By Bruce Karnick

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Amateur baseball is in full swing for the Hastings Hawks who had two games this past weekend. Friday the Hawks played at home against the Wanamingo Jacks, a participant in the Class C state tournament last year. They traveled to Rochester Sunday to take on the Class B Royals.

The game under the lights on Friday against the Jacks was a great game to watch. It was a great game defensively with wonderful pitching performances from both teams. Max Bundschu (pronounced Bundshoe) started on the bump for Hastings. Gavin Roosen started for Wanamingo.

The game remained tied until the bottom of the fifth when HHS ’21 grad Jake Sandquist hit a single to left field. Sandquist, the game’s starting catcher, was replaced on the bases with Patrick Rough as a courtesy runner. Rough stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Jordy Horsch, who returned to the Hawks after a few seasons on the rival Mudhens’ roster, hit a grounder up the middle to score Rough for the 10 Hawks lead.

The Jacks scored two in the top of the seventh off Bundschu putting him as the pitcher of record for the loss if it were to happen. Bundschu finished the seventh and the book was closed on his outing for the night. He finished with 101 pitches thrown, 37 balls, 64 strikes. He struck out six, fanning three and freezing three and had no walks. Statistically, Bundschu had a stellar performance on the mound.

Douglas Nordine took over the reins in the eighth and he kept Wanamingo at bay for the first inning of work. In the top of the ninth, with two outs, Gavin Roosen hit a single to the left field gap, then Sam Roosen hit a dribbler back to Nordine who made a throwing error to first in his attempt to get the final out. That allowed the inning to continue. Eric Swiggum hit a double scoring one and Alex Roosen hit a double scoring two, giving the Jacks a 51 lead.

Hastings did stop the bleeding in the ninth, but the insurance runs were too much to overcome. Isaac Flynn, Evan Khrin and Nick Horsch all singled to load the bases for Hastings with no outs. Things were looking good and had the error not occurred in the top of the ninth, Hastings would have been in a great position to get the comefrombehind win.

Jordy Horsch flew out to shallow center and that brought up Will Lavin. Lavin crushed one to the right field gap scoring two and cutting Wanamingo’s lead in half to 53. Unfortunately, that is where the excitement ended for Hastings. The next two batters went down and Hastings had their second loss of the young season.

“That was a tough one,” manager Shawn Matson said after the game. “We should have had that, but there is plenty of time left in the season and we are still knocking some of the rust off.”

Sunday, the Hawks had a bit of a road trip down to Rochester to take on the Royals at Mayo Field. The game did not go well. Jordan Jeske started on the mound for Hastings, going three innings and allowing five runs. Patrick Rough replaced him in the fourth going two innings allowing six runs and Ben Bundschu took over for the sixth inning before the game was called for the 10run mercy rule. Rochester won, 111. The lone bright spot for the Hawks offense was Jake Sandquist with an RBI in the top of the fourth.

The Hawks have a slower week in their game schedule this week, playing only Saturday and Sunday. The Saturday game is a big event for the team as they celebrate the life of former board member and manager Wayne Erickson. Erickson passed away in February and his family opted to wait to host his celebration of life until the weather was warmer, and they could do it at Erickson’s favorite place on the planet, a baseball field.

Erickson was involved in the league as a longtime league board member. He also managed and played at Hampton, so the timing was perfect to host the memorial service for him before the Hampton/Hastings contest. Pregame activities should start around 5:30 p.m. with the first pitch around 6 p.m.

The hope is to see the stands and plaza packed for the game to honor Erickson. Come early, grab a burger or hot dog and just take in the sights and sounds of the baseball field. Erickson would often just sit by himself on a picnic table near concessions and watch the pregame process. It was his way to relax and enjoy the little things in life, something that he would love all of us to do. The winner of the game will take home the newly created travelling trophy honoring the memory of Erickson between the two teams.

The Hawks then host the Dundas Dukes on May 22 at 2:00.

Wayne Erickson