March 26, 2009
It’s hard to think that this is already my fourth year of high school baseball, and third on the varsity team. The last four years have gone by so quickly it’s unbelievable. I remember every year so vividly as if each was yesterday. I remember my freshman team of three years ago and the difficult season we had with several different coaches. Two years ago Hamilton won a district championship, the first in two decades. And last year, the bitter taste of defeat in the district finals, but the great season we had not only in wins but also in the way we got along. This year I expect to be no different, and I want to go somewhere that Hamilton hasn’t been in a very long time.
Baseball in the spring has become routine for me in my life, and with this being my last year I want to make the most of it. I have spent my last four spring breaks in Isle of Palms, South Carolina practicing baseball over four hours a day. I have had so many different teammates, all of which I will always remember the great times we had. With two of my three sports done forever, I know what it feels like to play that final game or wrestle that last match. The feeling is horrible and I hope my last baseball game will end in a win late in June.
We will be back at practice again after last night’s tough extra-inning loss to a good Middleville team. For the first game of the year we played pretty well and had some great defensive plays. Some of the guys started out with great offensive games and will look to keep improving. We are looking forward to our game next week against our old conference foe South Christian. We are hoping to rebound from the game last night and even up our record at 1-1 heading into our spring break trip to South Carolina.
-Corey Schrotenboer
March 25, 2009
HAMILTON, Mich. — Both teams had chances, that is for sure. However, the guest Trojans of Middleville staged an eighth inning rally to hand the Hawkeyes their first defeat in the season opener. The Hawkeyes, paced by junior Carter DeBoe, put runners in scoring position frequently as the game progressed but were unable to plate the winning run.
Down to their final three outs, DeBoe took Middleville pitcher Robbie Enslen deep to lead off the bottom of the seventh. DeBoe was involved in every scoring inning the Hawkeyes posted on Wednesday.
“We’ll come back tomorrow and work on the things we need to improve on,” DeBoe said after the loss.
Coach Ken DeGood added: “We did a lot of good things today. We just couldn’t find a way to drive in our runners when they were in scoring position. We will get back to work to improve everyday. But, that’s a good Middleville team and you have to give them credit. They just made one more play than we did.”
Taking the loss for the Hawkeyes (0-1) was DeBoe, who relieved starter Evan Mudd in the fourth inning. Mudd, beginning his second campaign on the varsity squad, went three innings allowing 5 hits and 2 earned runs while fanning five and walking just one batter. DeBoe (0-1) went 4 2/3 innings while giving up only one earned run on 7 hits. The junior lefty struck out five and only issued one base-on-balls. Also making their varsity mound debuts were juniors Alex Tenckinck and Steve Durham.
DeBoe set the offensive pace for the Hawkeyes by going 4-for-4, with a home run and a double. He also added 2 RBI. Senior Corey Schrotenboer, fresh off a medalist finish in the individual wrestling finals, was 3-for-5 with a double. Andrew DeGood added a single and two sacrifices for Hamilton.
The Hawkeyes will return to the practice field and prepare for South Christian, who makes the trip to Hamilton next Wednesday. First pitch is slated for 4:15 p.m.
