Snowhawks win big over Pukall Lumber Studs

Many runs were scored when the Snowhawks flexed their muscles in their first official win of the season on Monday night.

The Snowhawks beat the Pukall Lumber Studs 28-7 in Lake Tomahawk.

“(They were) probably not full strength so there wasn’t much we could do,” coach Jeff Smith said. “We hit the ball as well as we could’ve probably. We didn’t want to get too out of hand. It ended up getting out of hand. They’re always a lot of fun to play, a lot of nice guys and girls on that team. They help us out so much with our fields. It’s kind of a warm-up game for us.”

The Snowhawks scored the maximum five runs five times in eight innings including three home runs.

Jesse Robinson had two of those home runs. He hit his first homer in the first inning. Then in the fourth inning, he  cleared the left field fence to give the Snowhawks five runs.

“Jesse — he’s got the stride, he’s got the upper body strength, and he’s got a really good swing,” Smith said. “He really hits it, and the ball carries for him like crazy.”

Gunner Dunbar made his season debut on Monday. After a slow start, he caught fire and lined a two-run home run to right field in the seventh inning. 

“Gunner’s coming off a back injury so he kind of had to be easy,” Smith said. “Nice to see him turn on a few of them and hit line drives and long balls also.”

“I was pleased with the guys that can hit long balls and what they did last night,” Smith said. 

Don Moore also played his first game of the season. He picked up four hits and scored three runs.

After four innings, the Snowhawks led 16-3.

Pukall had a number of highlights throughout the game. Back-to-back singles by Josh Olivotti and Eileen Wahlgren loaded the bases. Bo Sanders brought home a run when he reached on a shortstop error in the third inning.

Even though they were down big, Pukall kept playing hard. They had a two-out rally in the sixth inning. Shane Schwingle got things going at the top of the lineup with an infield single. Melissa Bushman reached on a hit.

“The girls did good. They made contact,” Smith said. “And that ball is not the easiest to hit very far.”

    Dave Nance attempts to make a catch at second base with Pukall’s Shane Schwingle approaching in the sixth inning Monday, June 24 at Snowshoe Park in Lake Tomahawk. (Brett LaBore/Lakeland Times)
  

Dave Harris kept the inning going with an RBI single to center. Then it was Olivotti with his own single to drive in a run. Pukall left the bases loaded, but scored two runs. 

It wasn’t the first time Pukall left the bases loaded. They stranded three runners on base in the fourth inning.

“Our defense was good enough. We played hard, and we know that next week is going to be two hard games so we got to be a little bit serious,” Smith said. “We got out of some sticky situations quite a bit.”

Pukall scored a couple of runs in the ninth inning. Jenson Clements reached with his first hit of the contest. Josh Tilley hit an RBI double to left. Schwingle knocked in a run with a hit.

“(Tilley) plays Thursday Night League, but never played on snowshoes before,” Smith said. “As the game went on, he got better and better. Towards the end of the game, he started to get into it. It gets competitive.”

Eleven of the 12 Snowhawk batters scored at least one run. Smith led the way with five runs scored in the lead-off spot. He had a three-run triple to clear the bases in the second inning.

“Whatever fell, fell for base hits. And they weren’t real mobile on snowshoes so a lot of the balls dropped in front of them,” Smith said. “If you can’t move real good on snowshoes, those balls are going to drop for hits. When we play teams that are a little more athletic, you can tell you don’t get those hits anymore.”

Nick Merckz, Billy Kuckahn and Dave Nance produced at the bottom of the Snowhawks’ order with three runs apiece. 

In the sixth inning, Derek Young hit a two-run double to right center. Tod Niemuth and Young both scored three runs.

Up next, the Snowhawks (1-0) play two games next week. They take on Zimmy’s All-Stars on Monday, July 1 and then the Chicago All-Stars on Thursday, July 4. Both games start at 7:30 p.m. at Snowshoe Park in Lake Tomahawk. 

“(Zimmy) hand picks guys from our Thursday Night League, and those guys are not strangers to snowshoes,” Smith said. “Half a dozen have played on the Snowhawks before. Coming up to the Fourth of July that’s always a big game. Those guys always bring it. We will have to have our A-game and keep the errors to a very minimum.”

Brett LaBore may be reached at [email protected] or [email protected].