The Heartland baseball team began Region-24 play on Sunday, as the Hawks traveled to Quincy for a pair of games at John Wood Community College before returning to The Corn Crib on Monday for a doubleheader. The NJCAA DII No. 9-ranked Hawks produced 36 runs across the four games en route to a sweep of the Blazers before defeating Triton College 16-6 on Tuesday to improve to 11-5 (4-0) on the season.
 
Game 1
Heartland began Region-24 play with a 7-4 victory at John Wood on Sunday afternoon. Brady Davidson ignited the scoring for the Hawks in the first on a double to center field to score TJ Williams and make it 1-0.
 
After the Blazers tied the contest in the bottom of the first and took the lead with a run in the second and one more in the fourth, the Hawks scored four times in the fifth to make it 5-3 in favor of the visitors. Cale Steinbaugh reached on a hit-by-pitch and Williams followed with a walk before Corey Boyette scored both with a two-RBI single to tie the contest at 3-3. Moments later, Adam Price launched a two-run bomb to right field to put the Hawks in front.
 
Aidan McNamee added a solo shot in the sixth to make it 6-3. The Blazers would score once in the sixth before Beau Polickey drove in another run for the Hawks in the eighth on a groundout to extend the advantage to 7-4.
 
Williams paced the Hawks with three hits and two runs scored. Joey Cecola picked up the win in relief, throwing four innings and allowing one run on two hits, with one walk and four strikeouts.
 
Game 2
The second game on Sunday was much of the same for the Hawks, as they scored three times in the opening frame. Williams led-off the inning with a single, followed by an RBI base-knock by Boyette to make it 1-0. Patrick Gardner added a run-scoring hit of his own before Steinbaugh drove-in the third run of the inning to make it 3-0.
 
The Blazers would respond with a pair of tallies in the bottom of the first to narrow the deficit to 3-2. Davidson extended the advantage to 4-2 in the second on an RBI single.
 
The Hawks would score three more times in the fourth, as Steinbaugh pushed across a run with a single before Max Hennemann laced a double to left field to score two more runs and make it 7-2. Run-scoring hits by Hennemann, Kaden Griffitts and Williams in the sixth gave the Hawks some cushion at 11-2. John Wood would score once in the sixth and four more times in the seventh, but reliever Jimmy Amptmann secured the final out and the Hawks held on for the victory.
 
Jacob Brown picked up the victory for the Hawks in four innings, yielding two runs (none earned) on three hits. Brown had two walks and four strikeouts. Williams and Gardner each had three hits in the contest.
 
Game 3
The Hawks returned to The Corn Crib to complete the final two games of the series on Monday afternoon. In the opening game of the day, two late runs by the Hawks proved to be the difference in a 2-1 win.
 
In a pitching battle between John Wood's Kevin Martinez and Heartland's Jacob O'Day, the Blazers struck first in the fifth on an RBI double by Ben Kasparie to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.
 
A long ball by Kyle Jannenga tied the contest at 1-1 in the sixth. A two-out single by Davidson in the bottom of the seventh followed by a Boyette hit put the Hawks in business with the game on the line. Moments later, Davidson would score on a wild pitch to secure a walk-off victory for the Hawks.
 
O'Day registered yet another solid outing for the Hawks, throwing six innings and allowing one run on three hits, with three walks and four punchouts. Will Fletcher closed the game to pick up the win in an inning of relief, allowing no runs on two hits. Davidson led the charge offensively with three hits.
 
Game 4
Offense was back on full display in the series finale on Monday, as the Hawks scored 16 runs on 12 hits in a 16-8 win in eight innings. After the Blazers scored twice to begin the game, a Boyette two-run homer tied the contest at 2-2 in the bottom of the first. The Hawks would take the lead on an error by Kasparie in the third to make it 3-2.
 
John Wood would not go down quietly, however, as the Blazers erupted for six tallies in the fifth to suddenly take an 8-3 advantage. A solo shot by Boyette in the bottom of the fifth made it 8-4 in favor of John Wood.
 
Heartland slowly creeped back into the contest in the sixth. Steinbaugh reached base on a walk before Hennemann delivered a two-out triple to score Steinbaugh. Williams followed with an RBI single, and later scored on a miscue by the Blazers to make it 8-7 John Wood.
 
The seventh frame put the Hawks back in front, as the home team scored eight runs to take a 15-7 lead. Price, Hennemann and Williams each drove-in runs before Davidson launched a three-run homer to left field. Jannenga added an RBI double later in the frame. Davidson would close the game out in the eighth with an RBI single and the Hawks secured the sweep.
 
Williams and Boyette each had three hits, while Davidson added two hits and four RBI's. Nick Rainey was credited with the win in relief after allowing three runs on one hit, with three walks and four strikeouts in three innings.
 
Game 5
The Hawks returned to The Corn Crib Tuesday for a non-conference tilt with visiting Triton College. Heartland scored in each of the first five innings en route to a 16-6 win over the Trojans.
 
Jannenga began the scoring for the Hawks in the first with a grand slam to make it 4-0. A Williams double later in the frame scored two more runs and Heartland enjoyed a 6-0 lead through one inning. A three-run bomb by Gardner in the second would extend the advantage to 9-0.
 
The Trojans would score twice in the third before McNamee walked in a run to make it 10-2. Triton scored two more times in the fourth on a single by Brady Small, but the Hawks answered with two more runs on singles by Davidson and Boyette in the bottom of the frame.
 
A two-run shot by the Trojans in the fifth gave the visitors some life, but a miscue by Triton in the bottom-half of the fifth followed by a Boyette RBI single put the game out of reach at 16-6. Williams, Boyette, Jannenga, Gardner and Hennemann each had a pair of hits for the Hawks in the win.
 
The Hawks will return to action beginning at Noon on Friday to start a four-game series with NJCAA DII No. 20-ranked Parkland College.