BELFIELD, N.D. — Shortstop is one of the most important positions in baseball. They cover the gap between second and third, which is where most ground balls are hit, and are the leaders of the infield.
Nick Dobitz handles those responsibilities for the Hettinger-Scranton/New England Nighthawks, and in the team’s dominant 14-1 victory over the Heart River Cougars, on Thursday, April 16 at William C Blair Post 144 ballpark, the junior infielder put on a defensive clinic. He led the Nighthawks with four assists and had one putout and he was a key cog in the team earning their first conference win of the campaign.
“They had put the ball in play and we just executed on it and threw them out at first,” Dobitz said. “They got one hit on us. They hit a home run off Jordan [Jung], but he just stayed in the game and kept throwing strikes, and we just kept putting them out for him.”
1/19: The Hettinger-Scranton/New England Nighthawks defeated the Heart River Cougars 14-1 in a Region VIII showdown at William C Blair Post 144 ballpark on Thursday, April 16.
Jacob Cheris / The Dickinson Press
2/19: The Hettinger-Scranton/New England Nighthawks defeated the Heart River Cougars 14-1 in a Region VIII showdown at William C Blair Post 144 ballpark on Thursday, April 16.
Jacob Cheris / The Dickinson Press
3/19: The Hettinger-Scranton/New England Nighthawks defeated the Heart River Cougars 14-1 in a Region VIII showdown at William C Blair Post 144 ballpark on Thursday, April 16.
Jacob Cheris / The Dickinson Press
4/19: The Hettinger-Scranton/New England Nighthawks defeated the Heart River Cougars 14-1 in a Region VIII showdown at William C Blair Post 144 ballpark on Thursday, April 16.
Jacob Cheris / The Dickinson Press
5/19: The Hettinger-Scranton/New England Nighthawks defeated the Heart River Cougars 14-1 in a Region VIII showdown at William C Blair Post 144 ballpark on Thursday, April 16.
Jacob Cheris / The Dickinson Press
6/19: The Hettinger-Scranton/New England Nighthawks defeated the Heart River Cougars 14-1 in a Region VIII showdown at William C Blair Post 144 ballpark on Thursday, April 16.
Jacob Cheris / The Dickinson Press
7/19: The Hettinger-Scranton/New England Nighthawks defeated the Heart River Cougars 14-1 in a Region VIII showdown at William C Blair Post 144 ballpark on Thursday, April 16.
Jacob Cheris / The Dickinson Press
8/19: The Hettinger-Scranton/New England Nighthawks defeated the Heart River Cougars 14-1 in a Region VIII showdown at William C Blair Post 144 ballpark on Thursday, April 16.
Jacob Cheris / The Dickinson Press
9/19: The Hettinger-Scranton/New England Nighthawks defeated the Heart River Cougars 14-1 in a Region VIII showdown at William C Blair Post 144 ballpark on Thursday, April 16.
Jacob Cheris / The Dickinson Press
10/19: The Hettinger-Scranton/New England Nighthawks defeated the Heart River Cougars 14-1 in a Region VIII showdown at William C Blair Post 144 ballpark on Thursday, April 16.
Jacob Cheris / The Dickinson Press
11/19: The Hettinger-Scranton/New England Nighthawks defeated the Heart River Cougars 14-1 in a Region VIII showdown at William C Blair Post 144 ballpark on Thursday, April 16.
Jacob Cheris / The Dickinson Press
12/19: The Hettinger-Scranton/New England Nighthawks defeated the Heart River Cougars 14-1 in a Region VIII showdown at William C Blair Post 144 ballpark on Thursday, April 16.
Jacob Cheris / The Dickinson Press
13/19: The Hettinger-Scranton/New England Nighthawks defeated the Heart River Cougars 14-1 in a Region VIII showdown at William C Blair Post 144 ballpark on Thursday, April 16.
Jacob Cheris / The Dickinson Press
14/19: The Hettinger-Scranton/New England Nighthawks defeated the Heart River Cougars 14-1 in a Region VIII showdown at William C Blair Post 144 ballpark on Thursday, April 16.
Jacob Cheris / The Dickinson Press
15/19: The Hettinger-Scranton/New England Nighthawks defeated the Heart River Cougars 14-1 in a Region VIII showdown at William C Blair Post 144 ballpark on Thursday, April 16.
