The end of Manhattan High’s 2-7 and 5-10 losses to Hayden on Friday came down to the hitting game.

“The tale of both games was [Hayden] had a lot of hits too,” coach Monty Enright said. “But they were able to get some clutch ones”

The first game, MHS opened up with two runs to get the game moving. Defense stopped hits up to the middle innings when Hayden started getting hits to MHS’s gaps and scored runs off different errors. By the sixth inning, Hayden put a stop to further hits from MHS and the first game ended 2-7. Senior Sydney Bannister noted the team still coming out determined in the second game to pick up on their hitting game.

“We were really hoping that we could get our bats going because we didn’t hit as well as we should have off of the pitcher; which we did in the second game,” Bannister said. “We just hit it right to them were[as] they hit all our gaps.”

Hayden started off the game in similar fashion with runs up to the fourth inning. MHS followed up with five runs by the sixth inning. In the end, Hayden pulled off two more runs to win 10-5 over MHS.

“We were a little bit down [during the second game],” junior Maddie Fief said. “I feel like we came back with a little bit of energy, but the fight wasn’t as strong as it should’ve been.”

The team’s last week of the regular season starts Tuesday at Emporia and the season ends at home on Thursday with the rescheduled Washburn Rural game for Senior Night.

“We have a lot to accomplish here to get done,” Enright said. “Hopefully we’ll take the setback a little bit tonight, have a good weekend, and go right back to work on Monday. Because I think the game is improving and I think we are.”