By Eric Stock
NORMAL – Heartland Community College two diamond teams have produced gems this season. The Hawks baseball and softball teams are both ranked nationally as the postseason approaches.
The Hawks softball team is 16th the National Junior College Athletic Association DII with a 33-14 record and clinched the Mid-West Athletic Conference title on Sunday with a doubleheader sweep of John Wood. Coach Steve Leverton said his team is good enough to get back to the College World Series, where they Hawks last advanced two years ago.
“It can really go either way, but we feel if we play our ball game and we get the pitching we’ve gotten all year and the hitting we’ve gotten all year, we have a legitimate shot at making it to nationals this year, ” Leverton said.
Leverton hopes his team is ready to peak at the right time after a recent slide.
“We’ve been in a little slump lately but before that, we’ve had a month where we were just hotter than heck hitting the ball,” Leverton said. “I knew we’d be one of the top offensive teams around, but for a month we were about as dominant as any team we’ve ever had here.
Heartland is in its 10th year of softball. It won the national championship in its second season in 2009. Leverton has been with the program for seven season, the last five as head coach.
The Hawks baseball team is ranked fifth in the country at 34-7 and recently completed an 18-game winning streak. Second-year coach Brian Furlong said the team is in a good spot heading into the final weeks of the season.
“There’s ups and downs and this team really leveraged some adversity early in the season to create their own identity and push things in the right direction,” Furlong said. “We are excited where they are right now and excited for the final push here.”
Furlong said he has one of the best defensive squads in the country.
“It’s much easier to be consistent from a defensive side of things than it is from the offensive side,” Furlong said.
Both teams are hosting postseason tournaments in May. The Hawks softball team is hosting a nine-team regional at Champion Fields in Normal starting Thursday.
Eric Stock can be reached at [email protected].