Jacob Cheris / The Dickinson Press
16/19: The Hettinger-Scranton/New England Nighthawks defeated the Heart River Cougars 14-1 in a Region VIII showdown at William C Blair Post 144 ballpark on Thursday, April 16.
Jacob Cheris / The Dickinson Press
17/19: The Hettinger-Scranton/New England Nighthawks defeated the Heart River Cougars 14-1 in a Region VIII showdown at William C Blair Post 144 ballpark on Thursday, April 16.
Jacob Cheris / The Dickinson Press
18/19: The Hettinger-Scranton/New England Nighthawks defeated the Heart River Cougars 14-1 in a Region VIII showdown at William C Blair Post 144 ballpark on Thursday, April 16.
Jacob Cheris / The Dickinson Press
19/19: The Hettinger-Scranton/New England Nighthawks defeated the Heart River Cougars 14-1 in a Region VIII showdown at William C Blair Post 144 ballpark on Thursday, April 16.
Jacob Cheris / The Dickinson Press
Dobitz’s plays in the infield brought energy to the rest of the team, and everyone was in sync. Defense was a major struggle for the Nighthawks last season.
It was the first time in a long time that Hettinger-Scranton/New England
played shutdown baseball.
“[Dobitz is] a leader, and he used to be our number one catcher and we kind of had some kids come up that love catching, and whenever you can get a freshman or a sophomore that loves to catch, it takes the pressure off of the juniors,” Nighthawks coach Nolan Dix said. “I think if we keep him at short, and he keeps making plays like that, our defense is going to take care of itself, and it’s going to be a fun year if we can score.”
The all-around performance on the field made Jordan Jung’s job easier on the mound. The senior right-hander put together his best performance of the season in his second appearance on the bump. He only yielded one run, which came in the bottom of the fourth on a solo home run, on two hits and tallied four strikeouts.
“We just got to trust each other because I can’t go out there and throw 15 strikeouts a game. I got to trust my guys, and tonight I didn’t have a lot of strikeouts,” Jung said. “But that’s fine because the defense really worked their butts off. Got a bunch of outs, and it all worked out tonight.”
Hettinger-Scranton/New England Nighthawks senior pitcher Jordan Jung delivers a pitch against the Heart River Cougars on Thursday, April 16 at William C Blair Post 144 ballpark.
Jacob Cheris / The Dickinson Press
Jung’s delivery on the hill and Dobitz and the defense locking down led to a 12-run third inning. Everyone in the lineup registered a hit, with freshman Logan Mausehund leading the charge, going 3-for-4 at the plate with two runs scored and a pair of RBI doubles in the third inning.
“When the sophomores get locked in and start hitting the ball like that and the freshmen as well, it’s gonna make for a fun year because you see the confidence in there,” Dix said. “There’s chatter in the dugouts rather than if you’re down, there’s no chatter.”
The Nighthawks scored seven times in the third inning with no outs and they wouldn’t take their foot off the gas pedal. They were getting timely hitting all game long, which has been an area that the team struggled with to begin the season. In their game against Shiloh Christian, they left 11 runners stranded despite outhitting the Skyhawks 4-3.
Heart River’s defense wasn’t clicking once again
, and let the snowball effect take over. It has been a theme for the past three games.
In their 6-0 loss against Hazen back on Tuesday, April 14,
the Cougars had four errors and difficulties on the mound with 12 walks.
“We are young, but a lot of it’s on me. I gotta come up with better ways to get them prepared for games. Obviously, we’ve struggled in the field and everybody’s in the same boat, ” Heart River coach Kurt Silbernagel said. “There were plays that we just instinctively didn’t go for the ball the way we should. And again, those things fall on me. We got to work on things in practice more.”
The Nighthawks will be back in action on Tuesday,
April 21 for another Region VIII showdown against Beulah
, while the
Cougars will try to rebound against
Washburn/Wilton/Center-Stanton on Tuesday, April 21.
Jacob Cheris covers a variety of high school and college sports. A graduate of Penn State University’s class of 2023, with a degree in broadcast journalism, he covered Penn State Men’s Hockey for three years. Jacob also covers Big Ten Hockey for College Hockey News.