Top Bases for a Cure fundraiser Andrew DeGood (left) and second-ranked fundraiser Brad Melpolder pose with assistant coach Mark Rudolph at Goog's with their reward: a Goog's burger.

Sporting pink uniforms, Hamilton fell 8-5 to Buchanan in the opening round before their consolation game against Otsego was cancelled in progess due to weather.

Corey Schrotenboer (0-2) took the loss in relief of starter Steve Durham for Hamilton, who fell to 7-5 overall. In an inning and a third of work, Schrotenboer surrendered three earned runs on two hits, a walk and a hit batter.

At the plate, the Hawkeyes were paced by catcher Jason Henrickson and shortstop Andrew DeGood. Henrickson was 2-for-4 with a triple, single, one RBI and a run. DeGood was 2-for-3, recording a solo home run and a single. Four other players had hits, as strong pitching kept Hamilton’s hitters off balance.

Buchanan jumped ahead early. Two doubles, two walks and two Hamilton errors put the Bucks up 3-0 before the Hawkeyes even had a chance with the bats.

Hamilton responded with two runs of their own. After Durham coaxed a walk to lead off the Hamilton-half of the first inning, Henrickson brought him home with his triple deep into the left-centerfield gap. Evan Mudd’s sacrifice fly plated Chase Martin, who had entered the game as a courtesy runner for Henrickson.

Durham held the Bucks to only two more runs until he was replaced by Schrotenboer at the start of the fifth inning. In four innings of work, Durham allowed five runs on nine hits, while walking three and fanning five. Four of the runs were earned.

The Hawkeyes did most of their damage in the fourth inning. DeGood led off the inning with his home run to left-centerfield. Schrotenboer followed by drawing a walk, and after advancing to second on Rob Arnold’s groundout, he scored on Luke Stafford’s RBI single. Stafford would then score on Henrickson’s RBI single. The fourth inning explosion tied the game at 5-5 before Buchanan took command again.

The Bucks scored two in the fifth off Scrotenboer and loaded the bases in the sixth. Schrotenboer gave way to Evan Mudd who walked in one run before getting out of the jam. Mudd pitched a scoreless top-half of the seventh to give the Hawkeyes a chance to rally late.

After a one-out single by Carter DeBoe, DeGood flew out to shortstop and Buchanan’s first baseman made a great diving catch on Schrotenboer’s foul pop to end the game.

Rain delayed the start of the consolation game against Otsego, and fewer than three innings of play were completed before the game was called due to weather.

The Hawkeyes took the field wearing pink hats, jerseys, wristbands and socks to raise awareness and money for breast cancer and the Susan G. Komen foundation. Amy Rudolph, wife of assistant coach Mark Rudolph and a breast cancer survivor, threw out the first pitch — a strike to Schrotenboer.

Look for a video recap and pictures of Saturday’s events early next week on HamiltonHawkeyeBaseball.org.

Hamilton is next in action Tuesday away against O-K Green Conference foe Wyoming Park. The Hawkeyes will be looking to avenge a 4-1 loss to Park less than two weeks ago. First pitch is scheduled for 4:15 p.m.

Hamilton teams compete for a cause

HAMILTON, Mich. — The Hamilton High School baseball and softball programs have joined forces with the Southwest Michigan affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure to raise money and awareness for breast cancer research by hosting their first ever “Bases for a Cure” fundraising campaign. Both varsity teams will be “going pink” for the Hamilton Tournament on April 25, 2009.

The teams will be wearing pink jerseys and wristbands to bring awareness to their fundraising efforts. Members of both the varsity baseball and softball teams will be selling pink “Bases for a Cure” t-shirts for $10 with 100 percent of the profits ($5) being donated to the Komen Southwest Michigan Affiliate.

Breast cancer has affected members of the Hamilton community in recent years. Some quick facts about breast cancer are:

• Breast cancer affects 1 in 8 women in the United States.
• For women in the U.S., breast cancer death rates are higher than those for any other cancer besides lung cancer.
• Besides skin cancer, breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among U.S. women. More than 1 in 4 cancers are breast cancer.
• As of 2008, there are about 2.5 million women in the U.S. who have survived breast cancer. (www.breastcancer.org)

When discussing the impact of breast cancer on the community, Hamilton varsity baseball coach Ken DeGood said: “We’ve had a lot of people who have been diagnosed or have been in treatment and are battling breast cancer with their families, friends and church communities. Hamilton is a pretty tight community so when someone is diagnosed, the community rallies together to help their cause. We are confident that Hamilton will rally once again to support this cause that our student athletes have chosen to support.”

The Komen Southwest Michigan Affiliate helps by keeping fundraising money in West Michigan. Rosemary LaDuke, executive director of KSMA says: “75 percent of our net funds stay in Southwest Michigan and are primarily used for Pink Saturdays for the Cure, a collaborative program with 20 mammography facilities (including all hospitals), several radiology organizations, and many medical organizations. The other 25 percent goes directly to national breast cancer research studies. During 2008 the Pink Saturdays program provided almost 1,400 free mammograms to women in Allegan, Berrien, Branch, Calhoun, Cass, Kalamazoo, St. Joseph, and Van Buren counties.”

For more information about the Susan G. Komen for a Cure, please visit www.komenswmichigan.org and www.komen.org.

If you are interested in purchasing a “Bases for a Cure” pink t-shirt, please e-mail assistant coach Mark Behnke at mbehnke@hamiltonschools.us or call him at 269-751-5185 ext. 521.