The Heartland baseball team concluded regular season play with a four-game sweep of Spoon River on Thursday and Friday. The Hawks defeated the Snappers 15-0 and 8-1 on Thursday at Spoon River before registering a pair of close victories on Friday at The Corn Crib. Heartland (36-14, 25-7) has secured the top overall seed for the Region 24 Tournament this weekend with the series win.
 
Game 1
A nine-run eighth frame guided the Hawks to a 15-0 victory over the Snappers in game one of the series on Thursday in Canton. RBI-doubles by Brady Davidson and Aidan McNamee gave the Hawks a 3-0 advantage in the first frame. Corey Boyette added a two-run homer in the fifth to extend the lead to 5-0.
 
A TJ Williams run-scoring double made it 6-0 in the sixth. A Boyette fielder's choice and a two-run single by Davidson made it 9-0 before Adam Price launched a grand slam to extend the lead to 13-0 in the eighth. Kaden Griffitts delivered an RBI-double moments later before Boyette made it 15-0 with a sacrifice fly.
 
Williams finished with four hits for the Hawks, while Davidson, Griffitts and Beau Polickey each had three hits. Nick Kolze picked up the win in six shutout innings, yielding a walk and two hits with nine strikeouts.
 
Game 2
Another big inning for the Hawks boosted the visitors to an 8-1 win in game two Thursday. The Hawks broke a scoreless tie in the third with a seven-run frame, as Cale Steinbaugh walked in a run before a Polickey fielder's choice scored another to make it 2-0 in favor of Heartland. Max Henneman hit an RBI-single, which was followed by a Spoon River error to make it 4-0. A Williams two-run triple and an RBI-single by Jesse Contreras extended the lead to 7-0. Williams made it 8-0 in the fourth with a sacrifice fly.
 
The Snappers, who managed just one hit in the contest, would score its lone run in the seventh. Jimmy Amptmann picked up the win in five shutout frames for the Hawks, allowing one walk and five hits with five strikeouts. Hennemann led the charge offensively with four hits. Williams added three hits for the Hawks.
 
Game 3
The Hawks returned to The Corn Crib Friday for a pair of games against the Snappers. Three home runs were key for the home team in a 5-2 win. Heartland jumped out in front in the first frame on an RBI-groundout by Contreras to make it 1-0. Griffitts followed with a two-run, opposite-field home run in the second to make it 3-0.
 
The Snappers would score once in the third, and another in the sixth to narrow the deficit to 3-2. The Hawks responded in the bottom of the frame, as Contreras and Boyette hit back-to-back homers to make it 5-2, which held as the final score.
 
Jacob O'Day held the Snappers in check for most of the afternoon in a complete-game effort, yielding two runs on five hits with 10 strikeouts. Boyette led the Hawks with three hits.
 
Game 4
In the series finale, the Hawks scored four runs in the bottom of the ninth to secure a walkoff, 6-5 win over the Snappers to complete the sweep. Spoon River would take an early 2-0 lead in the third before the Hawks responded with a pair of tallies in the fourth on a Steinbaugh two-run single.
 
A three-run homer by Spoon River's Clint Goodman gave the Snappers a 5-2 advantage in the sixth. The Hawks struggled to generate any offensive production until the ninth, as Griffitts led-off the frame with a solo shot to make it 5-3. A single by Williams followed by walks by Contreras, Boyette and Davidson made it 5-4 with still no outs. Aidan McNamee was hit by a pitch moment later to tie the contest at 5-5, before Tommy Atkinson hit a sacrifice fly to center field to walk it off in the ninth.
 
Michael Vitellaro picked up the win for the Hawks in four scoreless innings of relief. Contreras, McNamee and Polickey led the Hawks offensively with two hits apiece.
 
The Hawks will now move into postseason play, as they will host Spoon River and Vincennes University this weekend as part of the Region 24 Tournament, with times and dates still to be determined.