West Fork baseball has strong showing

The West Fork Warhawks baseball team won both of their games this past week as the team moved to 2-1 on the year after a 3-2 win over Rockford on May 22 and a 10-0 win over Iowa Falls-Alden on May 23.

Head coach Kayden Ames said that getting the two wins helps the team’s confidence a lot.

“We came into the year with higher expectations than we did last year,” Ames said. “We kind of saw what we were capable of last year and we gained experience so this year we came in and play to our full potential and I think we are doing that so far.”

In the win over Rockford, the Warhawks trailed 2-0 in the second inning after Rockford scored two runs in the top half of the inning. The Warhawks scored one run in the bottom of the fourth to make it 2-1 and took the lead after scoring two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to make it 3-2. The Warhawks had seven hits in the game and forced two walks. Trevor Despenas led the team with two hits,  Levi Ruckdashel, Sage Suntken, Braylon Shreckengost, Edison Maske, and Nolan Shreckengost all recorded one hit as well.

On the mound, Zander Hansen pitched four innings and gave up two runs on one hit and six walks while striking out six batters. Maske pitched 2.2 innings and struck out five batters and gave up no hits and had one walk. Nolan Shreckengost pitched. 0.1 inning and gave up no hits and no walks.

In the win over Iowa Falls-Alden, The Warhawks jumped out to a big lead in the third inning where they scored six runs to make it 6-0. West Fork then added one run in the fourth inning and three runs in the fifth inning. The Warhawks had four hits and forced four walks while also taking advantage of Iowa Falls-Alden’s four errors. Despenas, Braylon Shreckengost, Maske, and Nolan Shreckengost all recorded one hit. Hansen, Ruckdashel, Braylon Shreckengost, and Maske all recorded one RBI each. Pitching wise, Nolan Shreckengost pitched five innings and struck out six batters while walking six and giving up two hits.

From what he has seen so far this season, Ames said the warhawks are bringing the intensity in their games and have improved on offense.

“To start the season you love to see that because Baseball is a game of streaks and you can find some slumps but to be good offensively to start the year is huge,” Ames said.

One reason for the team’s big third inning in the win against Iowa Falls-Alden was the team starting off to a faster start then they had against Rockford.

“We were really pushing the guys to come out right away and to do something,” Ames said. “We were disciplined at the plate and we knew that on Wednesday that we were not playing up to our standards and so the next day we came back and we just wanted it and we were disciplined and we were staying in our approach and hitting the balls we wanted to hit we were driving baseball.”

With only giving up two runs in their two wins, Ames said the defense has been playing very well during the wins and that the team is flying to the ball and making plays.

“We look like we are having fun and it is a blast to play at that level of baseball,” Ames said. “And on the mound we are throwing strikes, both those runs against Rockford were unearned we were just walking guys. When we are throwing strikes and letting them put balls in playI have no doubt that we can make plays.”

Ames said that he thinks the team can take away a lot from the two wins.

“Just getting wins shows us that ok we can show us what we are capable of and I guess it is up to the guys what they take away from that and where we want to go for the rest of the year,” Ames said. “Getting wins early is really big for confidence and showing the guys what we can do if we execute.”

The team’s next game is on May 30 at Clarion-Goldfield-Dows at 5:30 p.m.