The Hartley Sentinel-The Everly/Royal News - Serving O'Brien & Clay Counties

After overcoming early struggles, Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn fashioned a strong finish to defeat West Bend-Mallard, 11-8, in first-round regional softball action July 13 in Hartley.

The win was H-M-S's first in the postseason in four years.

"What a way to begin regionals," said Hawk coach Carissa Post. "Watching the Hawks play with enthusiasm, energy and zeal to succeed makes coaching so worth it."

The early innings didn't go smoothly for the Hawks. Combining walks, errors, a single and a hit batter in the first inning, WB-M built a 4-0 advantage. They scored two more runs in the next inning, but the lead didn't last long.

H-M-S cut the deficit to 4-3 when Bailey VerHelst hit a three-run triple in the first inning. They tied the score at 6-6 in the next inning on a single by Brynn Webber and two Wolverine errors.

MIKE PETERSEN/ENTINEL-NEWS

Cadence Klein reaches out to make contact with the ball during H-M-S's regional tournament game with West Bend-Mallard.

Darby Mastbergen's triple in the third drove in the go-ahead run. Three hits, a sacrifice by Taya Mason and a wild pitch led to a two-run fourth inning. H-M-S scored its final runs in the fifth on a groundout by Jessica Riedemann and a single by Webber.

The Wolverines scored twice in the sixth inning but they would get no closer.

Mason went the distance to earn the pitching win. She allowed nine hits, walked seven, hit four batters and struck out seven.

Defensively the Hawks came up with big plays as the game progressed. They threw out two runners at home and two at third base to help preserve the lead.

Webber was 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI; Elly Klein was 3-for-3 with three runs scored; VerHelst was 2-for-4; Mastbergen was 2-for-3; Hannah Jochims and Riedemann were 1-for-3.

With the win, H-M-S improved to 3-9 while West Bend-Mallard ended its season at 3-8.