put two runners on for Brown. The freshman came through in the clutch and scored both to tie the game and sent it into extra innings.

Unfortunately, South O'Brien scored four runs in the top half of the eighth to put pressure on A-W. Two Westerner walks brought Frankl to the plate where he delivered with a single to score Bundy from second. Appley gave the team a chance with a two-RBI double but it wasn't enough as the Wolverines pulled out the victory.

"It was the best game we've played all year," said A-W's Gordy Johnson. "Saturday, we kicked the ball around quite a bit but we never quit. In the last game against Maple Valley, we could have put our heads down and went down quietly but we didn't. I'm really happy with the weekend.

The Westerners (3-12, 1-11)have a heavy slate this week as they host a hot Sergeant Bluff-Luton team on Monday before traveling to Remsen to play Remsen St. Mary's on Tuesday.

Hinton, now 7-10 overall and 6-5 in the WEC, will travel to Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn on Monday for WEC action.