June 30, 2022 at 8:33 a.m.
Snowhawks beat local police & fire
Plays Chicago All-Stars on July 4
Snowhawks beat local police & fire
By by Brett LaBore-
The Snowhawks won the game 14-4.
"I think we improved some. I think we batted a little better, I think our defense was a little better. I got to get one guy that... we got to get Derek (Young) straightened out, I don't think he's setting his feet right," coach Jeff Smith said with a smile. "It was a good night, a good effort by everybody. Everybody seemed to get hits."
It was a wire-to-wire victory for the Snowhawks once again. In the first inning, Cole Punches singled to left to drive in two runs. Derek Young added in a run with a hit to shallow right. A drop by the local police/fire department came back to bite them. Two runs came on a drop in center field.
The Snowhawks had the inning maximum five runs and led 5-0.
Rob Domovich got the local police/fire department on the board with an RBI single to left, scoring Elisa Williams in the top of the second inning.
"I got to take my hat off to them, they did a great job. They just could not get runs across the plate. It was bad timing, but yeah they hit shots all over the field here," Smith said.
Back came the Snowhawks. Smith picked up a single to center, scoring Nick Mercks.
In the top of the third, Terry Pockat reached on an error from the Snowhawks. They looked to take advantage of it and get their run back. Instead, AJ Berg grounded into a double play.
The Snowhawks added to their lead in the third. They were firing on all cylinders.
Todd Niemuth singled to center for their seventh run. With the bases loaded, Brent Cella grounded into a double play. One run did score. Dustin Schowalter and Gunner Dunbar kept the inning alive with hits, scoring one run.
After three innings, the Snowhawks held a commanding 9-1 lead.
The defense came out in the fourth inning. Paul Miller nearly made an out on a diving catch in center field. Instead, they were able to get the force at second base.
When the Snowhawks came to bat, Dave Nance got robbed of a hit on a diving catch in center field. It ended up being a good inning for Miller, who later singled home a run with a hit to left.
The Snowhawks flexed their muscles in the fifth inning. Brent Cella hit an inside-the-park home run on a hit to center field. He raced home for the 11th Snowhawk run.
Two batters later, lefty Dunbar smashed a homer to deep right over the fence. It was his second home run in as many games. After five innings, the Snowhawks led 12-1.
"That was an awesome shot and he had a good shot last week too," Smith said. "I think he's got his swing back now. He's been struggling in the last couple years here, but Thursday night he's coming around on Thursday night so he's getting his swing back now. Good timing for that for next week."
The local police/fire department had their best inning in the sixth. Pockat started it off with an infield single to second. The next two batters both got out. It was Skyler Giampa with the two-out single to left to score a run. Next up, usual Snowhawk Ryan Schowalter drove home the second run of the inning.
"They had some guys that can really hit the ball hard. It's too bad they couldn't put it all together and get some more runs across," Smith said. "But they had fun, I think they had a lot of fun like always. Good bunch of guys."
A double to left by Nick Seeger scored the fourth run for the local police/fire department. It looked as if Domovich drove home the fifth run for the department, but the runner was called out at home.
The Snowhawks led 13-4 after seven innings.
Nance picked up his first hit of the game to load the bases in the eighth. Smith hit one back to the pitcher to drive in a run.
With the win, the Snowhawks now have their sights set on the Fourth of July game against the Chicago All-Stars. The game will start at 7:30 p.m.
"This is a good game to prepare. Guys are concentrating on getting hits a little more. We're going to rally, we just need to out-hit them," Smith said. "They're a tough team to out-hit cause every guy goes four-for-five, five-for-five and they're a bunch of good ball players. We're looking forward to it, we really are."
Brett LaBore may be reached at [email protected] or [email protected].
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