Pleasant Grove’s late-season losses prepare Hawks for playoffs

TEXARKANA, Texas (KTAL/KSHV) – After maintaining close to a perfect record all season, the Pleasant Grove Hawks suffered losses against Sulphur Springs for two of its three final regular season games. But it helped teach the Hawks a lesson and give them a new perspective on the season, preparing them for what’s to come.

“We talk about every day, in this game of baseball, anything can happen,” head coach Riley Fincher said. “The most talented team sometimes doesn’t come out on top. In our last game we lost last Friday, I believe in the 6th inning we had 4 errors, which is not like a very us, uncharacteristic and so, we discussed it. We came back the next day. I thought we played extremely well. I thought our guys were focused, after a loss, so that was good to see.”

Those losses woke up a realization for a team that has come out on top for most of the season.

“Those two losses just, made us not get comfortable with where we’re at and really like opened our eyes to where we need to like keep pushing and keep getting better each day,” senior Jarret Halter said. “I mean it’s extremely important just to make sure we’re firing off all cylinders and just everyone’s hitting hitting their spots when they’re pitching and just lock down defense and just playing for the team.”

While also teaching them that sometimes things just don’t go your way.

“It’s a game of baseball. Anybody can win no matter who’s on the bump, who’s the most talented team, who works hardest, who does anything, who’s more mentally prepared and everything,” senior Landon West said. “It’s just, it’s a game of baseball.  Any anything can happen.”

The Hawks bi-district series is against Caddo Mills. The Hawks will host Caddo Mills on Thursday, May 1, with first pitch at 6 pm. They will then travel to Caddo Mills for games two and three (if necessary) on Friday, May 2.