HAWKS CONTINUE TO ROLL WITH SWEEP OF NORTH PLATTE

NORFOLK, Neb. – The Northeast Community College softball team returned home Friday to Ta-Ha-Zouka Park in Norfolk for a doubleheader against North Platte Community College under much warmer conditions than they had previously experienced this season. Northeast came out on top by final scores of 13-5 in Game 1 and 12-11 in Game 2.  

Game 1 was slow early for the Hawks (7-5), but a grand slam from Greta Lindberg (Tekamah, Neb.) and a two-run homer from Josie Knust (Plattsmouth, Neb.) opened the floodgates for the Hawks as they were able to down the Knights in just six innings.  

In Game 2 Brianna Aguilera came up huge for the Hawks as she finished the contest just a single away from hitting a cycle. The Hawks rallied just as they did in Game 1 and went home victorious after Makynzie Loftus (Gillette, Wyo.) walked-off the Knights to complete a sweep of the day. 

STAT SHEET GAME 1 

•          Abby Balfour (Nebraska City, Neb.): 2-4, 2 R 

•          Greta Lindberg (Tekamah, Neb.): 1-3, HR, 4 RBI, R 

•          Josie Knust (Plattsmouth, Neb.): 1-4, HR, 2 RBI, R 

STAT SHEET GAME 2 

•          Brianna Aguilera (Pierce, Neb.): 3-4, HR, 5 RBI, 3 R 

•          Makynzie Loftus (Gillette, Wyo.); 3-4, 2 RBI, BB 

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

HEAR FROM THE HAWKS COACH 

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

"We came in with a little bit of a new philosophy," Woodhead said. "We rolled off some wins with Central where it's kind of, "Hey, these are our expectations." Not necessarily to win, but to compete for the win. I thought we did a good job of competing for that win. Especially there in that last inning (of Game 2), down by two, we did a great job of scoring three runs to come away with a win." 

Woodhead's positive takeaways from the matchups: 

"I thought B (Brianna Aguilera) did really well behind the plate first and then also batting," Woodhead said. "She was nice and patient that first game and then that second game she couldn't be stopped. Josie (Knust) I thought did a good job at the plate. Jade (Koch) did an awesome job obviously there with that last hit, and Mack (Makynzie Loftus) did a good job coming through kind of as a part-time hitter and having a big-time day for herself." 

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

"The confidence is going to be huge for us as well as learning how to win games late," Woodhead said. "Late ballgames. I think that's going to be huge and going to be a big momentum builder for us. Now if we can just shut teams down on defense. We have to continue to try and figure that out." 

UP NEXT 

The Hawks will be back at home next Saturday for a doubleheader against North Dakota State College of Science. The games are scheduled for 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. at Ta-Ha-Zouka Park in Norfolk. 

HAWKS HAPPENINGS 

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