Pony team suffers first setbacks

HARTINGTON — The Hartington Ponies dropped their first two games of the season this past week, splitting four games to move to 7-2 this spring.

Hartington lost 4-0 to Lincoln Blackhawks and 4-0 at Creighton while beating Pierce 13-0 and Plainview 9-0 at home.

“We played good baseball this week,” coach Don Whitmire said. “We ran into a good pitcher against Creighton and didn’t get the timely hit with guys in scoring position. Unfortunately, we came up a little short against Lincoln. We put the ball in play, however, we could not find the hole in their defense.

Despite the setbacks, Whitemire said the team is still moving forward.

“I was happy with our progression through the week at the plate. As the week progressed, we cut down on the strikeouts and put more pressure on the opposing team’s defense,” he said. “Our pitching and defense continue to be our strength. The kids are coming together as a team.”

The Ponies were able to record two no-hitters in their wins this week as Breiton Whitmire, Matthew Loecker and Cole Rosener combined to beat Plainview and Rosener did the work against Pierce.

Breiton Whitmire had four RBI and Brady Hochstein two RBI in the win over Pierce.

“I would like to see continued progression at the plate, cutting down in the strikeouts and coming up with timely hits with runners in scoring position,” Don Whitmire said. “I want to see our pitchers continue to compete and fill up the strike zone, especially on 1st pitches of at bats.”

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