On a perfect summer night at Veterans Park, with the midway lights of Rivertown Days flickering in the distance, the Hastings Hawks put on a show that was as loud as the carnival and just as relentless.
As part of a Friday night doubleheader on July 18, the Hawks capped off a full evening of baseball with a 16-0 seven inning demolition of the Rochester Royals. The first act? A gritty 7-2 win by the Hastings Hurricanes 35+ squad, who took down the Federal League-leading Lakeville Lobos to grab first place in the standings. But it was the nightcap that turned into a full-blown fireworks display.
The Hawks scored 13 runs in a jaw-dropping sixth inning, batting through the lineup not once, but twice, and leaving the Royals scrambling. The game, which had been a crisp 3-0 pitcher’s duel through five innings, became a blowout in a matter of minutes. Rochester never recovered.
The bottom of the sixth started like any other frame, a slight pause in a tight game. Then Max Krebs stepped in and changed everything. With one swing, he sent a solo shot over the left field wall, his first homer of the game and a spark that lit the fuse.
The Royals’ pitching and defense unraveled from there. Hastings strung together seven hits and took advantage of four errors in the inning. Mitch Iliff doubled home two more. Jack Seleski launched a two-run double to the gap. Bench players Zach Simon and Jordan Jeske came in and immediately drove in runs with back-to-back singles.
The inning went on and on. When it finally ended, 18 batters had stepped to the plate. Almost every player in the dugout either scored a run or drove one in. Fans in the bleachers, who had already seen a full game earlier, stayed glued to their seats. Rochester never recorded an out that stopped the bleeding. They just ran out of innings.
The final box score read like a lineup card with cheat codes. Hastings collected 16 hits. Ten different players crossed the plate. Eight had at least one hit. Seven had RBIs. And the team as a whole struck out just three times.
Krebs finished with two hits, four runs scored, and two RBIs. Iliff was 2-for-3 with a double, a walk, and three driven in. Seleski added two hits and two RBIs. Drossel, Rasmussen, Teigland, and DiTeodoro each chipped in with timely knocks.
Bench players didn’t just fill innings, they kept the foot on the gas. Simon and Jeske both delivered RBIs. Dennis Reinhart picked up a sacrifice RBI. Even Nick Horsch, who entered late as a pinch runner, came around to score.
It wasn’t just an offensive outburst. It was a full-team flex.
While the sixth inning stole the headlines, the Hawks’ pitching staff deserves just as much credit. Reece Cox took the ball and never let go of control. Over five shutout innings, Cox allowed just two hits and four walks while striking out six. The Royals had chances, but Cox shut the door every time.
When the game got out of hand, Gavin Odman came in to close things calmly. He tossed the final two innings, scattering one hit and three walks, and didn’t let a single Royal get past second base.
The pitching duo allowed just three hits total. Meanwhile, Hastings’ defense backed them up with flawless play, not a single error on the night.
For the Royals, it was a night to forget. Starter Thane Meiners was solid early, striking out eight over five innings and keeping the game close. But once the sixth began, things fell apart. He exited after allowing a leadoff homer and a pair of singles.
Reliever Harrison Esau faced 14 batters and gave up seven hits and 12 runs, though only four were earned thanks to multiple defensive miscues. Palmer Mickelson came in for mop-up duty but couldn’t stop the Hawks’ bench from tacking on more.
Offensively, the Royals had no answers. They left 10 men on base and went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position. Thane Meiners, Mike Michalak, and Drew Block were the only players to record hits. No one scored. No one reached third.
And with four defensive errors in a single inning, Rochester didn’t give themselves much of a chance.
Friday night’s doubleheader had the feeling of a summer classic, local fans lining the fences, music from the Rivertown Days and carnival entertaining folks downtown, and two Hastings teams delivering wins against tough opponents.
The Hurricanes’ victory earlier in the evening gave the 35+ squad a major boost, knocking off the top team in the Federal League in a game that featured sharp pitching by Hawks board member Tony Kaiser and clutch late-inning hitting. But it was the Hawks’ explosion that lit up the scoreboard and capped the night with authority.
From the first pitch to the final out, the Hawks looked sharp, energized, and locked in. It was a statement win, not just in the box score, but in how they executed. Hustle on the base paths. Heads-up plays in the field. Professional approaches at the plate.
The Rivertown celebration may wind down, but the Hawks are only heating up. With the playoffs around the corner, Hastings looks to be firing on all cylinders, a deep, well-rounded team capable of grinding out close games or blowing them wide open.
Cox and Odman showed that the pitching staff has range and reliability. The offense showed it has no weak links. And the bench showed it was ready when called.
Friday was more than just a win. It was proof that when the Hawks are on, there’s not a team in the region that can match them punch for punch. And as fans filed out into the night to enjoy food trucks and music, one thing was clear: the Hawks weren’t just part of the celebration. They were the show.
Unfortunately, that show hit a showstopper called the New Market Muskies on Saturday. Hastings took a trip to New Market to take on a section foe they had defeated earlier in the season 8-4. The problem? The early season win coupled with other, early season upsets over local powerhouse teams has given Hawks opponents a reason to throw their aces against the Hawks.
“We are no longer sneaking up on these teams,” said Hawks board member Derek Simon. “Our section has seen the improvements we have made up and down the roster and they cannot afford to look past us.”
That is where the Hawks have run into some obstacles. These teams are throwing their ace pitchers against the Hawks and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. At New Market, it worked for the Muskies who held Hastings to just three base runners, a bunt single by Cory Wolters, an infield single by Nolan Drossel and Evan Khrin was hit by a pitch in the 11-0, seven inning loss.
With the loss, the Hawks move to 5-8 in section play with one section game remaining, the local rivalry between Hastings and Miesville on July 27 at 2:00 p.m. in Miesville. Hastings is 10-13-1 overall with two regular season games left on the schedule. The final home game is July 23 against the Minneapolis Cobras at 7:30 p.m.
The post season games will not be officially scheduled until the end of the month, but if it holds as is right now, Hastings will be the sixth seed, and they will open the section tournament at the number three seed on August 1 at 8:00 p.m. As of right now, that is Hampton. If that stays the course, Hampton will need to find an alternative site to host the night game due to a lack of lights on their field.
Of course, this all could change with Miesville playing New Market on July 23 and the aforementioned Hawks vs Hens game on 7/27. Right now, New Market is 6-6 in the section, Miesville is 5-7 and Hastings is 5-8. If New Market pulls off the win against the Hens and Hastings sweeps the Mudhens season series, Hastings could move up to the fifth seed.