Get Weekday Work in Two Toledo Wins

On the evenings of Tuesday, July 5, and Thursday, July 7, the "Gold" squad of the Toledo Hawks Baseball club put in two workmanlike performances at Bowman Field.  Tuesday, the Hawks defeated Bedford 14-1; and in the Thursday night affair, they broke open a tighter game and upended the Black Swamp by an eventual 8-1 margin.

The Tuesday contest saw a hitting barrage throughout the lineup.  Drew Kuns (Bowling Green/Oregon) had a triple, a double, two RBI and scored four times to pace the 11-hit Hawk attack; Eric Croak (Toledo/Toledo) added 3 hits and 2 RBI; Mattie DeDoes (Oberlin/Ann Arbor, MI) drove in 3 runs, and Phill Dysard (Tiffin/Toledo) also contributed a 2-run single.  Starting and winning pitcher Jimmie Shaw (Lake Erie/Holland) was the primary beneficiary of the scoring deluge; Shaw allowed a hitless run in the second inning, but went four total frames while striking out four Bedford batters in his stint.  Kirk Stambaugh (Wayne State/Sylvania) chucked the fifth and sixth innings in scoreless relief, and then Tim Corbey (Dayton/Toledo) saw the bases loaded against him in the seventh before inducing the final out.

Thursday evening saw the Black Swamp put up a quick run on the Hawks in the top of the first, helped by a couple of miscues by the Gold Hawk defense.  However, Lucas Willitzer (Adrian/Defiance) drained the Swamp over the first five innings, notching six K's while only allowing three hitters to reach base.  While Willitzer held the opposition down, the Hawk offense had an unusual output over the first five innings--all four of their hits to that point were triples, helping the Hawks to hold a 3-1 lead.  Cory Lehman (Siena Heights/Toledo), Ryan Williams (Tiffin/Maumee), Eric Croak and Mattie DeDoes belted the three-baggers.

The Hawks sharpened their talons to scratch five runs in the bottom of the sixth, with hits from Williams, Croak, and Brett Howard (Siena Heights/Toledo), whose single gave him a total of two RBI for the game.  Brian Koehl (Heidelberg/Sylvania) did the pitching honors over the final two innings, as the Hawks raised their Toledo League record to 6-0 while elevating their overall mark to 20-6.