Bulldog Baseball Has Undefeated Week

Hampton-Dumont-CAL has continued to play good baseball since starting the season 0-8. Last week, the Bulldogs went 3-0 overall, winning all of its games of the week. The Bulldogs won both games of a doubleheader versus the St. Edmond Gales on Monday, June 23, winning game one 8-5 and game two 8-1. The Bulldogs then defeated the West Fork Warhawks 7-5 on Tuesday, June 24. The bulldogs had a doubleheader versus Saydel scheduled on Thursday, June 26 that was canceled due to a rain out. 

On Monday, the Bulldogs would collect two wins over St. Edmond. In game one the Bulldogs would jump out to a 2-1 lead, after scoring a run in the top of the second and third inning. The Gales scored two in the bottom of the fourth to take a 3-2 lead but the Bulldogs would respond with three in the top of the fifth inning to regain a 5-3 lead. The Gales scored two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to tie the game at five before the Bulldogs scored three runs in the top of the seventh inning to steal the 8-5 victory. Senior Dawson Wikert had a perfect day at the plate, going 3-for-3 three with two singles, a double, an RBI and three runs scored. Senior Jaxon Moats was the starting pitcher for the Bulldogs and he picked up his second win of the season, tossing a complete game and allowing five runs on 13 hits while striking out two Gales’ batters.

Game two would be a more dominant win for the Bulldogs. The Gales took the lead with a run in the top of the first inning but the Bulldogs scored eight unanswered runs, scoring two runs in the bottom of the third inning and three runs in the bottom of the fourth and sixth innings. Wikert had another perfect day at the plate, going 3-for-3 with two singles and one RBI on his first home run of the season. Senior Brody Robertson was the starting pitcher for the Bulldogs and he had a stellar outing, picking up his first win of the season and tossing a complete game, allowing just one run on three hits and two walks while striking out 10 Gales’ batters. 

Wednesday’s game was a back and forth affair against West Fork, the Bulldogs Franklin County rivals. The Bulldogs would score first, taking a 3-0 lead after one run in the bottom of the first inning and two runs in the bottom of the third inning. However, the Warhawks would quickly tie the game with three runs in the top of the fourth inning. After the Bulldogs retook the lead with a run in the bottom of the fourth inning, the Warhawks took their first lead of the game when they scored two runs in the top of the fifth inning. The Bulldogs once again took the lead back after scoring three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning and held the Warhawks scoreless in the seventh inning to secure the victory. Freshman William Vosberg had a big day at the plate, going 2-for-3 with a single. A double and three RBIs. Wikert was the starting pitcher for the Bulldogs and he tossed six and two-thirds innings, allowing five runs on six hits and one walk while striking out 10 Warhawks’ batters. The Bulldogs are 7-5 since starting 0-8 and head coach of the Bulldogs, Matt Lokenvits, discussed what has led to his team’s turnaround. 

“Our approach at the plate has been much better as well,” said Lokenvits. “We are taking our best swings at the pitches we want to hit. Earlier in the season we were just flipping out our bats on curveballs and changeups and things that they wanted us to hit. Now that we are holding off on those we are getting fastballs we can drive out into the gaps.” 

The 3-0 week moves the Bulldogs record to 7-13 on the season and 5-7 in conference play. The Bulldogs will compete in four games this week, having already played a doubleheader at Webster City on Monday, June 30 and hosted Grundy Center on Tuesday, July 1.