HAWKS FALL IN HOME OPENING DOUBLEHEADER TO IOWA WESTERN

NORFOLK, Neb. – After starting the season with four consecutive road bouts, the Northeast Community College softball team returned to Ta-Ha-Zouka Park in Norfolk to kick off their home schedule against Iowa Western Community College. The Reivers took both games from the Hawks, 7-6 and 19-2.

Game 1 saw the Hawks (2-4) trail early, but a furious sixth-inning rally was almost enough to propel them to a victory. The Hawks were held to just one run over the first five innings, but a five-run sixth brought them to the brink of a win. In the final frame the Hawks put two runners in scoring position before the Reivers ended the game by throwing out a Hawks runner at the plate.

Game 2 was a tough one for the Hawks as the Reivers jumped out to a first-inning 8-0 lead and never looked back. Emilee Spitz (Columbus, Neb.) launched her second homer of the season, but it wasn't enough in the nightcap.

STAT SHEET GAME 1

•          Emilee Spitz (Columbus, Neb.): 2-4, RBI, 2 R

•          Josie Knust (Plattsmouth, Neb.): 1-2, R, 2B, 2 BB

•          Brianna Aguilera (Pierce, Neb.): 1-4, R,2B, R

•          Greta Lindberg (Tekamah, Neb.): 3 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, 2 K

STAT SHEET GAME 2

•          Emilee Spitz (Columbus, Neb.): 2-2, 2 RBI, R, HR

•          Jade Koch (Norfolk, Neb.) 1-2, BB

•          Emilee Spitz (Columbus, Neb.): 3 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, 2 K

HEAR FROM THE HAWKS COACH

Head softball coach Iris Woodhead's overall thoughts on the contests:

"Happy to be at home," Woodhead said. "I thought the first game we did a pretty fantastic job of limiting Iowa Western's chances and taking advantage of opportunities that they gave us. Pleased with our aggressiveness."

Woodhead's positive takeaways from the matchups:

"This is going to sound not positive, but I mean it in a positive light," Woodhead said. "Getting beat like we got beat makes you feel down in the dumps. So, the positive of that is you just felt that, and you don't ever want to feel that again. We got it out of our system. We don't play for another week and a half. We have a lot of time to figure out what went wrong. I think it was a good maturity day for us as long as the players learn from it."

Woodhead's early thoughts on facing Central Community College next and what she wants to see from her team before those games:

"I want to see our confidence build," Woodhead said. "I want to see us a little bit more aggressive at the plate. Iowa Western had the best pitching that we've seen so far, and we just weren't very aggressive. Just put the ball in play and do the little things. Focus a little bit more on doing the little things and building our confidence before we head down to Cloud County."

UP NEXT

The Hawks will hit the road in a little under two weeks to face Cloud County Community College for a doubleheader. The games are scheduled for 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 28 in Concordia, Kan.

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