Sixth-ranked Remsen St. Mary’s struck early and often to beat Gehlen Catholic by a final of 6-2.
The Hawks started things off the right away with two runs coming on early hits in the first inning and three runs in the third inning. Remsen St. Mary’s head coach Monte Harpenau says his team is good at getting on base, but they haven’t been consistently able to get big clutch hits.
Those five runs were the bulk of the Hawk offense for the game as Gehlen pitcher Addie Konz settled down and allowed just one run in the final four innings. Remsen St. Mary’s pitcher Marina Cronin held the Jays to just a few hits and the two runs she allowed were unearned. Gehlen Catholic head coach Tony Gunter says he was happy with the runs they were able to score, but he wanted to see more.
The Hawks usually have a strong defense behind Cronin, so that three error inning was odd to see. Coach Harpenau says it was tough to watch, and he knows they won’t be able to get away with that come tournament time.
Each team could set their sights on the postseason with each team getting a bye out of the first round. That won’t be the case for either though. Coach Gunter is focusing his team to play another ranked opponent on Wednesday and finishing the regular season strong.
Coach Harpenau is focusing his team on sets of games. The Hawks wrap up with three games in four days before their first postseason game next Wednesday. He says it’s important for his team to focus on stretches of games rather than getting overwhelmed by the big picture.
The Hawks improved to 22-2 with their fourth win in a row. Gehlen Catholic fell to 15-9 with their fourth loss in a row.
