Hawks continue as a work in progress

By Gloria Austin  
Staff Writer
    The Hodgdon Hawks were 3-0 against their last three opponents before playing Calais on Saturday.
    The Blue Devils swept the Hawks, 14-4 and 18-4 in double header action in Hodgdon.
    In the opener, Calais scored nine second-inning runs to take a 9-3 lead into the fifth where they scored five more runs.
    Nick Lunn and Josh Hudson each singled twice for Hodgdon.
    In the second game, the Blue Devils used a six-run second for an 8-1 lead. The Hawks scored a run in the top of the third, but Calais answered with four runs of their own in the bottom of the frame for a 12-2 lead.
    Ryan Wellington led the Hawks with a double.
    This week, the Hawks have five games remaining on their schedule, as they meet Houlton twice, Fort Fairfield, East Grand and GHCA.
    Last week, the Hawks defeated visiting Fort Fairfield, 10-2 behind Jake Tidd’s two-run single which complimented a three-run fifth-inning rally that broke open a close game. The Hawks had led 3-2 over four innings.
  Chris Wallace hit a solo homer and singled for the Hawks, while picking up the win in four innings of three-hit shutout relief.
  Erik Ryan and Josh Hudson singled twice, while Levi Scott punched a two-run single.
    The Hawks are 3-7 on the season and in 14th position in the Maine Principals’ Association Heal Point standings, but coach Robbie Smith and team remain optimistic.
    “A couple of big wins would give us an opportunity to make the playoffs,” said Smith. “I think we can accomplish six or seven wins this season, and the team seems to agree when we discuss [what lies ahead for] the rest of the season.”
    The Hawks’ coach said there are two components that must be better in the Hawks’ game — hitting and fielding.
    “We need to wake our bats back up,” he said. “We had a stretch of games when we were hitting the ball really well. The past couple of games, we have not hit so well.”
    And, the second is executing a tighter defensive effort.
    “We started the season with great defense and little to no errors,” Smith pointed out. “In the last three weeks, we have had a great defensive game followed by a poor defensive game. Errors committed by us have led to runs for the other team. If we can keep our errors down to one or two a game, we can be in contention for a win. If we give up more than one or two errors, we seem to never recover and give up a potential win.”
    An aspect that has pleasantly surprised Smith is his pitching staff.
    “Our pitching has been better than expected,” he said. “We have battled the injury bug a little, but not much.”
    The rookies have stepped up and have all three wins this season.
    “They have exceeded expectations and provide a great future for this program,” Smith said.
    The senior and junior pitchers have struggled with injuries and location.  
    “The last few games, they have started to hit their spots and have started to improve from the beginning of the season,” Smith added.
    The Hawks have a chance at reaching the playoffs, but if they don’t they have achieved success this year.
    “We have met a goal that I set for the team and that is to increase our win total,” said Smith. “Even if it is starting with a low win total, we are seeing more wins than in the last two years.”
    The predicament this year for Smith has been building a competitive squad, while looking to the future.
    “I will be experimenting with some of my underclassmen playing different positions,” he said. “I will lose six seniors at the end of this season, so I will mix up the positions to give me a good idea of what we have returning and where they could potentially play next year.”
    With that said, Smith in no way is forfeiting any chances for a playoff bid.
    “We are a work in progress and we will continue to work until the last day of the season, whenever that may be for us,” he said.