Coming off a loss to the Edmonds-Woodway Warriors, the Hawks faced off against the Shorewood Thunderbirds in their final home game of the season on Tuesday. It was senior night for the Hawks honoring seniors Ashley Fitzgerald and Lauren Miller.
The Thunderbirds struck first in the top of the first inning and went up 1-0. Right away the Hawks responded by scoring two runs off a single by freshman outfielder Julia Brocksmith. The Hawks proceeded to load the bases and walk in a run, making it 3-1 at the end of the 1st inning.
Momentum began to pick up for the Hawks in the bottom of the 2nd after a scoreless top half for the Thunderbirds. Sophomore Jasmine Zenk hit a double down the line, driving in two and increasing the Hawks lead to four runs.
Directly after, Fitzgerald hit a single up the middle and Zenk scored from 2nd base giving the hawks a 6-1 lead going into the 3rd inning.
Coach Rasmussen made a pitching change in the top of the 3rd, giving Zenk her first appearance as a pitcher this season. Junior pitcher Gabby Calhoun got a much deserved break after starting the previous two games as well due to injuries of fellow pitchers Kira Doan and Sammy Ruiz.
Zenk only gave up one run on a groundout to short in her first inning of work and the Hawks were not able to push across another run in the ending the 3rd at a 6-2 score in favor of the Hawks.
Zenk held Shorewood scoreless in the top of the 4th and got some more run support in the bottom half from Brocksmith and freshman Sarah Davis increasing their lead to 8-2.
Shorewood was held scoreless yet again in the top of the 5th and Brocksmith drove in one more in the bottom half to boost her RBI total to four in the game as well as expanding the lead to 9-2.
The Thunderbirds were able to shrink the deficit to 9-4 on a two-run home run in the top of the 6th while the Hawks weren’t able to score in the bottom half of the inning.
Shorewood scored on an error by third baseman Davis making it 9-5 and then hit a double down the line from the next batter which reduced the lead to 9-7.
Although it looked like the Thunderbirds had the momentum to overtake the Hawks in this game, Zenk recorded the final out of the game ending it at 9-7.
The Hawks finished the season in fourth with a 12-6 conference record. The Hawks play their first playoff game at the Phil Johnson Fields in Everett against the Marysville-Pilchuck Tomahawks on Tuesday, May 17, at 4:00.
