Nikolauk, No. 13 Wall Win Pitcher's Duel Against Grape Creek in Windy Conditions

WALL, TX-- The 13th-ranked Wall Hawks defeated the Grape Creek Eagles 1-0 at home to win their second district game in-a-row Tuesday evening. 

“Hitting conditions today were not ideal,” said Wall Hawks Head Coach Jason Schneirs. “I knew going in it was going to be a low scoring affair and luckily we found a way there at the end to get a run across.”

Weather, specifically 25+ mph winds were a contributing factor to the low scoring ballgame and it was apparent early on. 

Both teams struggled to get anything going offensively throughout the game with wind blowing in every direction. 

When it looked like either team would make a run, both starting pitchers, Mark Nikolauk for Wall and Koby Hasty for Grape Creek, would shut down their opposition. 

Wall head Coach Schneirs stated, “Mark did an excellent job today. He had been struggling a little bit in his last couple of outings as far as commanding his pitches. He was all around the plate today throwing strikes with all his pitches.”

In the fourth inning Wall’s Jake Jansa got on base after drawing a walk, but Hasty would get out of the jam by throwing two consecutive strikeouts to end the inning and keep it scoreless going into the fifth inning. 

Schneirs also praised Grape Creeks Hasty saying, “He was exceptional on the mound and kept them in it.”

Finally, in the fifth inning, Wall was able to get something going after Nikolauk got on base on a walk. Later in the inning, Brock Rosenquist would drive in Nikolauk on a sacrifice fly ball to post the first and only run of the game. 

Wall would take a 1-0 lead into the sixth after two Hawks popped out to ended the inning.

Nikolauk continued his impressive day on the mound through the end of the game shutting out Grape Creek and recording eight strikeouts in seven innings of work. 

Grape Creeks Hasty had a nice outing as well recording eight strikeouts while limiting the Hawks to only a run. That run would prove to be the difference in the game, however, with the amount of wind that played into the low scoring affair. 

Rosenquist didn’t record a hit in three at-bats, but recorded the only RBI of the game on a sacrifice fly that brought in Nikolauk. 

Jansa went 1-for-2 with a hit and a walk, and Sutton Hurst added a hit as well for the Hawks. 

Gavin Vargas and Tony Valdez each went 1-for-3 for Grape Creek recording the only hits for the Eagles on Nikolauk for the day.

Wall (17-5-1, 4-1) will face Sonora next in an away game this Saturday, April 7, at noon. Grape Creek (1-9, 0-4) will host TLCA this Saturday at 10 a.m.