The Hilbert Hawks baseball team is fired up after their first win of the season and hopes to keep the momentum going forward.

The team claimed its first victory of the season last Tuesday against their rival D’Youville College in their double header played at Gowanda high school. With their season being canceled last spring because of Covid-19, their last game played was over a year ago in Myrtle Beach. These men were eager to get back to the game they love to play, and it showed in their first game back. Even after losing the second game in the double header, they are not hanging their heads.

“I thought both games went well even though we went one in one… it felt amazing to finally play a real game again with all my friends,” the returning junior James DiSanti said.

DiSanti had the first run of the season on Tuesday during the first game and had some pretty other remarkable plays throughout the duration of the game at third base.

“ I really felt the best I’ve felt all year long… this had to of been one of the best days of the year to finally be able to step on the field again feeling like that,” DiSanti, who missed time last year with a knee injury last year, said.

The whole team did their best both games despite the shortcomings they experienced last year.

Misael Guzman Caez, a new player to the team, had good things to say about his teammates. “I think both the team and myself did good,” Guzman Caez said. “We could have done better things as a team like hitting the ball better… It feels great being out there again playing baseball.”

On the offense side of things, the hawks held their own in both games posting up ten combined hits after being sidelined the last year due to Covid-19.

In Game 1, Aydan Rolph shined in relief facing eight batters giving up only one hit and no runs earned. On the defensive end, the hawks kept the mistakes to a minimum while posting up only two errors in 14 innings on the field.

Leadership plays a huge role on this team. “There are plenty of leaders on our team, and our leadership will improve,” Guzman Caez said.

Just like every year, the Hawk’s main goal is to win the AMCC championship at the end of the season. “We have a tight group and with what we have, there is a good chance we can get there,” said DiSanti.