The Hopkins Flyers continued their hot start to the 2015 season with a 3-1 win over St. Louis Park on Tuesday June 16th at Big Willow in Minnetonka.  Starting pitcher Shawn Williams worked six innings for the Flyers to earn the victory on a cold, windy, rain spattered evening.  

After a slow start by Williams in the first inning that plated the first run by St. Louis Park off a bases loaded walk, he gained control of the game and kept St. Louis Park off balance the next five innings of work.  Williams struck out 11 St. Louis Park batters after issuing two walks in the first inning. He only allowed one more free pass the rest of the game and allowed just two hits in his six innings of work.  The win evened Williams record at 1-1 and in his three outings, two of them starts, he boasts an ERA of 1.20 on the season.  

Reece Chiriboga came on in the seventh inning to relieve Williams who allowed the first Orioles batter to reach on a walk to pick up the save and shut the door. 

Second baseman Tommy Gleason rapped out three hits to finish the day 3-3 and scored all three of the Flyers runs.  Right fielder Geoff Cooper was 2-3 with an RBI and shortstop Jeremy Burton knocked in Cooper with a sacrifice fly to left field to round out the Flyer scoring.  

The win improved Hopkins Post 320’s recored to 6-1 on the season after coming off an impressive weekend at the Edina Tournament.  The Flyers earned a 3-0 win over Edina and a thrilling come-from-behind 10-9 win over Chester Bird.  The lone loss of the season came to the Burnsville Cobra's in the opening game of the tournament by a score of 7-2. 

“I’m very pleased with the way this club has begun the season,” coach Todd Jahnke said.  “More important than our 6-1 start to the season, I really like the feel of this team.  There is a definitive, contagious positive energy, and a good sense of holding the team in higher regard than the individual, which is very encouraging and we’ll look to build off this throughout the season.”

They are hitting .333 as a team and the pitching has delivered for the Flyers in the early stages of the season, giving them a chance to win each time out.  The Flyers currently sport a 1.71 team ERA and as a group have struck out 52 batters against 19 bases on balls.  

“In our wins, we have received quality starts from our pitching staff, and played well defensively,” Jahnke observed.  “In have been thrilled with the approaches we took offensively up and down the lineup.  The quality at-bat percentage was extremely high, considering how early in the season we are. 

The Flyers indeed are coming together as a team and it is something that is not falling short on Jahnke who recently opined, “It’s been a great start to the 2015 season.  We will inevitably run into some adversity and challenges because it’s a long summer.  How we respond to them will be the true metric and test for the type of team we have. 

 “I’m looking forward to the season and I really like our team.  I think we have great team chemistry, and a strong nucleus of talent, capable of making this a special summer.”