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 (Sentinel photo by Roy Tucker) A-W's Alex Frankl makes a catch during play at the Blackhawk tournament on Saturday in Hinton. [Click to enlarge] |
Making just his second varsity start, the freshman allowed five hits and two runs in six innings of work as the Westerners defeated Class 2A No. 5 Maple Valley/Anthon-Oto 4-2 in opening round action at the Blackhawk Tournament on Saturday in Hinton.
"He's had a heckuva week-and-a-half," A-W coach Gordy Johnson said of Hedlund. "He's gotten to play a lot of varsity...He's had a real good week and he topped it off by having a real big win for us."
 (Sentinel photo by Roy Tucker) Hinton's Craig Brown slides into second base with a steal during play at Saturday's Blackhawk tournament in Hinton. [Click to enlarge] |
That's the way it stayed until A-W added a run in the sixth when Mike Oetken was hit by a pitch and scored on a passed ball. After the Rams scored one in the bottom of the sixth, the Westerners added an insurance run in the seventh when Conner Heyl walked and scored on a passed ball.
Hedlund worked into the sixth inning before yielding to Tanner Bundy, who earned the save.
 (Sentinel photo by Roy Tucker) Hinton's Nick Becker delivers a pitch during play at the Blackhawk tournament on Saturday in Hinton. [Click to enlarge] |
Sheldon 23, A-W 15
The Westerners found themselves trailing 15-1 early in the championship game of the Blackhawk tournament, but bounced back to trail just 18-15 - forcing Sheldon to bring its starting pitcher back in to close out the game.
"I was really proud of the way the boys didn't give up," Gordy Johnson said. "We could have folded."
The Westerners, who Johnson readily admitted were out of pitching, did not record an error in the contest.
"I was real happy with the boys the way they fought back and played really good defense," he said.
Appley had a home run and three singles. Oetken had a pair of singles and a pair of doubles and Tyler Johnson also had four hits. BUndy had two hits for the Westerners (13-6), who return to action on Monday at home against Sergeant Bluff-Luton.
Sheldon 10, Hinton 8
The Blackhawks scored six runs in the seventh inning to add a more respectable 10-8 final score to a game with Lakes Conference stalwart Sheldon.
"We bunched together a few hits and it was good to see us not give up," Hinton coach Steve Diediker said.
Hinton got on the board in the first inning when Nolan Field singled and scored on an RBI single from Adam Struve. The Blackhawks added another run in the third as Seth Butler reached on an error and scored on an RBI groundout by Struve.
That was it as Hinton committed a pair of errors, making five of the seven runs allowed by starter Nick Becker unearned.
"If we make the plays, (it could be a) totally different ball game," Diediker said. "Defensively we didn't do the job. It wasn't like we had a bunch (of errors), but the ones we had cost us."
The Blackhawks got six in the seventh inning on RBI base hits from Becker, Struve, Stephen Koithan and Austin Finch.
Struve led the offense with two hits and three RBIs.
Maple Valley/Anthon-Oto 11, Hinton 1
Struve led the Blackhawks with two hits and had the lone RBI for Hinton in their 11-1, five-inning loss to Class 2A No. 5 MV-AO.
Blake Hoefling had the other hit for the Blackhawks (9-8).
"It wasn't a great day for us," Diediker said. "You don't like losing two games on your home field, but we went 4-2 on the week and most pro teams would take that."
The Blackhawks did not get on the board until the fifth inning. Field walked, went to second on a wild pitch and scored on Struve's RBI double.
"We learned some things from (Saturday)," said Diediker, whose team hosts WEC leader Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn on Monday. "That's what (tournament) games are for."