BALFOUR’S LATE-INNING HEROICS PROPEL HAWKS TO SWEEP OF CENTRAL

NORFOLK, Neb. – The Northeast Community College softball team played in front of their home fans Tuesday for a doubleheader against Central Community College at Ta-Ha-Zouka Park in Norfolk. Abby Balfour (Nebraska City, Neb.) was the hero of the day with a grand slam to force a run rule in Game 1 gave the Hawks (9-5) a 9-0 victory and a three-run walk-off homer in Game 2 gave the Hawks a 13-10 victory to sweep of the day.

In Game 1 Greta Lindberg (Tekamah, Neb.) tossed a complete-game shutout and got out of bases-loaded jams on two different occasions. Lindberg also drove in the first two runs of the ballgame at the plate, and the Hawks added three more runs through the first five innings. Balfour came to the plate with the bases loaded and launched a ball over the left field fence to give the Hawks the win.

Game 2 was a closer affair with the Hawks and Raiders swapping the lead back-and-forth multiple times throughout the showdown. Homers from Jade Koch (Norfolk, Neb.) and Josie Knust (Plattsmouth, Neb.) in the fifth and seventh innings brought the game to a 10-10 tie with Balfour arriving to the plate. Just as she had in Game 1, she blasted a walk-off home run to seal her incredible performance on the evening.

HEAR FROM THE HAWKS COACH

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

"We can swing it," Woodhead said. "We showed that in the first game. We showed that in the second game. Now it's just kind of putting those things together. We scored nine runs in the first game and 13 runs in the second game. We can swing it. We just have to get our pitching staff to limit the runs. Greta (Lindberg) did amazing today. Complete shutout the first game. That's high level. She just had troubles that fifth inning (in Game 2), but at that time their hitters had seen her five, six times so that's expected. Josie (Knust) came in and did a great job. Getting six outs and holding them scoreless. That's exactly what we needed to do. We just need to start games better. If we can get our pitching staff to collectively figure it out, we don't need to score 13 runs. Or we score 13 runs and we have five-inning games because we can hit it. We'll be able to score runs."

Performances who Woodhead thought stood out:

"Abby's hitting walk-off home runs!" Woodhead said. "Lex (Alexis Folks) made a huge play in the seventh inning to get the runner out at third. If she doesn't make that play they score a run. That's a huge play. Lex did a great job at shortstop. B (Brianna Aguilera) behind the plate as always was solid. There were some balls that she got up and got and it was like, 'How did she get that thing?' Greta and Abby I think would be our two standouts. Greta on the mound and Abby coming through with big-time hits."

Woodhead's thoughts on building upon these two wins heading into Northeast's next set of games:

"We're going to hit tomorrow," Woodhead said. "We have to work on rundowns first to third. I want to see us continue to build on this momentum and make the adjustments at the plate earlier. That first game we practiced all week for this pitcher, and it took us five innings to make that adjustment. Making those adjustments at the plate and trusting what we're doing in practice and not just trying to do something new in games. We just want to continue to build on it and trust our fundamentals."

UP NEXT

The Hawks will return to the field at home Thursday for a doubleheader against Concordia University JV. The games are scheduled for 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. at Ta-Ha-Zouka Park in Norfolk.

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